3 July 2010

Four activists from Democracy Village, Parliament Square, were sent to
prison on July 3rd on charges of obstruction and contempt of court.
Following a day of direct action defying court orders for possession of
Parliament Square, dubbed Operation Rolling Thunder, 15 arrests were made on
Friday evening.

Three women refused to pay fines of £40 for obstruction and were sent to HMP
Holloway for 7 days. Another activist was sent to HMP Wandsworth for
contempt after carrying a white peace banner into court. When asked if he
would 'purge' himself on return to court by Magistrate Nicholas Evans, he
refused.

contact:

Mike 07799 887008 ; Camilla 07962 889459 ; Phoenix 07769 791387

 http://democracyvillage.org
democracyvillage [at] gmail.com

(Via Democracy Village Facebook page -  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=113998618637971 )

Here are some details for prisoner solidarity, we still need to find prison nos for two of them!

HMP Holloway, Parkhurst Road, London N7 0NU

Booking line no for visits: 0207 979 4751, visits up to three adults
(need to give name, address, dob, contact tel, have photo id/proof of address)

Anita Olivacce Prisoner no: A989...5AT
Katie Dolan Prisoner no: A9902AT

One other woman still to ascertain name/no

Please send messages, cards etc.

You can send a Postal Order, addressed to the Governor, put on the back Prison no, name

HMP Wandsworth, PO Box 757, Heathfield Road, Wandsworth, London SW18 3HS  http://www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/prisoninformation/locateaprison/

Simon Moore, still to ascertain prisoner no

Booking line for visits 020 8588 4002, if no visits possible before Thursday, there is an induction visiting time Thursday a.m. (again, up to 3 adults, need ID – passport/dvl, can bring underwear/socks)

Send postal order for canteen accounts to the Governor, prisoner no/name on back/date of birth.

Civil disobedience protests are peaceful but not legal.

If a legal protest not considerd CD

Anyway, in none of the described cases is anybody going to jail for what they did at the protest. Or at least not directly. Contempt of court is (usually*) conduct within the courtroom and you don't even have to be the one on trial to be subject to that. And the women weren't sentenced to jail for what they did at the protest but for refucing to abide by the order of the court to pay their fine.

Good civil disobedience, what that term means. If it's CD then you must be found guilty. If you are found iunocent then the actions weren't CD after all but lawful protest.

* can also be for violation of a court order that pertains to conduct outside the courtroom.

"Civil disobedience protests are peaceful but not legal."

Not necessarily. For example, one can disobey an unlawful order, e.g. conscription into an illegal war of aggression, or a law which undermines an existing law or legal precedent, e.g. disobeying a byelaw which contravenes Articles 10 and/or 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, directly incorporated into domestic law through the Human Rights Act 1998. Whether the act of disobedience is ultimately legal / lawful or not depends on which law or right is considered to take precedence. Civil disobedience basically just means one or more members of civil society disobeying orders or rules (considered by them to be unjust and/or to promote their cause).

"Anyway, in none of the described cases is anybody going to jail for what they did at the protest. Or at least not directly. Contempt of court is (usually*) conduct within the courtroom and you don't even have to be the one on trial to be subject to that. And the women weren't sentenced to jail for what they did at the protest but for refucing to abide by the order of the court to pay their fine."

Firstly, you are being pedantic, and secondly you are probably not entirely correct. The women were, as I understand it, sent to jail as an alternative to receiving a fine, since they made clear that they would not be able to pay a fine, rather than for wilfully refusing to pay a fine. Simon held a separate (additional) protest inside the courtroom (I think this was in protest at the incarceration of the women) and was jailed for that, after he refused to "purge his contempt", i.e. show contrition or remorse.

"Good civil disobedience, what that term means. If it's CD then you must be found guilty. If you are found iunocent then the actions weren't CD after all but lawful protest."

The courts often find "innocent" people "guilty", and "guilty" people are often acquitted, for a host of reasons. The courts are very far from being infallible or impartial. You are just being pedantic for the sake of it. Get a life.

Solidarity to the prisoners of conscience!

"Civil disobedience basically just means one or more members of civil society disobeying orders or rules (considered by them to be unjust and/or to promote their cause)."

Sometimes. But not "basic" to the concept in the least.

Quite often a civil disobedience action (the action itself) is NOT directed against a law considered unjust*. Like when we have a "lie in" blocking an intersetion as a protest to some war. And we do have something similar to your described situation when we are claming "legal according to the jurisdiction we believe will be held supreme in this matter" (for us over here that is pretty much always state vs federal). But we wouldn't ordinarily call that sort of action CD (done over here your example WOULD be CD since it is clear that just about nobody in this society considers the decisions of international bodies of the least relevance; and that incluse most of us radicals -- "One Worlders" are pretty thin on the ground over here).

I haven't a clue why you imagine I am writing AGAINST civil disobedience. It's quite popular over here with a long standing tradition.

* By which I mean it isn't the law itself that is being broken/disobeyed. Probably the most famous/most widely spread CD in our history of the sort you consider "basic" was the resistance to the "Fugative Slave Act" (when most people in the North refused to aid efforts to recapture slaves and many actively aided their escape to safety. In other words, LARGE MOVEMENTS of CD are usually aimed directly at the unjust law, but large scale CD movements are rare.

In my political life the ONLY example would have been during the Vietnam War with aid to draft dodgers (resisters). Get the difference? A sit down blocking the entrance of the Induction Center would NOT be an example (the laws we would be breaking would be ones about blockingn access to public buildings, refusing an injunction to leave, etc. but NOT the Selective Service Law itself (while the action of aiding a draft resister would be). One is an illegal action PROTESTING what we consider a bad law; the other directly resisting what we consier a bad law.

(Via Democracy Village Facebook group -  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=113998618637971 )

Here is an update on the prisoner details with all the nos:

URGENT URGENT URGENT!!! Please send cards and messages to them today!
We are hoping the girls might be out tomorrow Tuesday, but just in case there is possible visiting time tomorrow at 2!

Simon needs all the support and messages he can get. There is a possible induction visiting time on thursday morning. Visitors need name/address/id/proof of address

Prison details:

HMP Holloway, Parkhurst Road, London N7 0NU

Anita Olivacce Prisoner no: A9895AT
Katie Dolan Prisoner no: A9902AT
Ana Palencia Prisoner no: A9900AT

Booking line no for visits: 0207 979 4751, visits up to three adults (need to give name, address, dob, contact tel, have photo id/proof of address)

Please send messages, cards etc.You can send a Postal Order, addressed to the Governor, put on the back Prison no, name.

HMP Wandsworth, PO Box 757, Heathfield Road, Wandsworth, London SW18 3HS

Simon Moore, prisoner no: A9907AT

Booking line for visits 020 8588 4002, if no visits possible before Thursday, there is an induction visiting time Thursday a.m. (again, up to 3 adults, need ID – passport/dvl, can bring underwear/socks) Send postal order for canteen accounts to the Governor, prisoner no/name on back/date of birth.

 http://www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/prisoninformation/locateaprison/

@Concerned citizen

You need more reason to call someone 'troll' that not agreeing with their post.

Address the points of the discussion, not the person. Rationality please for f*K sake.

By your post, you are the troll.

Troll or not, MDN is clearly being pedantic, which I have no time for whilst my comrades are in prison for peacefully protesting against a war being waged in which innocent men,women and children are being slaughtered for no good reason. Instead of splitting hairs, why don't you and MDN express solidarity with the prisoners? But no, splitting hairs via comments on a post regarding the incarceration of peace protesters is so much more important, isn't it?