Skip to content or view screen version

Maria Gallastegui arrested at the Cenotaph War memorial.

Terence Bunch | 04.11.2009 21:35 | SOCPA | Globalisation | Terror War | World

Long-time Peace Campaigner, Maria Gallastegui was arrested this afternoon at the Cenotaph War memorial in Whitehall, London.

Long-time Peace Campaigner, Maria Gallastegui was arrested this afternoon at the Cenotaph War memorial in Whitehall, London.

She was taking part in a 229 minute vigil to mark the deaths of 229 soldiers killed so far in Afghanistan along with two other men.

After around an hour two officers, who had been waiting close by in a police van, stepped out onto the street and approached the three campaigners. A short while later an officer phoned into his station and a very short while after that the three were arrested and taken away.

This statement, before the arrest, was issued by Maria earlier.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE
Wednesday 4 November 2009

THREE PROTEST AT CENOTAPH OVER AFGHANISTAN WAR
229 minute silent protest – one minute for each British war dead

At 2pm this afternoon, three people began a protest at the Cenotaph, the monument to British war dead in Whitehall, London, about the escalating war in Afghanistan.

Holding a banner saying ‘End Afghanistan corporate war. Honour our troops. Bring them home’, the three intend to remain for 229 minutes (3 hours and 49 minutes). Each minute represents one British soldier killed since the conflict began in 2001. The protest will be carried out in silence.

This year alone, 92 British troops have been killed in Afghanistan. (1).

The protest will also honour the many thousands of Afghanistan civilian deaths as a direct result of the war (2) with indiscriminate airstrikes accounting for a large increase in deaths of Afghans since 2006 (3).

NOTES

1.  http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2009/sep/17/afghanistan-casualties-dead-wounded-british-data#data

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_casualties_of_the_War_in_Afghanistan_%282001%E2%80%93present%29#Aggregation_of_estimates

3.  http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/09/07/afghanistan-civilian-deaths-airstrikes

4. See  http://peacestrike.org.uk/ for more information

Terence Bunch
- e-mail: terry.bunch@terencebunch.co.uk

Additions

Update.

05.11.2009 14:37

Maria was released at midnight last night on unconditional bail to attend court in mid December.

She was arrested under the already failed and scheduled for repeal SOCPA act for taking part in an unauthorised demonstration within a designated area.

The two men she was with were also released on bail, Simon (left) unconditionally and the other, Ian (right) on a condition he does not take part in any further protests or demonstrations within the designated area between now and his court date.



Terence Bunch
mail e-mail: terry.bunch@terencebunch.co.uk


Comments

Display the following comment

  1. Image from the previous report. — Terence Bunch