Shortly after 6 a.m. Greenpeace activists forced their way into the grounds of the ETH trial station in Lindau-Eschikon. In a clearly meticulously planned operation the activists surmounted the security-fence surrounding the site using ladders and proceeded to cover the protective cage with banners saying "Stop GM wheat" and "Warning: genetically manipulated". About 30 of the protesters chained themselves to the cage using bicycle locks while others, using ladders, positioned themselves on top of the enclosure.

Legal path "followed until the end"

The protesters were equipped with blankets and "absolutely adamant that they would not leave of their own free will", as Bruno Heinzer, spokesman of Greenpeace Switzerland, told "ETH Life“ on Friday morning. With this protest, which follows a classical Greenpeace pattern, the organisation wanted to appeal to ETH researchers once more to give up outdoor trials of this and other genetically modified organisms was the text of a press release on the same day.

The previous day, Heinzer had declared on the Swiss national radio station, DRS, that the environmental organisation had chosen not to pursue the matter by appealing to the Federal Supreme Court. "That doesn't mean that we accept the trial," explains Heinzer to "ETH Life". "We exploited all legal means as far as was possible. Now we're forced to express our opposition this way."

14 Hours later: Retreat due to the cold

The cantonal police, who arrived on the scene in great numbers about 15 minutes after the activists, limited themselves to taking down the activists' details. The protest was peaceful and ETH was waiting to see what happened, said ETH spokesman Rolf Probala in the afternoon.

The police took down details of those Greenpeace activists, who had chained themselves to the the fence surrounding the station. large

In the evening ETH president, Olaf Kübler, decided to forgo a forced evacuation of the station by the police. Shortly afterwards the protest was broken off at 8 p.m. Greenpeace notified the authorities that they had decided to leave, "to avoid serious hypothermia".

According to Heinzer, Greenpeace had recruited activists from all over Europe. "They are all here on their own account and don't get a penny from us", he assured ETH Life. And the aim of the demonstration had never been to destroy the trial. "After all, we didn't want to run the risk of contamination from GM organisms."

Annoyance at the disruption to research

In comparison with the last sabotage attempt in March 2003, when the enclosure was very badly damaged (1), the environmental organisation seemed to have learnt something, says ETH head of project, Christof Sautter. He was cool and calm and not at all surprised by this new disruptive action, which did not compromise the trial, itself, as long as nothing fell onto the culture, he explained.

However, the net, which protects the plot from birds, was damaged. "It is annoying that research and teaching should be disrupted by such demonstrations," says the plant scientist. ETH Zurich will proceed to prosecute the protesters for trespassing.