Artists and activists squatted the old art college on the grassmarket at the weekend to open it up as a free arts space for the festival and a community resource centre, and to contest the squatting laws in Scotland.
The following is from an interview with one of the squatters who wishes to remain anonymous.
A few days before the eviction 18 people entered the building and began work making it safe and clean, and starting painting.
The squatters gained the attention of the police due to cleaners that still used the building, who discovered them and called the police.
Police, numbering approximately 20, failed to gain entry to the well barricaded main entrance, however they broke through the side door that had yet to be reinforced. One man had chained himself to the door to prevent the police entering, he removed himself seconds before the door was broken down. He was thrown to the floor and handcuffed behind his back.
The police shouted “lay your brushes down” to those who were painting at the time of the raid, as they began aggressively pushing people into a line against the wall. The details (names, addresses) of the squatters were taken several times, some of them were handcuffed and others not, and they were allowed ton drink alcohol by some officers but at other times this was prohibited. The police were apparently very disorganised. The artists and activists were held in the building for approximately 3 hours.
They were all taken to St Leonards police station for questioning and to have their DNA, fingerprints and photographs taken for the permanent biometric database. They were interviewed and questioned specifically about who their leader was, what group they belonged to and if they were part of or had knowledge of ‘the Black Bloc’.
All of the individuals were charged with aggravated trespass and those who had obviously been painting were charged with malicious mischief, and have all been bailed except one man who had outstanding warrants for other protests. They are all due in court on the 20th of September.