FRENCH POLICE BAN ENTIRE GREENPEACE FLOTILLA FROM PARIS

Paris--30 August 1995--Greenpeace today accused the Parisian police of "excessive use of power" in its dealings with the peace protest flotilla expected to arrive in the Seine river Friday.

The police have today issued a ban, backed by the French courts, to stop the Greenpeace vessel BELUGA and the entire peace flotilla from taking part in a peace protest on the Seine. The order bans the boats from all of Paris.

The Beluga, carrying some of the more than three million petitions collected from around the world against French testing, have planned to sail up the Seine with the other boats on Friday morning in a peaceful, and non-violent, protest against nuclear testing.

"This is Jacques Chirac's second '12-mile' exclusion zone in answer to protests against his disastrous decision to resume nuclear testing - first Moruroa Atoll, now Paris, around the Elysee Palace," said Penelope Komites of Greenpeace France. "He should tell the people of Paris that he has set up this new exclusion zone."

The Beluga was to lead the flotilla. It left Cologne two weeks ago and has since been to the Netherlands, Belgium and Rouen before arriving in Paris.

The petitions were to be delivered to the quayside at Pont D'Iena, where a human chain of activists and VIPs from around Europe, would carry them to the Elysee Palace, taking the message to President Chirac. This has now been banned by the police under the decree that the human chain would cause a public disturbance.

"Using the courts to try to suppress peaceful protests against French testing will not stop people who are outraged at Chirac's nuclear shame. Chirac and his nuclear advisors must wake up to the fact that the world doesn't want French tests," said Komites.

Greenpeace is now considering its options on the flotilla.

Police stopped a total of 49 boats coming to join the Paris flotilla.