CND's B.Kent / Mark Thomas protest fairford london coach detentions
from guardian | 01.04.2003 17:38
From Guardian Letters Page; 31st March 2003
http://www.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0,3604,926045,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0,3604,926045,00.html
We protest at the illegitimate detention of protesters who were en route to Fairford air force base on March 22 (Letters, March 24). The 1994 Criminal Justice Act was used for the supposed aim of searching for weapons. The police stopped three coaches, took away items such as food and scarves - on the pretext they could be used to disguise faces - and then forced everyone back to London. Drivers were threatened with arrest if they stopped on the way.
This mass detention attacked the right to protest. The police bypassed any judicial procedure, since no one was even arrested for supposedly processing a weapon. Their action illustrates an alarming tendency to use the law as a pretext to harass and detain people, in the name of preventing disorder or terrorism. We oppose such disregard for democratic rights.
Catrin Lewis
Chair, Haldane Society
Bruce Kent
CND
Mark Thomas
Jeremy Corbyn MP
and four others.
from guardian
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MASS CIRCULATE THE VIDEO (when it's ready!)
01.04.2003 21:14
THIS ACTION BY THE POLICE WAS REPREHENSIBLE TO THE HIGHEST DEGREE - A COWARDLY AND UTTERLY MALICIOUS ABUSE OF CIVIL LIBERTIES. WE WILL PREVAIL IN MASS-CIRCULATING THIS VIDEO WHEN IT HAS BEEN FINISHED - GIVING MAXIMUM PUBLICITY TO THIS OUTRAGE AND HIGHLIGHT TO THOSE WHO DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE HOW OUR CIVIL LIBERTIES HAVE BEEN SWEPT AWAY - AS WELL AS SHOWING THE EXTRAORDINARY DEGREE TO WHICH THE AUTHORITIES ARE ANXIOUS ABOUT THE EXTENT TO WHICH A HIGH-PROFILE PUBLIC PROTEST LIKE THIS COULD PRIZE OPEN THE LID BEING KEPT ON PUBLIC DISSENT AGAINST WAR, AT A TIME WHEN EVERY EFFORT IS BEING MADE TO MAINTAIN PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR WAR.
Waltzing Matilda