Another SOCPA travesty
doug | 02.07.2006 12:31 | Repression | London
When is a demonstration not a demonstration? That's a question that SOCPA followers have been asking for almost a year now, with ever more people coming before the judge as Serious Criminals. Since Brian Haw's protest was trashed early in the morning of 23rd May by 50 police there have been many reports of challenges to the Act's restriction on protest and its uneven enforcement by the police.
Police check the legality of the march.
Starting with a guilty verdict for one protester there was a report on Brian's diminished display. A 'forgotten' protester in Parliament Square was removed to Colnbrook and faces deportation. There was a 'day of seriously disorganised police farce' then a violent SOCPA arrest outside Downing street followed by a successful challenge to SOCPA. Is carrying a 'Vanity Fair' article 'politically motivated' material which is likely to get you arrested? Finally, the illegal protest by the Institute of Directors and 'One SOCPA for them, another SOCPA for us'.
On Sunday 3rd July a singing woman outside Downing Street, wearing a small placard about bullying, was threatened with arrest, which would involve her child being taken into care. On the same day a demonstrator in Parliament Square, campaigning against restrictions on freedom by Blair's government, was not harrassed by police. Following his court victory, Brian Haw will now be allowed the limited use of a megaphone, 'subject to noise tests and various other criteria'.
Other links:
doug
Additions
various links and reports
10.07.2006 02:14
i noticed in the picture of the institute of directors police visit above, that the woman police officer is the very one that started off the train of events leading to the violent assault (once again) of innocent peace activists barbara tucker and steve jago outside downing street this sunday the 9th july. so she let off the suits, and arranged the beating up of the peaceful activists! full sickening story on this at
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/07/344564.html news on court dates:
brian haw was due to appear infront of magistrates at horseferry road on tuesday 11th july, but the case has now been adjourned until the 24th july. supporters are welcome outside the court in the morning - the hearing is at 10am. brian is charged wtih breaking conditions enforced on his demonstration after the high court accepted the government's appeal earlier this year and ruled that brian's demo did have to conform to the serious organised crime and police act legislation.
after all the bad publicity in mainstream press recently including the independent, the observer and the evening standard, inspector terry begged barbara tucker to come to a meeting at charing cross to discuss her 'ongoing situation'. she went along out of pity with her friend, steve jago, who featured on the front page of the independent newspaper after his violent arrest at the hands of charing cross thugs. the super was there with chief inspector robinson, and they kept running in and out to check with their own lawyers as steve showed he had a rather better grasp of the legislation than they. they are trying to force barbara to fit their rendition of the law, while she maintains that she has done everything necessary to comply with the law while they have broken it by not giving her authorisation for her ongoing and notified protest. she awaits a further email from them, but after this weekend's shocking events it seems clear that they are resorting to bully-boy tactics and harrassment rather than follow proper legal processes.
radical comedy activist mark thomas continues his series of socpa related demos. he has applied for and received authorisation to hold a demo calling for the SACKING OF SUPERINTENDENT TERRY at charing cross police station.
he is also asking you all to come along to charing cross police station next monday 17th july, at 5.30pm to hold a mass notification of demos for the following monday. the idea is to get as many people as possible to fill in individual notifications of solo demos, and clog up the paperwork system. it might also be a sensible idea to make your notification along similar lines to barbara's. there is nothing in the legislation to prevent you from requesting to start your demo and then hold it at any time until this government goes, and as a lone protestor, it would be very difficult for the police to reasonably put any conditions on you - the grounds for conditions are laid out in detail in the act, and a peaceful solo demonstrator would be unlikely to cause any of the problems listed.
come along to mark's 'notification fest' next monday.
rikki
e-mail:
rikkiindymedia@googlemail.com
news of a parliament square protest breaking conditions
16.07.2006 22:59
full report with pictures at
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/07/345231.html
rikki
more socpa related stories on the newswire
25.07.2006 01:46
chris coverdale defends his socpa charge in an appeal at southwark crown court on thursday morning. he is using his study of international war crimes to bring the government on trial.
friday sees peter d in court at horseferry road. he was violently assaulted by police leaving a scarred face and blood on the pavement. his crime - an unauthorised protest. support him on friday morning.
in response to the israeli attacks on lebanon, there have been two spirited demos in paliament square. the first was authorised but organisers expected far fewer than turned up. this proved to be a challenge to the socpa law, but with help from the protestors' own stewards, police cleared the square quickly.
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/07/345231.html a couple of days later, the lebanese protestors were back, and what had been described as a candlelit vigil, turned into a road occupation right in front of westminster during their late-night sitting. again, organisers helped the police to clear the protest.
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/07/345464.html http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/07/345473.html on monday this week, mark thomas and 14 other people each held lone 'authorised' demos in the square
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/07/345974.html but afterwards, things turned sour for some long-time activists outside downing street
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/07/345978.html film to follow relating to this last story.
rikki
Comments
Hide the following 6 comments
new report posted
12.07.2006 13:02
rikki
more police violence
13.07.2006 00:13
full report and pics posted at indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/07/344564.html
film posted at indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/07/344852.html
rikki
e-mail:
rikkiindymedia@googlemail.com
mark thomas actions
18.07.2006 23:01
mark thomas hopes to try the same thing the following month with 50 demos, but in the meantime, charing cross need to learn exactly what the legislation says, otherwise they might find themselves unable to bring any prosecutions under the act.
report and pics at
rikki
Excellent strategy from Mark Thomas
19.07.2006 10:47
In Brian Haws case we have seen an important visual protest against the governments warmongering and the awful consequences destroyed by the police
I believe Mark Thomas is leading a way for peaceful people to fight back against all this
If they want someone to have to get police permission and fill in a form to hold a placard in parliament square then lets try and go along with it in such numbers that they themselves begin to wish they had never heard of this part of SOPCA 2005
Is it correct that applications can be made by post or email and that permission can be obtained without a specific date or ending time?
(so that you get the permission the law says you must have but dont necessarily have to carry out a protest, unless you feel like it)
We could with the right approach get thousands of applications made from all over the country perhaps even from all over the world(do you have to be in the UK to apply?)
SUPPORT MARK THOMAS I SAY
mike d
e-mail:
solidaritypark@hotmail.com
Homepage:
http://www.myspace.com/solidaritypark
answers to mike d's questions and latest on steve jago harrassment
20.07.2006 01:13
(so that you get the permission the law says you must have but dont necessarily have to carry out a protest, unless you feel like it)
We could with the right approach get thousands of applications made from all over the country perhaps even from all over the world(do you have to be in the UK to apply?)"
applications can certainly be made by post. they have also been accepted by email (eg from brian haw's solicitors, bindmans - thus setting a precedent), and should be by law, but charing cross might try to suggest this is not acceptable. i think they would be wrong.
of course you can get authorisation for a demo and then not turn up - you could perhaps be ill i, and i don't think you'll need a sick note:)
i guess if the same person kept doing that over and over, there might possibly be a case for 'wasting police time', but we'd have to look into this with solicitors.
as to start times, i think they're quite important. now, according to the act, you have to give a duration, and charing cross are arguing that you cannot say 'indefinite' unless you are planning on staying on site like brian haw, as they claim if you left you'd be finishing your demo. this claim has yet to be tested in law, and according to the wording of the act, which does not adequately define the term 'demonstration', it is possible that they will be proved wrong. another approach that some are taking are to use the phrase 'from time to time thereafter'. again, the act doesn't make clear that this is unacceptable, but charing cross are claiming it won't do. this can only be fought out in court. notify them of your demo in this way, then try a few different times (even if they don't authorise you), then get summonsed/arrested and go to court showing that you adhered to the requirements of the act, but that the police unlawfully failed to notify you. if it works you can also sue them for unlawful arrest etc. this is more or less the approach that barbara tucker has taken, and it is very interesting to note that despite being summonsed more than forty times now, she is still waiting for a court case to test the fact that the police have failed to authorise her. i don't think they want to go through with it in case she wins - then the floodgates will be open.
the idea of a mass postal/email application is excellent, and there is no reason why you would have to be in london when you do it. i can't really think of any reason within the act why you couldn't apply from abroad too, as long as you are claiming you will be in london for the demo itself. i can't really see the police pursuing an extradition to charge you for wasting their time either!!!! haha. this idea definitely has legs.
i shall mention these ideas to mark when the current crop of lone demonstrators meet at parliament square on monday at 5.30
incidentally, i believe a couple of the applications for monday may have suggested other participants, so come along and support them by all means, and even if they are all 'lone', there's still no law about coming up and chatting and hanging around as long as you don't start actively 'demonstrating' yourself.
on another issue, i've posted a story about the latest harrassment of campaigner steve jago, when he was arrested and prevented from delivering a letter to sir ian blair.
it's at
rikki
e-mail:
rikkiindymedia@googlemail.com
latest links and reports (aug 1st 2006)
01.08.2006 11:13
film of that arrest and asault
'crown court appeal could open doors to massive civil disobedience' - story about chris coverdale's attempts to bring the government to court for war crimes
'anniversary sleepover' - to mark the end of the first year since the anti-protest legislation came into force, some of the sunday picnicers held a pyjama party and sleepover in parliament square. their banners lasted till midday the next day before they were threatened with arrest.
'magistrate censures police' - in a socpa court case last week, the magistrate censured police for their disproportionate behaviour and recommended the defendant took the matter to the independent police complaints commission.
rikki
e-mail:
rikkiindymedia@googlemail.com