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Arrests before protest could start at EU Justice Ministers meeting in Newcastle

Thom | 08.09.2005 10:16

A protest at the start of the Justice & Home Affairs ministers meeting in Newcastle was foiled before people even got to the protest. They obviously didn't want the ministers to see the 12 foot square ID card that was going to be at the front drive.

Before the EU Justice & Home Affairs ministers had even started meeting today in Newcastle upon Tyne protesters were arrested in cars on their way to start a peaceful protest.

The plan was for protesters to mount a peaceful picket at the Gosforth Marriott Hotel in orange boiler suits and bar-coded foreheads, with a 12 square foot ID card to highlight the increasing restrictions on civil liberties being considered by ministers under the pretext of fighting the "War on Terror".

However cars were followed and stopped. The protesters were searched and detained "to prevent violent disorder". They have been taken to a police station in North Newcastle and are likely to be detained for over 24 hours, when the summit is over.

Kinda ironic that our civil liberties are taken away before we can even protest about having our civil liberties taken away!

For background info on ID cards have a look at  http://www.no2id.net/

Thom

Comments

Display the following 8 comments

  1. Freedom to Protest Conference — Vertigogen
  2. Sue them. — Pete
  3. That's so fucking ironic!! — the criminalisation of dissent
  4. Corporate media coverage so far — Thom
  5. Arrests at EU Ministers' Meeting — Angela Curtis
  6. just thinking — twilight
  7. Twilight Enlightenment. — Thomas Cowan
  8. Update — Thom