UK Newswire Archive
The Return Of The King – Tony Blair And The Magically Disappearing Blood
02-08-2012 19:43
How many war crimes does a western leader have to commit before he is deemed persona non grata by the corporate media and the establishment? Apparently there is no limit, if we are to judge by the prevailing reaction to Tony Blair's return to the political stage.
Take Back the Land! - short action film
02-08-2012 19:12
Bail conditions and Critical Mass on 10th August
02-08-2012 16:55
A cyclist was killed yesterday 1st of August as he negotiated the roads next to the Olymics complex, by a bus hired by LOGOC to shuttle Olympics press around.
There has been a call for a vigil and a mass ride to get to the site of the crash starting on 10th August at 6.30 under Waterloo Bridge.
Those who were arrested and bailed in the last Critical Mass may want to continue reading or seek independent advice.
Should you ignore police bail conditions? (pre-charge)
Many people arrested on the student protests have had conditions imposed by the police when given bail, usually “not to attend protests” or to “stay out of Westminster”. There are legal methods of challenging these conditions on the grounds that they breach the European Convention on Human Rights in particular Article 10 “Freedom of Expression” and Article 11 “Freedom of Assembly”. However, these can be expensive and time consuming. So we say- just ignore them. Here’s why.
Why the cops put everybody on bail.
In the good old days if the police nicked you they would charge you with the most serious offence they could think of and either take you to court in the morning or let you out with a court date a few days or at most a couple of weeks later. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) got fed up of this as they were always having to reduce the charges to something more realistic. So now, the cops aren’t allowed to charge anything except really minor stuff e.g. drunk and disorderly. Instead, they prepare a file of evidence that is sent to the CPS who then decide what the appropriate charge is. Aside from laziness, incompetence and inefficiency both cops and CPS have positive reasons to slow the process down. The cops like keeping people on bail because it’s a punishment in itself, especially if there are conditions attached, while the CPS get paid however long it takes. This leads to people being on bail for months and even years with disruption to their lives and ongoing psychological pressures. We need to resist this individually and collectively.
Breaching Bail Conditions is not a criminal offence!
What many people don’t know is that breaking bail conditions is not the same as failing to surrender to bail (turning up on the date given on your bail sheet whether to a court or to return to a police station). Failure to surrender is a crime (Section 6 Bail Act 1976). Although it should be said, the courts take failure to surrender to the cops far less seriously than skipping court and CPS guidelines state that failure to answer police bail should not be prosecuted at all where the substantive case is dropped.
Breaking conditions imposed when you are give bail is not a crime. If you break bail conditions you can be arrested (Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 section 46A (1A)). BUT and here’s the good bit, they can only release you on bail again with the same conditions or charge you, and then either bail you or take you to Court the next day. Now some people may be afraid that the Court will remand them. BUT the Courts can only remand people who’ve been charged with an offence. And that is what the cops don’t want to do because if you’re charged you have to be told what you’re suspected of doing and what the evidence is against you. This will help your defence by enabling you to gather information and witnesses to the incident and demand disclosure of the police’s own misconduct. We suspect that the cops are not planning to arrest anyone for breaching bail just hoping to put people off demonstrating. In any case it’s almost unheard of for people to be remanded just for breaking police bail conditions.
Time to fight back.
Being on bail also results in people feeling they cannot comment or campaign about the case. Defence lawyers are by training cautious about their clients saying anything that could harm their defence, and given the daft things some folk say you can see why. However a robust defence campaign that firmly puts the blame on the police (as with the Trafalgar Square Defence Campaign for the Poll Tax demonstration in 1990) is a vital part of everyone’s individual cases and defying police attempts to prevent future demonstrations by bail conditions is an important step towards this. Moreover, keeping up the pressure with more demonstrations and broadening them to link with other struggles will increase the political and logistical pressure against this police victimisation of protesters.
2011
EDO Boss Hills Gets Grilled In Court
02-08-2012 15:59
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/9851767.EDO_boss_gets_grilling_at_Brighton_protest_trial/ EDO MBM Paul Hills faced difficult questions in Brighton Magistrates this wee
Critical Mass - Some good news
02-08-2012 13:35
Man convicted for attacking cyclists on Brighton Critical Mass last year.Update in tunnel boring machine saga - community resistance strong
02-08-2012 12:10
March for Justice for Kingsley Burrell
02-08-2012 11:53
Saturday 18th August 2012Assemble 12:00 Noon:
Summerfield Park, Icknield Port Rd Birmingham B16 OBT
March to Centenary Square, Broad Street, B1 2EA
A year after the death of Kingsley Burrell no one has been charged and his body has still not been released to his grieving family for burial.
Calais Migrant Solidarity: Birmingham info-talk Sunday 5th Aug
02-08-2012 11:29
Peer 2 Peer Production as the Alternative to Capitalism: A New Communist Horizon
02-08-2012 09:15
The current crisis of capitalism has provoked protests, revolts and revolutions in major parts of the planet that include 3 billions of inhabitants. Even the mainstream Time Magazine made “The Protester” the person of the year. The caption on Time’s cover reads: From the Arab Spring To Athens, from Occupy Wall Street to Moscow. China, Chile, Spain, England, Italy, India, Israel, Iran and France, among many other places, can be added to Time’s hotbeds of recent social protests.The protest movements have put alternatives to capitalism on the historical agenda (Hardt and Negri, 2011). This article argues that a section of knowledge workers have already created a new mode of production termed Peer to Peer Production (P2P) which is a viable alternative to capitalism. Although still in its emerging phase and dominated by capitalism, P2P clearly displays the main contours of an egalitarian society. The very fact that sections of P2P activists and ICT workers are also actively involved in the current protests may work as a good catalyst in connecting P2P to these movements.
In P2P production, producers collectively produce goods through voluntary participation in a de-centered, network-based production system. Volunteers choose the tasks they perform; the amount of time they spend on collective production; the place and time of their productive activity. In term of distribution, anyone in the world can use the products for free according to their own needs, regardless of their contribution (Benkler, 2006). This mode of production is very similar to what Marx (1978 a, 1978b) described as advanced communism. Therefore, it has also been called cyber communism (Kleiner, 2010; Barbrook, 2007; Moglen, 2003).
suka war
02-08-2012 08:41
Art exhibition . collaberation with john bowden . @ old street 6-9 pmtonight 2/08/2012
Full article | 1 addition | 4 comments
All out on the streets
02-08-2012 00:39
Half moon Critical MassArrests in Critical Mass during Olympics ceremony
01-08-2012 22:55
My personal experience during the mass detentions of cyclists the las 27th July, during the Olympic Games opening ceremony.
Occupation of French consulate in Brussels: Justice for Noureddin
01-08-2012 21:05
Sean Rigg - inquest verdict
01-08-2012 18:12
Summary: Schizophrenic but physically healthy black man died in custody at Brixton police station after excessive police restraint. Care trust failed to offer Rigg psychiatric evaluation, instead placing him in a hostel. Police failed to reply to emergency calls for 3 hours after Rigg started threatening staff at his hostel, then took him to a holding cell instead of hospital. Inquest jury - level of force "unsuitable". Rigg's family - "Sean died as a result of the wilful neglect of those who were meant to care for him". IPCC "inadequate and obstructive". Yet another black death in police custody without an officer being prosecuted.One World Festival Supports EDO
01-08-2012 14:10
One World Festival supports EDOIn times of austerity what do they do? Create another £70m animal torture lab
01-08-2012 10:56
Northern Indymedia Needs You !
01-08-2012 09:10
Northern Indymedia is short of people and needs new volunteers if it is to continue as a viable project. The collective running this website needs people to step up and take over. Unless this happens, this newswire will soon have to shut down.