Thirty five protesters rallying against routine Chinese skull-cracking were arrested in London on Sunday for attempting to disrupt the Olympic torch’s ceremonious relay through England’s capital city. Police in very bright jackets were forced to surround the flame-passing participants. Not to be outdone by the UK, demonstrators in France were successful in shutting down the torch on at least three occasions, leading authorities to abandon the Paris leg altogether. Twenty eight people were taken into custody. The torch began it’s worldwide journey after being lit in Olympic Greece on March 24 and will trounce through 23 cities in a little over a month (CNN actually has a masterful interactive map of the whole procession). On Wednesday the 9th, the torch hits protest central: San Francisco, the only stop in the US. In the true spirit of the games, give ‘em hell hippies! Don’t let us down. |BBC| & |Telegraph|
Free Tibet Olympic Flame Demo London Sunday 6th April |Photo: Jon Bugge