On 15th November, two Nottingham residents, a retired paediatric nurse and a wheelchair user, dubbed the 'Atos Two', were charged with aggravated trespass.

The case follows an entirely peaceful protest at the offices of Atos ‘Healthcare’ on Stoney Street in the Lace Market.

Nottinghamshire Police have made it clear that there has been "too much of this sort of thing recently and we have been told to crack down on it", a reference to the wave of peaceful direct action which has spread across Nottingham and the UK over the last year.

This is a clear attempt to criminalise peaceful protests and acts of civil disobedience and to intimidate those who would take part in such activities.

We, the undersigned, condemn the decision to charge the ‘Atos Two’ and call on the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to drop the charges immediately.

Groups

Benefit Claimants Fightback           
Disabled People Against Cuts
ExLibris (Federation of Masked Booksellers)
Mansfield Save Our Services Group
Notts IWW (Industrial Workers of the World)
Notts Save Our Services           
Notts Uncut
Payday men's network
People's Histreh (Nottingham Radical History Group)
The Sparrows' Nest

Individuals

Niki Adams, Legal Action for Women
Wesal Afifi, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum
Mohamed Ahmed, Lincoln IWW
Alan Bestwick, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Michael Boyle
Ross Bradshaw, Five Leaves Publications
Sedley Bryden, Harrow, Greater London, UK
Jane Burd
Linda Burnip
Julia Cameron, DPAC (Disabled People against Cuts), Islington, Greater London, UK
Jennifer Campbell
Bob Cann
Hilary Cave, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, UK
John B. Chadwick, Bellingham, Washington, USA
Chris Cheetham
Martin Clough, M.E. Self Help, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, UK
Geoffrey Curl, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, UK
Alex Dable
Anne Darby
Wood David
Peter Dean
Dr Antony Dowd
Shlomo Dowen, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, UK
Dr Jane Ferrie, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health (University College London)
Dr Rhiannon Firth
Mary Foley
Margaret Foster
Gary Freeman, UNISON Rep (Personal Capacity)
Paul Frost, Mansfield Save Our Services Group (Personal Capacity)
Shirley Frost, Sheffield Defend Council Housing
Christopher Gare
Claire Glasman, WinVisible (women with visible and invisible disabilities)
Catriona Gold
Alfie Hallam
Suzanne Hallam
Jackie Hawkins, Isle of Wight, UK
Jane Henson, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, UK
Ian Hewitt, HIYE
Richard Hindes
John Hort
Debbie Jolly, DPAC (Disabled People against Cuts)
Neana Lawson, Nottinghamshire Disabled People's Movement
Juliet Line
Konnie Lloyd       
Nina Lopez, Global Women's Strike   
Cllr Greg Marshall, Broxtowe Borough Council   
John McArdle, Black Triangle Anti-Defamation Campaign in Defence of Disability Rights   
Richard McCance, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, UK
Rich Moth, Social Work Action Network (SWAN)
Rosemary Muge, Stapleford, Nottinghamshire, UK
James Mullett
Rob Murthwaite
Colin Newton, Inclusive Solutions   
Teresa Pacey-Devlin, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum
Tina Patel
Jane Petchell, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, UK
Melissa Plumb, Scarborough, Queensland, Australia
David Plumb, Scarborough, Queensland, Australia
Frédérique Poujades
Rose Powell, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, UK
Christopher Richardson
Richard Rieser, Coordinator UK Disability History Month
Ian Sandeman, DLA Help Group
Mark Shotter
Liz Silver
Dave Skull
Patrick Smith, Veggies Catering Campaign
Paul Smith, Atos Victims Group
Matt Southall       
Rachel Strong
Ange Taggart, Parking Is An Obstruction
Angelica Tatam
J. Thompson
Jo Thorpe
Margaret Tuck, Arnold, Nottinghamshire, UK
Geoffrey Turner
N. A. Unwin
Pete Watson, Convenor Notts UNISON Adult Social Care
Jan Wetzel, Marburg, Hessen, Germany
Cllr Chris Winterton, Mansfield South Electoral Division

To add your name please email nottsdefence@riseup.net

For more information on the case, see the report on Nottingham Indymedia: http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/2168

See also NottsDefence on Twitter http://twitter.com/NottsDefence