Andy Abbott faced charges of:
˜On 8 March 2003 at Colchester in the county of Essex being the organiser of a public assembly" under sections 14 (4) and (8) of the Public Order Act 1986.
This followed the 500 plus 'no war - bring the troops home' local peace march to the headquaters of the 16 Air Assault Brigade (paratroops) in Colchester just weeks before the invasion of Iraq. On this day 24 people had been arrested at a sit down protest accross the main gate. However, no charges were brought against the 24, except for Andy, who was later singled out for more serious charges under the public order act.
As Mr Abbott said before the trial:
"Interestingly, the CPS have let it be known that the decision to prosecute me was not made in Essex, orders 'came from on high'. It is certainly a very rarely used piece of legislation, with probably only a handful of people nationwide ever charged with this offence. The outcome of the case is likely to have crucial implications regarding our rights to protest in the future."
Garrison commander Colonel Tony Barton and Essex Assistant Chief Constable John Broughton appeared in court to give evidence on behalf of the prosecution. Earlier in the year they had sought to make this protest illegal under the public order act. However, under critical questioning in court it became claer that they had over-reacted, and been confused in their reasoning. The protesters even recieved praise in court from all sides for their moral commitment, self-discipline and peacefull conduct. The judge rule that the police chiefs had acted unlawfully in the ban.
This victory reflects the massive social power the anti-war movement possesses, due to its enormous size and unity, the fact that we are being vindicated by the disasterous and unpopular continuing war of occupation in Iraq, and the exposure of Blair's lies about weapons of mass destruction. Keep it up!