“There was no danger whatsoever from our image campaign” – Attac is going to court

The globalization-critical organization Attac and the Society for Freedom Rights (GFF) are entering the next round in the legal dispute over a ban on protests at the G-20 summit in Hamburg nine years ago.

The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig confirmed receipt of the grounds for appeal from plaintiff Hanni Gramann from the Federal Council of Attac Germany. However, there is no trial date yet, the court said.

Gramann and Attac registered two protest rallies in downtown Hamburg in June 2017, even though the city had already issued a ban on demonstrations in the urban area for the two summit days from July 7th to 8th, 2017. The city banned the gatherings.

The Hamburg Administrative Court declared the ban illegal in February 2022 as far as Gramann's rally was concerned. At that time, she wanted to draw attention to the connection between free trade and the causes of flight with a symbolic image campaign and speeches under the motto “Free Trade Powers Flight”.

“Our picture campaign posed no danger whatsoever,” said Gramann. It cannot be the case that state organs simply have to identify a confusing overall situation in order to be able to suspend basic rights across the board and set up non-democratic assembly ban zones.

But the Hanseatic city's higher administrative court thwarted the plaintiffs' plans in August and declared the ban on protest demonstrations to be legal. According to the judges, public safety would most likely have been jeopardized if the meetings were held through targeted or de facto blockages of transport and travel routes.

The Society for Civil Rights sees it differently. “The assembly authority took the sledgehammer because of a suspected confusing situation,” said lawyer and GFF procedure coordinator Joschka Selinger. In doing so, the authority misunderstood the importance of freedom of assembly as a means of social debate. "Protest must be able to take place near the event in question; it must not be relegated to the periphery or banned," said Selinger.

The heads of state and government of the 20 most important economic nations met at the G-20 summit in Hamburg, including the presidents of the USA and Russia, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. The meeting was overshadowed by massive riots.