Please get your union to support the following resolution in solidarity with the WOMBLES. (Details of the case follow the resolution below)

Yours in solidarity
W7


WOMBLES 7 – Resolution

Seven activists from the anti-capitalist collective the WOMBLES will be in Horseferry Road Magistrates Court facing Public Disorder and other charges from 29 April to 3 May, after an incident on Halloween last year.

On 31 October 2001 the group of activists were attacked on Oxford Street by uniformed police officers whilst on their way to a Halloween party. The police officers, part of the ironically named anti-terrorist "Operation Calm", recognised some of the group from a peaceful protest against Henry Kissinger earlier that evening and decided to stop them to “gather intelligence”.

Many in the anti-capitalist movement see this trial as further proof of the government’s attempts to criminalise all forms of dissent in the wake of September 11. The date of the trial is no coincidence. The state believes that it has found a way of keeping the seven and their supporters out of the Mayday celebrations.

The state is fearful of the 'anti-capitalist' movement and has targeted the WOMBLES as a highly visible symbol of the movement. Yet, far from destroying the ‘anti-capitalist’ movement, this trial is drawing support from both the activist community and the wider community.

In support of the WOMBLES 7 there will be a pre-trial breakfast as part of the Mayday celebrations.

We urge you to pass this resolution in your union branches:

* We believe that the WOMBLES 7 have been deliberately victimised by the police due to their political beliefs.
* We condemn the constant acts of police intimidation, surveillance and harrassment that the WOMBLES and many other peaceful activists have undergone.
* We believe that this trial is part of an attempt to destroy the growing strength of the anti-capitalist and workers’ struggles.
* We will support the WOMBLES 7 by:
* Sending a delegation with our union banner
to the pre-trial breakfast on Mayday.
* Encouraging our members to attend this
demonstration before going on to other
Mayday celebrations.
* Encouraging our members to wear white-
overalls in support of the criminalisation
of the WOMBLES.

Phone 079 6097 3847 or email  womble7@wombles.com for a more detailed press pack. For more information on the WOMBLES go to  http://www.wombles.org.uk.

This trial is to be part of the wider Mayday celebrations and will be running over the week of the Festival of Alternatives. For more information about Mayday and the Festival of Alternatives visit  http://www.ourmayday.org.uk.

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Background Information on W7 Trial

The ‘WOMBLE 7’ trial, over the week of May Day, sees seven "WOMBLES" facing charges of Public Disorder (Section 4 of the Public Order Act), and various other charges.

On 31 October 2001 a group of approximately 15 people, many wearing white overalls to symbolise ghosts (the original context of the white overall movement in Italy) and Halloween masks were harassed by uniformed police officers whilst walking down Oxford Street on their way to a Halloween party. Officers in a transit van, who identified some of the group from a demonstration against Henry Kissinger outside the Institute of Directors earlier that evening, stopped the group. The police officers were part of the ironically named anti-terrorist "Operation Calm", implemented in response to September 11th.

When the van stopped, a police officer jumped out, ran across the road, grabbed hold of one of the group and threw him against a shop window. Members of the group demanded to know what was going on, and that their friend be released. Other officers responded by pushing and pulling at the group. No attempt was made by the police to explain the situation.

After arresting a second member of the group more vans arrived and chased those remaining into an alley where they assaulted some of the group and arrested a further five.

The seven were held in police custody for between 14 and 19 hours and released on charges which were serious enough to warrant a jury trial. At the first hearing the charges were reduced to less serious charges to ensure that the group would not get a jury trial.

This trial is about the criminalisation of dissent, and the political repression of a group of activists. The date of the trial is no coincidence. The state believes that it has found a way of keeping the seven and their supporters out of the Mayday celebrations.

The trial also makes explicit how the "anti-terrorist" hype after September 11 is being used to put more police officers on the streets, in order to crush dissent. Since September 11 2001 the British Government has been systematically removing our civil liberties in their ongoing ‘fight for freedom’. The apparent contradiction goes unquestioned by our ‘free’ press.

The terrorist attack in the USA has created a useful background for the government to increase police and governmental powers at the cost of freedom of movement and freedom of association.

With 1500 extra police on the streets, more CCTV cameras and a disregard for civil liberties, we are all under threat; not from Bin Laden but from our own government. Talk of the introduction of ID cards, the denial of the right to appeal for asylum seekers, the government’s ability to read every email we send and to listen to every phone call we make is a dangerous turn of events.

When people cry out about the increasing government surveillance, many people say that ‘if you are not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about’. But who decides what is wrong? If you are black you are 7 times more likely to be stopped and searched by the police than a white person. If you attend an anti-war march you are very likely to be photographed and marked as a troublemaker. If at anytime you voice your concerns about government policy you could become a target of police surveillance. The Anti-Terrorist Bill would have made support for Nelson Mandella illegal and could have resulted in the indefinite detainment of anti-apartheid demonstrators.

A Statewatch report earlier this year ( http://www.statewatch.org/news/2002/feb/10anarch.htm) shows the determination of the EU, via Europol, to criminalise protest with the creation of two new ‘terrorist’ categories: ‘Eco-terrorism’ and ‘Anarchist terrorism’. Over 1000 people have died in police custody in around 30 years without one conviction. Not one person has been killed or seriously injured by anti-capitalist protestors in this country. Who is the real threat?

What has this got to do with the arrests in Oxford Street? These arrests are indicative of the power the police feel they have to harass members of the public. This sort of thing happens every night of the week, especially if you are black, Asian or live in a poorer part of London.

In their statements police consistently refer to "the violence of the WOMBLES" and to their "reputation for carrying concealed weapons", despite the fact that the WOMBLES are consistently monitored by a Police Forward Intelligence Team (FIT), are extensively filmed on all demonstrations, and have never been convicted of violence or charged with carrying weapons. At worst, the WOMBLES are ‘guilty’ of highlighting the repressive behaviour of the Metropolitan Police in their handling of “public order situations”, and to advocate that people protect themselves from police violence on demonstrations by wearing padding and helmets. The group was not on a demonstration on that night, and were not wearing padding or helmets and so were easily victimised by the police.

The police claim that there is no useful video footage of the incident, despite the fact that the initial encounter took place on Oxford Street, between two nests of cameras. Oxford Street is one of the most monitored streets in the world, and is known to have "facial recognition" software.

This trial is about rights, about repression and about police brutality. It is about one man, with a known anti-protestor bias, being responsible for delivering ‘justice’ to seven activists. It is a state sponsored attack on a part of the anti-capitalist movement.

Parallels have been drawn between this trial and the OZ obscenity trial in the late 1960’s. OZ was a counter cultural magazine and trial became a cause celebre. It was widely felt that the magazine was being targeted as a way of getting at the counter culture as a whole. The state is fearful of the 'anti-capitalism' and has targeted the WOMBLES as a highly visible symbol of the movement. This is a direct continuation of the police repression witnessed at Genoa, on the policing of the Brighton demo in September and the attack on a recent demonstration outside the Italian embassy on Saturday, 2 March 2002. Groups such as Indymedia ( http://www.indymedia.org.uk) are under increasing attack from authorities all over the world. Last year’s Mayday protestors were under constant threat and FIT routinely monitor activists. Yet, far from destroying the ‘anti-capitalist’ movement this trial is drawing support from both the activist community and the wider community.

This is a part of an escalating attack on the anti-capitalist movement. Not because of handfuls of angry kids burning banks or breaking windows - but because our criticisms and ideas have gone from nowhere to gaining widespread acceptance in less than five years.