Davos Report I from Maxine Gay

Davos Report I from Maxine Gay

Report from Davos I
From Maxine Gay
President, NZ Trade Union Federation

Sent late 25 January (Davos time)

What an extraordinary experience. There are 900 armed soldiers "guarding Davos" together with all of the police from the country plus police from other parts of Switzerland.

Landquart Railway Station, halfway from Zurich to Davos is heavily armed. Anyone who looks like a protester is being searched and sent back. They cannot even get to Davos. Some panellists for the alternative conference have also been stopped at Lanquart and when they refused to go back to Zurich they were threatened with detention.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) venue is heavily guarded with armed soldiers, police and wire. The streets are blocked off- only people wearing WEF badges can get through.

For the last three days the police have been stopping cars at the German, Austrian and Italian boarders and turning people away.

Davos is a beautiful little place under seige. The PR spin has been so intense the locals are so grateful to the police for keeping them free from the "violent protesters". Even the alternative conference is viewed as part of the violence!!

ENDS

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