World Trade Organization, Geneva, behind barriers for the Ministerial Conference 30 November (photo: Jared Bloch)

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Violence broke out at the start of the protest march linked to the opening of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Geneva’s city centre Saturday 28 November. The organizers quickly canceled the march, which had drawn a crowd estimated at 3,000-5,000 people.

The WTO conference opens Monday at the ICCG conference centre.

The protestors gathered at 14:00 but early on people wearing masks attacked banks, watch stores and other shops and cars, breaking windows and setting a small number of expensive cars on fire. The police used teargas, rubber bullets and water cannons. They interrogated several people during the afternoon, confiscating knifes, crowbars, numerous sprays and other weapons but as evening arrived the violence was not yet under control.

TSR reports that the Parc des Cropettes (View Map), above the Cornavin train station, was a centre of continuing fighting between police and rioters. Train service was running normally.

Police spokesperson Patrick Pulh told reporters that about 200 people with masks, apparently belonging to the Black Block group, situated themselves in the middle of the crowd and turned to violence as the march began. Black Block has previously been blamed for provoking violent incidents in Switzerland, notably in Bern in 2007.

Le Temps reports that the problems began Friday night with violence after three South Korean activists, Dosuk Han, Kangsil Lee and Jejoon Ju, were refused entry to Switzerland when they arrived at Cointrin Airport. The federal government refused them visas based on their records for violence elsewhere.

Links to other sites: Le Temps (Fre), Tribune de Geneve (Fre),  TSR (Fre)

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