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not sorry: cops still spinning Menezes execution

Jeff Parks | 23.07.2007 12:57 | Repression | Terror War | London | World

At the same time as the family of Jean Charles de Menezes were holding a memorial to mark the 2nd anniversary of his death, the cop who devised the Operation Kratos policy which killed him was busy defending her bloody legacy to the press.

Barbara Wilding, now Chief Constable of South Wales Police, told the South Wales Echo: "[Shoot-to-kill is] the most awful title and not one that should ever have been put to that policy. We should have challenged that right from day one."

It's a tough sell, given that the policy is to "identify, locate and neutralise the threat [by] deliver[ing] a critical head shot with 9mm rounds". Another key difference from the normal firearms policy is that a senior officer gives the order to fire, and the marksman must shoot whether or not he sees a threat, a distinction which goes unmentioned in the endless terror-hyping PR pieces, although Police Review had reported this in December 2004: "the Met decided to 'urgently revisit the legal basis' of the anti-terror Operations Kratos and Clydesdale after members of the force's firearms unit laid down their weapons [...] it is understood that they involve senior officers ordering a police marksman to shoot suicide bombers in London [...] the SO19 officers were concerned about their legal position if they were ordered to take a 'head shot' of a suicide bomber."

The Justice4Jean family campaign is holding a public meeting tonight, details below.




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Justice4Jean Family Campaign
Jean Charles de Menezes 7.1.1978 - 22.7.2005
Two years on - Too long to wait for justice

Public Meeting: Monday 23rd July 2007
6.30pm
Conway Hall,
25 Red Lion Square, London WC1
nearest tube: Holborn

Innocent Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead on 22nd July 2005 at Stockwell tube station as the result of a disastrous police anti-terror operation.

Two years after his shooting:

- No police officer involved in his death has faced criminal proceedings
- The inquest into his death remains adjourned
- The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) report into the police operation on the day of his death remains secret
- The IPCC report into Sir Ian Blair also remains unpublished
- The family and public still have no answers about the use of Operation Kratos and the police's shoot-to-kill policy

Join the Menezes family on the second anniversary of his shooting to hear about their continuing struggle for justice.

Speakers

Members of the Menezes family
Gareth Peirce (Birnberg Peirce Solicitors - who represent the family)
Jenny Jones (GLA member, Metropolitan Police Authority member)
Asad Rehman (Justice4Jean Family Campaign)

Jean Charles Menezes Family Campaign
PO Box 273 • Forest Gate • London • E7
07765 707 632
 justice4jean@gmail.com
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Jeff Parks
- e-mail: mojococo@gmail.com

Comments

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  1. Steven O'Doherty might have something to do with this... — Charity Sweet