Solidarity For Political Prisoner Sean Kirtley

On Saturday 6th September two hundred activists made it to Ledbury, Herefordshire, for the Carnival Against Vivisection in solidarity with political prisoner Sean Kirtley. The day of action was called by various groups in resistance to the imprisoning of peaceful campaigners under SOCPA legislation, and as a stand for the animals suffering inside vivisection laboratories.

Protesters met on the grass verge, where the police held them allowing a maximum of 15 at a time to demonstrate outside Sequani labs. Shortly after campaigners made a spontaneous break for the labs, with police responding by blocking the bridge to push back the crowd, creating minor scuffles. Multiple attempts were also made to access the labs using various pre-planned routes, meeting police each time, some of which had dogs. Protesters then regrouped at the grass verge to march the original route around town.

Pictures: 1 | 2 | Videos

Newswire: Sequani demo | Carnival Against Vivisection - Arrest Witnesses Appeal | Carnival Against Vivisection - some thoughts | Carnival Against Vivisection - Latest

Previous features: Carnival Against Vivisection | Sequani Besieged by Surprise Action

The following is text is from the Free Sean Kirtley website: http://www.supportsean.wordpress.com

Sean Kirtley was sentenced to four and a half years in prison after an 18 week trial which was at the time the longest running animal rights trial in history. He was found guilty of "conspiracy to interfere with contractual relationships so as to harm animal research organisation".

Sean along with many others had his door smashed in and his house raided by police back in 2006 as part of “Operation Tornado” which was designed to start a case and try and lock up peaceful animal rights campaigners using new SOCPA legislation which was created to protect the vivisection industry from effective campaigners such as Sean and the Sequani defendants.

He was behind the SSAT (Stop Sequani Animal Testing) website and was seen by the police as the organiser of many the demonstrations against Sequani and suppliers of Sequani. He never himself actually broke the law during any protests, the police were present for most of the demonstrations he attended.

Additions

Video of the days events

10.09.2008 13:32

Video of the days events -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfWUtnML2x8

ninja

Bit more solidarity

16.09.2008 21:06

"Free Sean" (UK)

From Bite Back

http://directaction.info:

"Slogans spraypainted on walls leading to town.

Free Sean Kirtley
Fuck SOCPA
Fuck NETCU

War on speciesism!
ALF"

Free Sean
Homepage: http://supportsean.wordpress.com

Clarification regarding hidden comments

05.10.2008 23:11

It is clear that many comments previously made on this story were intended to be inaccurate or misleading, were personal attacks intended to stoke the flames, and/or were disruptive by very likely being posted by 'the opposition' to cause disruption, splits and false paranoia in the Animal Liberation movement.

However the movement has the strength and cohesion to counter such attempts at disruption.

Various comments have therefore been hidden with reference to the IMC UK Editorial Guidelines at

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/static/editorial.html, also out of concern for Sean's situation, and through feedback from Sean's established points of contact.

Some of the remaining comments refer to the hidden, disruptive comments, but are left to give some background to the reasoning behind the hiding process. The thread may therefore seem a bit disjointed.

Sorting out comments that were contrary to imc guidelines, from those that were valid but which have no relevance without the context of the others, has been a difficult process, which I have attempted as fairly as possible, following consultation with other reliable contacts.

I apologise to any that may find their own comments hidden for no apparent reason, but I trust that those with genuine concern for solidarity in the AR movement will accept this is a side effect of a difficult process, which I have attempted with the lightest touch and least disruption.

Quoting imc-uk moderation guidelines at

http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/listinfo/imc-uk-moderation:

"Personal abuse will not be tolerated. This includes name-calling, bullying, personalisation of arguments, ad-hominem attacks and unsubstantiated accusations."

"Abusive or inflammatory language will not be tolerated. This list is not a place for flame wars, no matter who started it."

Finally, to quote a remaining comment: "Don't believe everything you read!! Simple! Speak to your friends in person and just be wary of all that is said over the internet" and comment removed as part of this process: "until all the facts are known we would ask that people stop discussing it on public websites like this"

Thank you and good night.

Indymedia Pat

Comments

Hide the following 11 comments

Free Sean

10.09.2008 13:22

Keep fighting, the battle has just begun.

fuck socpa

VPSG benefit gig

12.09.2008 19:13

Lets raise a glass for Sean at the wagon and horses, on the 20th sept
VPSG and sanctuary benefit gig, Adderley Street, Digbeth, Birmingham.
Punk, reggae and dub and a vegan curry, this will be the first time since mid Sequani trial that we will all be together and can raise a glass for activist and good friend Sean.

Trial Hussy

Establishing our right to protest...

15.09.2008 09:51

There is an English Bill of Rights of 1689, which, to my knowledge and according to the authoratative Halsbury's Statutes (1995 re-issue) is still valid. It states that it is the right of subjects to petition the King (obviously this is because the King had legislative power at that time, and thus it is declaring that it is the right of subjects to petition the legislative authority - in the 21st century that is of course the government) and all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal. Arm yourself with knowledge about the law and represent yourself. I don't think it would go down well with an old judge that a law that people fought with their lives for is being ignored by the present government.

In addition, although it is claimed that only a few of the rights enshrined in the Magna Carta still exist, the Magan Carta seems to have been written in such a way that future Kings, Queens, or other legislative authorities can never remove any of its rights, insomuch as it states: 'TO ALL FREE MEN OF OUR KINGDOM we have also granted, for us and our heirs FOR EVER [emphasis added], all the liberties written out below, to have and to keep for them and their heirs, of us and our heirs'

Latest allegations are false...

23.09.2008 20:50

I know one of those who made allegations about particular people in Warn. There was some evidence to back it up (both public and private ). This latest round is nothing to do with those original allegations and is one of 2 things.

-Someone saw our posts and thought it would be a good way to disrupt AR. If this is the case then we as a group have to say sorry to the rest of the AR movement and especially to the animals.

or

-Those we are investigating are doing this to make our allegations look part of this rubbish.

The facts are that these posts seem to link in SHAC with other groups, this sounds exactly like Shacwatch. All these new posts are done during the working day, again the same as Shacwatch site. These people do not understand animal rights as the complain that Lynn was a hunter. In the past Sabs have condemned Lynn because she helped dig out foxes not just because she was a hunter. To someone not into animal rights the differences are small to someone into them the differences are huge. Terriermen and their helpers are the worst of the worst, outsiders do not understand the subtlety. From this we can see that these posts are probably bogus.

The earlier ones about Warn's actions have some basis and the grass we are looking for will be uncovered but these later posts are just disruption.

The most worrying comment was from Until All Are Free who responded to allegation of a grass with "So What?" . This person is likely to be one of the grasses in Warn we are after.

In the meantime the thing to do is continue fighting for the animals but do not pass your details, phone numbers, email address etc to people like Until All Are Free.

From Oldham but not Oldham Steve

Yawn... boring boring boring...

23.09.2008 23:52

So please do you plan on actually posting this evidence, we at WARN are busting to find out which one of our small group of close friends has betrayed the AR movement.

Seriously though, Ill say it again because clearly the above posters of bullshit are so stupid they cannot take in the idea and structure of WARN.

WARN = A Website.

WARN = A News resource for groups in the West of England.

WARN isn't an active campaign group, it is a collection of campaign groups from the West of England. So to say WARN has infiltrators is pretty much like saying one of the groups in the west has infiltrators. Which?

These threats towards Lynn from the ALF are absolutely absurd and were weirdly posted at the same time as Shacwatch was updated with more slatting of Lynn today.

If for some SHOCKING reason some of this scaremongering is coming from real activists and not shacwatch / police / vivisection lobby take heed.

IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE UNCOVERED A GRASS TRY AND KEEP ANY INFORMATION INTERNAL AND TO YOUR TRUSTED FRIENDS, WEED THEM OUT BY FEEDING THEM INFORMATION WHICH WILL IDENTIFY THEM AS AN INFILTRATOR ****THEN**** WHEN THEY HAVE BEEN CAUGHT RED HANDED POST THEIR DETAILS ON INDYMEDIA.

IF NOT, STOP AIRING YOUR DIRTY LAUNDRY ON INDYMEDIA. IT MAKES US ALL LOOK LIKE A MOVEMENT IN DISARRAY EVEN THOUGH WE KNOW ITS NOT THE CASE.

I have never seen such bullshit on Indymedia, clearly some of the above posts are police and those trying to wind us all up.

We aren't stupid you filthy bastard coppers do you think we will give up? Do you think demos will stop? Do you think direct action will cease?

This isn't the first time propaganda has been used against grass roots activists and it sure as hell wont be the last.

As for WARN being grasses, I'm looking forward to the actual evidence and I'm not talking about the "WARN GRASSED UP MY SANCTUARY TO THE BBC" Tears before bedtime that NoGrass has been posting. We have no remorse about the exposes we have worked on in the past and will defend our actions every time. If not for the great work of the undercover BBC reporter on this occasion, Westlea would have still been taking and pocketing donations and hoarding animals. We would never had been able to get the message conveyed to so many members of the public in such a short space of time without using the media.

Any problems do email us or phone us, or if you are animal rights we can talk about it face to face this weekend in London if you are attending the Anti Fur March?

All the best,

Chris D

Chris - WARN
mail e-mail: warn at riseup dot net
Homepage: http://westernanimalrights.wordpress.com

Let's set the record straight!

24.09.2008 15:17

I couldn't believe it when I heard about the debate going on - betrayal, selling out, grassing and copying Sean's hard drive...I then read it for myself and decided that it is time to set the record straight once and for all - straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak!
I was a defendant in the S145 trial with Sean and would like to confirm that all the allegations made about grassing etc are complete lies. Yes, it could be somebody trying to cause trouble within the movement, but, please, whoever you are, have some respect for the people who gave up a large chunk of their lives, preparing for and going through this trial. Also, have some respect for Sean, who is currently in prison, awaiting his appeal.
For the record too, NOBODY apart from the police and the computer expert for the defence, had a copy of Sean's hard drive. The allegation that money had changed hands over this is the most pitiful thing I have heard, since Sean's sentence.
The Sequani defendants all stayed friends thoughtout the trial, we were there for eachother, supporting eachother through the difficult times, a friendship that could probably only be truly understood, if you were one of us.
Whoever is making these silly accusations, enough is enough, please stop now, as this is the truth, from somoeone who lived through, first hand, every minute of every day of the trial.

A Co-D x

Co-defendant

Shit stirring

24.09.2008 18:57

To be honest, most people can see through this bullshit.

For those who can't, and are genuinely believing that people in WARN are grasses and other rumours, remember this...

1. Indymedia is an open newswire. ANYONE can post under any name and say ANYTHING they want. They can post, repost to themselves under a different name for as long as they want.

2. Successful movements will naturally attract opposition. So expect pathetic people like shacwatch and police to be out and about stirring up as much as they can. What they want is to split a movement with rumours and suspicions. This will only work if we play into it and believe bollocks which is being posted on here.

3. Don't believe everything you read!! Simple! Speak to your friends in person and just be wary of all that is said over the internet. We all know who to trust and not trust by now. Yeah, there are probably infiltrators and grasses in the AR movement. In the past when we have found them, people are told IN PERSON - never by hysterical indy posts with no evidence and no grounding.

Indy Watcher

Keep it offline folks...

24.09.2008 22:41

If any of the allegations are indeed true, and you are a genuine activist, you would have the sense to talk about them to others in person and not pour your thoughts out on Indymedia to be read by our enemies.

The comments above don't appear to reflect the reality of feeling within the movement; I never encounter these discussions or divisions over this stuff when I'm talking face to face with other activists, which is one reason that some of the comments have raised my suspicions about those contributing to this discussion.

Judging by the crudeness of some of the lies - about Lynn Sawyer for example - I'd say that the author(s) is probably the same sad person who set up that animal rights watch blog. I seem to recall that in order to write their articles, they'd clearly spent a lot of time trawling Indymedia for news on AR activism, and also wrote in a similarly infantile manner as in a couple of the above postings.

So I wouldn't be surprised if all this isn't just one shit stirrer with a boring job answering phones for GSK or something... My advice to other genuine activists out there is to ignore all the current online debate about grasses and to discuss it in person if necessary. Then we'll see if there's any substance to the allegations.

That's my first and my final say on this issue.

Southern lass

SOCPA

26.09.2008 17:21

The whole point is that Sean was above board and utterly legal. He did not mask up, he did not swear, he distanced himself physically from anyone who was protesting in a robust manner (without in any way judging that person). Those who do not like the confrontational approach, or masking up etc would have no problem with Sean because he obeyed the police and was very careful to keep within the confines of the law. Of course the problem is 145 and indeed 146 SOCPA has criminalised standing around with banners, the police don't need "inside information" all they have to do is collect cctv footage and statements from hysterical staff .
To clarify Sean was not sent to prison because he went out at night wrecking things or liberating animals he was sent to prison because he peacefully demonstrated and was made out to be an organiser. The so called evidence was not from an informer. Of course many of these posts implicate that Sean did illegal acts which is handy for any opposition journalist or CPS lawyer so be please be careful when posting comments the last one seems to assume that Sean was doing full on direct action of a naughty nature. Indymedia has been paraded in court before as "evidence", the gutter press are even less discerning. In fact if Sean had been protesting about anything else at all he would not have been arrested let alone sent to prison as is the nature of this disgusting law (well until they widen its powers).

Lynn Sawyer

Sean did nothing illegal!!

26.09.2008 18:08

Lynn is spot on, this is exactly the point. Sean did nothing illegal and was imprisoned for legal protests and appearing to be an organiser of such protests. So, to those who claimed he was grassed up, do explain for what exactly??? Would be very interesting to hear some real facts. Everything he was convicted for wasn't exactly secret information and wasn't even illegal. There is no denying there are grasses and / or cops undercover in the movement, but there is no need to believe rumours on the internet that anyone could post.

S x

Sarah

SG

28.09.2008 15:34

Gawd, is this thread still running? I've got to say, I find it quite comical. I know the people I trust and those are the ones with the guts to print their real name and genuine email addresses (not an email address they have just knocked up for the sake of trying to look genuine).

Next, someone will be saying that vivisection is here to stay.....hahahhahaa.....

:))