Protesters say they plan to “kettle” Trump and Putin during their first meeting. Kettling is a police tactic for controlling large crowds during demonstrations or protests. It involves leaving protesters only one choice of exit controlled by the police, where they are prevented from leaving, with the effect of denying the protesters access to food, water and toilet facilities.
The tactic has proved controversial, but in March 2012 kettling was ruled lawful by the European Court of Human Rights following a legal challenge.
Putin and Trump’s first face to face meeting will certainly take place in a climate of upheaval, with police in Hamburg already removing G20 protesters from a city park where they were illegally camping. Police intervened using pepper spray this weekend, AFP reported. One man was arrested, police said, and activists said several people were injured.
Protesters from around Europe are flocking to Hamburg with law enforcement expecting a tense week of clashes. Police have announced an assembly ban within a 38 square kilometre zone stretching from the airport to the conference centre.
Jan Reinicke, of the Association of Criminal Police, told the Guardian: “Many of my colleagues and I find it incomprehensible that another big city has been chosen for such a gathering after the terrible events of Genoa. Why Hamburg when you could have held the G20 in, say, a forest in Bavaria or on Heligoland?”
The Italian port city saw clashes between police and an estimated 200 000 demonstrators which lead to the death of a 23-year-old Italian anti-globalisation protester, Carlos Giuliani.
German police have voiced their misgivings about Thursday afternoon’s “Welcome to Hell” march, expected to draw up to 8 000 anarchists and leftwing radicals.
The congress centre where the G20 leaders will meet, borders the densely populated Schanzenviertel district on its western and southern edge, and rail tracks close off access from the north. It means delegates will likely only be able to enter the venue from the west, The Guardian noted.
“Protesters are used to being kettled,” said Emily Laquer, a spokesperson for Block G20 said. “At the G20, we’re going to turn the tables on Trump, Putin and Erdogan.” Demonstrators plan outdoor street raves on the main traffic arteries leading in and out of the complex.
“Trump and co should be able to be helicoptered into the conference centre either way,” explained Nico Berg, a spokesperson for the Block G20 march. “But we will make sure that his sherpas with the paperwork, the press entourage and the lunchtime catering won’t be able to join them there.”
But Trump will not have the highest number of armed bodyguards at the G20. The US applied and received permission for 11 armed guardians, while Brazil had asked for no fewer than 13. The embattled Brazilian president has called off his trip however.
South Africa, which is one-eighth the size of the US, will bring 10 bodyguards, Deutsche Welle reported.
Meanwhile, Jan Hamácek, the speaker of the lower house of parliament, will represent the Czech Republic in a meeting with President Trump in Warsaw next week.
Trump is stopping off in Poland to visit with leaders of Central and Eastern European countries before attending the G20 summit in Hamburg.