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Police, Lies, and Video Tape

IMCista | 14.04.2005 11:18 | G8 2005 | Genoa | Free Spaces | Indymedia | Repression | Technology

While dozens of police are on trial for abuses in Genoa in 2001 (including the violent raid on the Indymedia Centre which left British independent journalist Mark Covell critically injured), trials have been taking place in New York in relation to over 1,800 people arrested during the Republican National last year. This week (more than four months after NYC IMC first broke the story of perjury by a NYPD Officer, a front page story in the New York Times [which can be read here] reveals the role played by independent video evidence in the dismissal of the false charges brought by police.

Over 90% of the people arrested have since be found to have commited no crime. Police video 'evidence' presented in court by the prosecution was proved to have been doctored in at least one case. You can read the transcripts of the Democracy Now! interviews about this story that aired last week or check out the whole show as audio or video.

While the availability of cheap video technology has led to an increase in the amount of video being presented as powerful evidence in court. Police in this country are clearly targetting 'unsympathetic journalists' in an attempt to both stifle any publicity given to protests and avoid public scrutiny of their own actions. In a recent example, a freelance journalist was arrested just minutes after filming an arrest that occured during a protest outside a meeting of G8 environment ministers taking place in London. It was reported afterwards that the police kept the footage and the camera but typically, the charges have since been dropped.

Cop attacks media filming protest
Cop attacks media filming protest


If you are interested in media activism, on the 14-15 May in London, Indymedia UK will be hosting an independent media convergence for independent journalists, media activists, techs, and artists from all over Europe to meet each other and plan non-corporate media coverage of the G8 summit taking place in July.

RESOURCES:

EVENTS:

Further info and background links:

IMC UK Links
Video Journalist Arrested on Greenpeace Demo

Journalist Arrested filming gardaí

Free Speech attacked

Terrorism Act Affects Photographers

Anti-war demonstrator arrested for filming

Harresment of media activists

Journalist arrested brutally by Israeli Border Policemen

Ewa Jasiewicz arrested in Tel Aviv Airport

Other links:
Undercurrents 'Breaking News' video, article 1
Undercurrents 'Breaking News' video, article 2
Undercurrents 'Globalisation and the Media' video

IMCista

Comments

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A Decade Of Party And Protest

14.04.2005 14:28

Hey, don't forget to check out Schnews At Ten - The Movie for a decades worth of direct action footage from the front lines. You can watch a short trailer from the schnews website or better still catch it being screened at a cool venue near you.

The SchNEWS crew are apparently joining TRAPESE in London for a big knees up this month in London (on the 23rd April) -  http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/04/308649.html

A Decade Of Party And Protest
 http://schnews.org.uk/schmovies/sch-at-10-movie.htm

So, this is absolute, final, final cut of SchNEWS At Ten - The Movie. That's ten years of reporting the news each week from the direct-action front line. It's a big, bad world out there and thanks to camcorder activists a lot of it has been caught on film.

Ten years is a long time. When SchNEWS was first cobbled together there was no e-mail, no web and mobile phones were only fashion accessories. The thought of producing a film would have been laughable (actually it still is, but hey…) Back then we didn't know how long SchNEWS would last Now, ten years down we can honestly say we have a history.

The film has been billed as charting the early days of resistance to the Criminal Justice Bill through to our recent massive party in London and everything else in between - of course, it doesn't. It would be impossible to get the last ten years worth of direct-action footage into such a short time. What we have done is stick to the story of the SchNEWS and how it's evolved, sustained itself and cut through all of the boring academic bullshit through information, inspiration and telling the truth..

So, get the popcorn in, kick back and marvel at how so many lazy good for nothing anarchists have got it together and kept it together for the last decade.

But please remember the revolution will most likely not be televised and it won't have a soundtrack.

SchNEWS At Ten - The Movie 74 mins - DVD format (Categories: anarchist filth, social history)

COVERING:
* Criminal Justice Act
* Squatters Estate Agency
* Simon Jones
* Newbury Bypass
* Reclaim The Streets
* Liverpool Dockers
* SchNEWS At Ten tour 2004
* J18
* Seattle, Prague, Genoa etc.
* Anti-War
* Mad Pride
* How SchNEWS is produced
* Climate Change

and loads more available now on DVD from Cultureshop

DIY


Photo from Aotearoa

15.04.2005 08:41

Cop attacks media filming protest
Cop attacks media filming protest

The photo is from an anti-motorway protest in Wellington, Aotearoa (New Zealand).
 http://indymedia.org.nz/feature/display/23516/index.php

me
- Homepage: http://www.indymedia.org.nz


What does lead to

20.04.2005 22:28

There is no doubt that the police penned and scooped hundreds of quite innocent protestors and illegally imprisoned them in an asbestos ridden building long out of use In Genoa the police were equally well out of control, and the agents provocateurs well in evidence
This isn't a problem with the police
This is a problem with the Governments and those behind them
To use the term fascism isn't idle. Nazi doctrine is way out in front for the perpetrators and history is repeating itself
Recognize it and use it

dh