________________________________________________________________________________ --please forward! "NO ONE IS ILLEGAL" NETWORK REFUSES TO BE INTIMIDATED 18.10.2000 Lufthansa AG wants to ban online exhibition about deportations. But the activists from "no one is illegal" network refuse to be intimidated. They will continue to expose the posters online and offline. Internet providers from all over the world are called to mirror the exhibition about the "Deportation.Class": The german activists from the "no one is illegal" network won't yield to corporate pressure. Last monday an ultimatum expired which was issued by the aviation company Lufthansa. The corporation demanded, that a poster exhibition is removed from the web by 16th October. The graphics have been on exhibit since May of this year both on the World Wide Web , and as part of a travelling exhibition. Artists from all over Germany took part in a poster competition at the beginning of this year. "Kein Mensch ist illegal" had invited artists to design posters in order to criticise the role of Lufthansa AG in deportations. The exhibition with the printed designs is on tour in Europe and can be currently seen in the art gallery Exnergasse in Vienna. In a letter received on the 9th of october 2000 the lawyers of Lufthansa AG state that the use of colours identical to those used by their client and of its registered trade mark is illegal. Additionally they state that some of the posters insinuate that Lufthansa is directly linked with racists and right-wing extremists. They demand a quarter of a million marks as compensation. Should the actions be repeated Lufthansa demands a further fine of 10,100 marks. For Jan Hoffmann, activist of the "Kein Mensch ist illegal" network, this threat can only been seen as intimidation. Hoffmann speaks of a brutal attack on the freedom of art. With it's numerous actions in airports, travel agencies and on the Internet "Kein Mensch ist illegal" has been causing the company a lot of trouble since March of this year. Under the provocative slogan "Deportation.Class - against the deportation business" the activists demand that Lufthansa gives up this division and refuses to transport passengers who are forced to travel. The catalyst for the actions, which have been getting a lot of public attention, was the death of the Sudanese Aamir Ageeb, who died a violent death in May 1999 on board a Lufthansa aircraft. The annual shareholders meeting of Lufthansa AG in June 2000 was overshadowed by protests. "We assume that the discussions between Lufthansa and the Federal Government were not concerned with Lufthansa giving up the 'Deportation.Class' , as Lufthansa chief executive officer Weber had announced during the shareholders meeting in June. Instead they have probably decided to silence our campaign", says Jan Hoffman from "Kein Mensch ist illegal". He has received confidential information, that states that during the last months, difficulties with so-called "problem deportations" have increased to such an extent that deportations have had to be repeatedly aborted. "Kein Mensch ist illegal" announced that they would be more intently monitoring deportations carried out by the company and also doing this internationally. Public pressure on Lufthansa has been increased through use of spectacular actions. At the same time refugees are informed about the possibilities of how to resist should they be deported. In the meantime an international alliance was launched to support the exhibition that had been threatened with prohibition. Only a few hours after the arrival of the letter from Lufthansa's lawyers on the 9th of october 2000, dozens of Internet providers, particularly in North America, spontaneously declared to grant "political asylum" to the exhibition. "The introduction of legal steps can only lead to criticism of the company spreading further", stated Jan Hoffmann. Lufthansa AG should be more concerned about its damaged public image -not in the least abroad-, instead of threatening critics of their deportation practices with frightful claims for future damages. "The company should stop the deportations of the Deportation.Class - not the exhibition!" Further information: mailto:webmaster@deportation-alliance.com http://www.deportation-alliance.com/lh or from telephone number: ++49/172-8910825 -- Please write to Lufthansa AG, what you think about making business with deportations mailto:investor.relations@dlh.de _______________________________________________ cross-l mailing list http://www.contrast.org/borders cross-l@kein.org http://coyote.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/cross-l ________________________________________________________________________________ no copyright 2000 rolux.org - no commercial use without permission. is a moderated mailing list for the advancement of minor criticism. post to the list: mailto:inbox@rolux.org. more information: mailto:minordomo@rolux.org, no subject line, message body: info rolux. further questions: mailto:rolux-owner@rolux.org. home: http://rolux.org/lists - archive: http://rolux.org/archive