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Novartis threaten the right to protest banners and costumes

slade | 23.10.2009 17:57 | SHAC | Animal Liberation

On Wednesday 28th Novartis are back in court trying to extend their injunction against Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty. You may think that this is just an animal rights issue, but the new terms that Novartis are seeking will set a frightening precedent that will affect everyone's right to protest.

The background is that SHAC are holding a march against animal testing in Horsham on 31st October, which will end up at Novartis' premises there. SHAC are only permitted to have one such large scale demonstration per year. The last such one was in April 2008. The theme of this years march is naturally Halloween - given the timing.

On the Tuesday just gone, at a routine hearing, Novartis and their solicitor, the now infamous Timothy Lawson-Cruttenden (well known for claiming to protect peoples rights to protest but is behind some of their most draconian terms - remember the EDO and Heathrow injunctions) sought to introduce terms that would among other things:

1. forbid protestors from wearing any sort of face covering, in particular animal costumes, skull masks and all that. It is so worded that even people covering up against the cold would be affected.

2. force protestors to obey the bylaws of Horsham, regardless of whether they are compatible with the human rights act. This would stop people using megaphones on demos or hang banners.

3. very scarily try to restrict the right of protestors to have slogans and pictures on their banners. Images of vivisected animals would be banned. Slogans about how Novartis have paid Huntingdon Life Sciences to kill and murder animals for them, or pointing out that drugs from pharmaceutical companies are among the biggest killers in hospitals (just look at the figures for "adverse drug reactions") would all be banned by this injunction. Underlying this is also an attempt to have the name of Novartis removed from banners so they can avoid criticism.

They had hoped to force it through on Tuesday but Judge Sweeney would not allow it as they had not produced any evidence to support it. He gave them until next week to produce proper reasons why they should be allowed to get it.

Lawson-Cruttenden is going so far as to say that Halloween's "dark side" is the reason for why Novartis are so worried. However, what starts here, as has been regularly seen, will steadily creep into other areas of protest. What seems innocuous here will be used again and again to muzzle other protests. This is the thin edge of the wedge and if it is allowed through then it will threaten all free speech. Imagine not being able to name companies you are protesting against; imagine if you cannot show images of the horrors of war; imagine if your human rights were simply stripped away by right wing councils. All is possible.

Will Liberty do anything - unfortunately not, as they have been happily co-opted by the Vivisection lobby, happy to meet with the front group "Victims of Animal Rights Extremism" as was reported in a government report over the summer, but will not touch grassroots protestors with a barge-pole. Its down to grassroots groups yet again to protect basic rights we all took for granted.

slade

Comments

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Don't think this won't happen...

23.10.2009 18:33

...if anything it is most likely to happen, unless there is reasonable resistance/defence.

Top HLS customer GlaxoSmithKline got an exclusion zone around all their offices in May 2007 which excludes any form of protest, demonstration or outreach against vivisection:  http://www.shac.net/features/legal/injunctions/gsk.pdf. So for example wearing a t-shirt that says "vivisection kills" would be and is illegal if near enough to a GSK owned building.

HLS associates have drated dozens of injunctions against SHAC campaigners, more than any other campaign in the country by far:  http://www.shac.net/features/legal/legal.html

Restricting and banning protest is why the UK is a police state, not creeping towards one.

@


Just like EDO

23.10.2009 19:16

For those who remember the injunction the same set of solicitors tried to bring in against EDO, it was through massive solidarity that it was scuppered. It was the same sort of attack on free speech that is happening now. Doesnt matter if you are not into animal rights - get down and show solidarity on a freedom to protest tip, if just for our own sakes.

"Dan" you are a troll - if your intentions were honest you'd point out that happened in Switzerland. This is about a legal UK demonstration by ordinary, everyday people, not a covert action.

standing strong


Song & Dance

23.10.2009 19:26

Sounds to me like there are a few pharmaceutical industry troll out there who would rather see all the movements kept divided. After all, it suits their masters.

suspicious


a sizeable proportion

23.10.2009 21:20

of the 4 1/2 month Sequani trial in Birmingham was focused on a costumed halloween demo outside Hereford necromancers ProPath who carry out work on dead animals for Sequani (Ledbury) Glaxo etc.

Good news is that no one who was at that demo was convicted during the trial.

This repression of costumed demos comes of no surprise.

firing line
- Homepage: http://behindenemyline.wordpress.com/


protestors

23.10.2009 22:48

you can't blame a vast range of people for the behaviour of a few. it seems like all the animal rights campaigners are being persectued because some break the law.

liberty also held talks with the countryside alliance. there needs to be a body that looks into protests, marchs and demonstrations.

graham


TLC's MO

25.10.2009 09:39

Is this:
Get information on protestors from his chums in NETCU who get their info from FIT and photos from the CO11database, hence the masks kids, who wants to be identified?

Scare the living crap out of people/companies with lots of money with scare stories about animal rights people.

Promise the earth to them say that he will get rid of the nasty protestors by going to the High Court. Inn fact he will get them banned from entire counties. In fact anyone who agrees that the protestors might just have a point can be banned too, hell why anyone who reads the injunction, including the judge will have to abide by it. A girl who has signed an anti vivisection petition once will therefore commit an offence if she knows about the injunction and photographs her brother,a Novartis employee. Apparently even I might be considered a protected person under one of his injunctions!

Get journalist cronies like Nicola Woodcock to write some rubbish about protestors.

Get lots of Daily Mail and Times articles, comments and sensationalist crap, put it in lots of ringbinders and present it as "evidence".

Get an "interim" injunction behind closed doors by lying about one bloke and his dog who "terrorise" a workforce several thousand strong by standing at the gate with a banner protesting about the act that his child is dying of cancer from pollution caused by the company.

Send big blokes to bang on the doors of the activists concerned, photograph activists and serve several boxes of legal papers the abundance of which is meant to intimidate. Threaten prison if the injunction is breached, financial ruin if the injunction is challenged.

Have masked up men everywhere near the target company who photograph, film, harass and assault anyone who might be an activist. Give them licence to hit anyone who might be an activist with the injunction in paper form. It will be an imprisonable offence to film this behaviour as the "servers" of the injunction will be protected from "harassment" which includes filming them attacking people.

Go to court, click fingers to get Superintendant Stephen Pearl from NETCU to help. Fuck up injunction, get yelled at by High Court judge (who has just had to read 40 odd ring binders of utter irrelevant shite) for being an idiot.

Get shouted at client, get sacked by client.

Get paid £450 an hour for self, £200 for lesser mortals who work in the office which includes travelling, waiting in court etc REGARDLESS.

Give the evil eye to other lawyers who then get employed to sort out the humungous legal mess cos he TLC thought of this great money making scam first.

Laugh all the way to the bank.

Lynn Sawyer


I love TLC

26.10.2009 12:51

TLC is great. He's t5he best thing that has happened to Animal Rights in years. He's probably the best lawyer FOR us. He always cocks up his cases! Recently he cost hunt scum £100000 by cocking up a case he was taking for them. £100K directly out of Cuntryside Alliance pockets! Well done that man.

He's cocked up pretty much everything and cost the companies he suckers in lots of money. Long may he continue.

TLC Cuddler