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'Mass Lone Protest' around Parliament

no-war | 14.09.2006 11:43 | SOCPA | Anti-militarism | Repression | Social Struggles | London

Discussion of a 'Mass Lone Protest' to circumvent the idiocy of the SOCPA act


*MASS LONE PROTEST*

Challenging the laws that forbid protest within a mile of parliament
has never been so much fun. The idea here is to weigh the cops down
with paper work so they themselves put pressure on the government to
repeal this draconian and ridiculous laws. here's the craic:

1. You can have a protest with one person on it if you seek and get
written permission from the cops.

2. There is always a demo at Parliament Square (Brian Haw, five years
plus and counting)

3. There is nothing to stop, say, a thousand people applying for a
demo.

4. Even if they are all at the same time.

5. If you were to, perhaps, have a demo about the War on Iraq at 6pm
and then want to protest against, say, really small demos at 6.30pm,
you should apply separately for each demo.

6. Otherwise you'd be breaking the law.

7. Laws obviously shouldn't be broken.

8. If 150 people all applied for two demos and all turned up at
Charing Cross police station to hand in their applications at the same
time, people would notice.

9. The police people would notice even more.

10. Weirdly this has already happened.

11. Even stranger - it's about to happen again.

To get a real idea of the event, see the report on:
 http://www.resist.org.uk/reports/archive/lone_protest/loneprotest001.php
and other ones linked to from there.

*Mass Lone Demo

organised by, amongst others, Mark Thomas, CAMPACC and more

Download your forms from:

 http://www.resist.org.uk/reports/archive/lone_protest/index.php

Hand in forms:
*/Charing Cross police station Friday 15th September from 6pm/*

Mass Lone Demo:
*/Parliament Square Friday 22nd September 6pm./* *

no-war

Comments

Hide the following 2 comments

A question

14.09.2006 14:44

As we cant get there on the 15th Sept,If the filled in forms are sent to CAMPACC rather than by recorded delivery to Charing Cross Police station can they be handed in on our behalf or will they try and say they have to handed in personally and refuse them in which case we would post to Charing Cross but think them going in with all the others might be better for the purpose
I think this is a brilliant protest if there is one piece of Bliar hypocrisy that really gets me it is this weasel attempt to stifle and hide protests against his war crimes
I hope everyone who cant get to the mass handing in will post instead
My 6.00pm protest is against police harassment of Barbara Tucker
My 6.30pm protest is against police harassment of Steve Jago

Mike D
mail e-mail: solidaritypark@hotmail.com
- Homepage: http://www.myspace.com/solidaritypark


metropolitan police and socpa - a "communication" blackhole

15.09.2006 19:32

thank you mike d

the update and hopefully nearly final chapter is:

I had thought that it is was allegedly unacceptable and even illegal that (groups) of grown men should assault women. That said individuals are wearing Metropolitan Police uniforms and dare to call themselves men whilst attacking a woman, quite naturally just disgusts me.

It is now inescapable that (until such time as the ridiculous SOCPA legislation seeking to criminalise peaceful conduct is found incompatible with the Human Rights Act as indeed it will be) I submitted a once in a lifetime notification as per SOCPA and clarified adnausem.

The Metropolitan Police by contrast have at taxpayers expense during the course of 60+ incidents during which vast amounts of my time have been wasted in police custody and continuously before the courts in the past several weeks, made more than an almighty and vicious mountain out of a molehill over what at best might possibly if the police had been truthful, a minor administrative matter.

It seems that’s what happens when Tony Blair illegally passes unfettered powers to the Metropolitan Police Force.

The police who you must notify to, claim to quote Supt Terry “that the CPS do not make the decision to (then also) prosecute in these matters”. Hmm, where are those easily accessible checks and balances/legal safeguards?

Not surprisingly the police have been unable to produce during their obviously obsessive fixation with attacking law abiding members of the public, any legal let alone foreseeable or even better ‘proportionate’ reason *why* delivery of notification by email might possibly be unacceptable, let alone criminal. Nor does any legislation preclude delivery by email. The police themselves as indeed do most of us, use and allow email for various reasons.

I have after all learnt that the police allow formal complaints by email.

so Email is not an unusual method of ‘communication’.

I simply notified, (which did seem ridiculous to have to do given I was notifying of peaceful law abiding conduct) in good faith of ongoing
peaceful campaigning, fulfilling all the legislative SOCPA requirements.

a) who – “I am notifying of my intention” – ummm.. that would be me
b) time –“anytime” (with immediate effect such as after the expiry of the 24hrs-
6 days)
c) where – anywhere within the designated area
d) how long – as long as there is government

Conditions could not be imposed because I could not possibly for example cause hindrance to Parliament.

So essentially I was notifying the police that hey I am a law abiding person going about my law abiding business.

Hardly a big deal.

I learnt on Thursday, that in fact Supt. Terry was aware of my notification on 6th March.

PC Wallis did of course confirm my details and actions on 9th March in a stop and search.

It has to be said that openly and honestly I have done as I notified.

The only ‘serious disorder’ I have evidenced has been carried out by police.

Rather than following legislation that definitively states that the police ‘must authorise’, and to quote Hansard of the Home Office Minister at the time Paul Goggins, “the one thing the police cannot do is say no”, the Metropolitan Police et al then went on some sort of fast track through every dirty trick we can pull book.

The prosecution failed to provide any evidence or case law to back up their “here’s something we made up yesterday” prosecution argument. The prosecution then tried to pull a fast one with some dodgy looking disclosures on the day and Terry and Robinson suddenly turning up demanding to go on the witness stand all of which the judge said no to.

I have to say as an innocent victim I am shocked by the actions of the state towards law abiding people.

I guess when the number one agenda of the state is warmongering, peace campaigners become targets.

Anyway, the ‘police’ have played the full extent of their hand which legally speaking still amounts to zero.

My sincerest thanks go to my wonderful barrister Kate and of course team Brian & Co, from our Parliament Square “family”. Love you all to bits xxx

The court did not even have to hear the ‘abuse of process’ argument.

The police of course even tried to circumvent the SOCPA law and send this political dissenter (who would have gone if bail conditions were not removed) to prison.

The judge declared that he would remove the ambiguities of the already varied bail conditions that essentially had been changed to read that I could be arrested (disappeared?) anywhere in England but whilst in Parliament Square with Brian, by sensibly removing all bail conditions.

Well, Tony Blair, it seems sending political dissenters to prison, is not yet a happening thing.

So I guess next week I will be back at Downing Street, continuing campaigning that the dreadful killing stops, and that Bliar stands trial for war crimes which would be another positive legal resolution. The vast majority of the people we talk to are not unsurprisingly increasingly very unhappy with Mr Blair et al and the Middle East genocide.

To quote a wonderful banner I saw, ‘the only roadmap Tony needs is the one to the Hague’

If I was Supt. Terry (a.ka.a “terry the tosser”), or is that the fall guy, I would take a step back (as any half decent ‘management’ person might do and look at the big picture) before showing oneself up to be by the minute any more of a deranged obsessive nutter pursuing this peaceful law abiding member of the public.

“Peace Love and Justice For All”.

barbara tucker