UK Newswire Archive
LEGAL INFO for student day of action
29-11-2010 23:25
We hope no one will need this information, but let's all be prepared. Keep an eye out tomorrow for people handing out leaflets with phone numbers for legal support.IF YOU ARE ARRESTED you are entitled to:
- REMAIN SILENT. We strongly recommend you answer 'no comment' to all questions during interview, for your own benefit & that of others. From the moment you are stopped everything you say is evidence - there is no such thing as a 'friendly chat'. The police are trained to get information out of you, so stay strong. Do not sign any statements.
- Be told what you are arrested for.- Not to give your name, address or date of birth (but this will delay your release). However, your photo, prints & DNA can be taken without your consent.
- Have one phone call made on your behalf informing someone of your arrest. We recommend that you ask the custody sergeant to contact Arrestee Support (number available tomorrow). Tell the police that you authorise them to talk to Arrestee Support about you & your welfare so we can monitor your welfare & hopefully arrange someone to meet you on your release.
- You are entitled to free legal advice
- A translator if English is not your first language
- request a copy of PACE codes to read (then you will know all your rights in custody). Do ask.
- A medical examination if you feel unwell or hurt (inform the custody officer if you are on medication).
IF YOU ARE UNDER 17
- You will be required to have an appropriate adult present during interview.
- The police will ideally want a parent/legal guardian, but if they are unavailable you can either have a social worker (which we do not recommend) or another responsible adult. This can be any adult but the police might not agree to someone with a criminal record or who was on the protest.
IF YOU SEE / EXPERIENCE INAPPROPRIATE POLICE BEHAVIOUR
- Not the officers' numbers, find other witnesses.
- Make a detailed note of what happened as soon as you can. Include the time & date that you made it.
- Consider complaining about the police officer. Email us for more information about this. If you have a serious injury consult a solicitor first.
- Tell everyone you know.
Contact us: bristolarresteesupport [at] riseup [dot] net
Phone number available on the day.
For more information on the law & your rights see http://www.activistslegalproject.org.uk/
Lewisham PROTEST watch learn this is how we fight back:
29-11-2010 21:45
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRgKNL6UzLk&feature=youtu.be
Sussex Police intelligence failure
29-11-2010 20:40
A press release from Sussex Police on the November 30 protest planned for Brighton shows their intelligence has failed - yet again.Full article | 1 addition | 1 comment
Cambridge Old Schools Occupation now in Day Four.
29-11-2010 20:21
Nottingham Students Protest Fees and Cuts - Press Release
29-11-2010 20:10
Against Cuts - Essex / East London
29-11-2010 20:06
New collective organising resistance against the cuts and government oppression.Get involved.
Ratcliffe Day 5 - Hansens says govt lie on climate
29-11-2010 19:28
Report from the afternoon session of day 5 of the Ratcliffe trial
This long awaited afternoon in Nottingham Crown Court saw NASA scientist James Hansen give evidence as an expert witness.
The result was a dramatic combination of courtroom drama and complex university lecture. The jury heard Hansen give detailed explanations, assisted by colourful graphs, of the seriousness of human-induced climate change, including the 'dead certainty' of sea level rise by 12 metres this century.
Hansen emphasised that in a genuine democracy, public knowledge of climate change could be used to leverage the government. However, considering that governments are being influenced by fossil fuel companies to continue Business As Usual, public knowledge of climate change is not itself enough.
Hansen explained that individual efforts to reduce carbon footprints would at best only delay the inevitable. Phasing out coal completely, on the other hand, would solve 80% of the problem: “We need to leave it in the ground!” When commenting on the motives for the defendants, James Hansen said that, “It doesn’t surprise me that young people are angry when they know that politicians are lying to them.”
When challenged by the judge as to the measurable effects of the defendants' proposed action, Hansen noted they the action could have prevented one, if not more, species from becoming extinct. On average, Hansen elaborated, a coal-fired power station of Ratcliffe's size is responsible for the extinction of 400 species in its 50 year lifetime.
Court continues tomorrow at 10am, with more defendants being called to give evidence.
Full article | 1 addition | 1 comment
A Brief History of Kettling
29-11-2010 19:14
The process of kettling involves lines of police forcefully corralling people together into a space then surrounding the whole group on all sides preventing them from leaving the cordoned-in area. Any attempt by people to leave the cordon would result in physically being attacked by police (usually with batons, often with riot shields, boots and fists) in order to preserve the kettle. Detention in this manner would last several hours. After people have become bored, tired and cold they would be released in a controlled fashion, usually one person at a time, after being searched, photographed and had their names and addresses taken.
Ratcliffe Trial: James Hansen says governments are lying on climate change
29-11-2010 18:39
The students are revolting again - tomorrow
29-11-2010 18:22
tomorrow (tuesday 30th) 11am college green there is a second student demo callled, as always solidarity is welcomed, here are the details for those without facebook....Callout on facebook reads:
"EVERYONE TRY TO WEAR BLACK SO WE ALL LOOK LIKE A TEAM!
STARTS AT 11.. AND FINISHS WHEN IT FINISHS.. were all one team here.. a non violent team.
WE NEED TO CONTINUE THE CAMPAIGN - KEEP UP THE PRESSURE STUDENT STRIKE! ON TUESDAY 30th NOVEMBER!
DO NOT COME WITH THE INTENTION TO BE VIOLENT
It's not long now until the Con-Dems try to pass their education cuts through parliament, and if they do – we will keep fighting!
But in the meantime – ALL OUT FOR THE 30 NOVEMBER!
• No to fees
• No to cuts
(tax the filthy rich to fund education for all)
We say:
• No to every cut!
• Publish the financial records – we won't tolerate rich and bloated managers
• Teachers' unions – bring forward your grievances – we should strike together!"
(2,191 "attending" for those that want to know)
Hope to see some of you out in the streets tomorrow!
words from a police kettle
29-11-2010 17:22
David Graeber and Clare Colomon speak from inside the police kettle on 24th November 2010.
FreeBus Pilot Weekend
29-11-2010 17:22
FreeBus Takes to the Road!FreeBus is a charity which aims to provide a comprehensive, environmentally friendly - and free - bus service for Bristol. Since the project launched in July over 400 local people have joined.
December 10th / 11th is the FreeBus Pilot Weekend, with a hired bus picking people up from Temple Meads Station and around the city centre.
There'll be live music, mince pies, crazy costumes, general merrymaking and of course free bus rides for all!
We need as many people as possible to come down on Friday 10th December from 11am - 3pm. We'll be based mainly at Temple Meads.
Please spread the word, come down and get on board!
www.freebus.org.uk
Don't Send Them Back To Afghanistan & Iraq! [1]
29-11-2010 17:22
Friday December 10th is International Human Rights Day. To mark that day, Bristol Stop The War Coalition is pleased to be joining with Bristol Refugee Rights and others in raising awareness of the serious matter of enforced returns of asylum seekers to Afghanistan and Iraq. The British government has categorised both these war-torn countries as 'safe places' to which asylum seekers will be forcibly returned. In many cases these are people who have lived in Britain for many years and made their homes here. Returning to Afghanistan and Iraq they face great danger. A recent report produced by Oxfam and 29 other aid organisations gives a clear description of the dangers to civilians in Afghanistan and the part the British & US occupation plays in creating these dangers. See http://www.oxfam.org/en/policy/nowhere-turn where the report can be downloaded.There will be direct testimony from a former member of Bristol Refugee Rights who has been returned to Afghanistan and from others who have direct up-to-date knowledge of the situation 'on the ground'.
Come and hear how the British Government is endangering the lives of Afghan and Iraqi asylum-seekers by forcibly deporting them to their countries of origin.
Venue :Refugee Welcome Centre, Newton Hall, Newton Street, Bristol, BS5 0QZ
Date: 10th December 2010
6pm – Welcome with food from around the world
7pm – Learn the facts on enforced deportations and how to help campaign against them – testimony from asylum seekers, plus Minoo Jalali ( former legal officer at Avon and Bristol Law Centre) and Steve Bell (Stop The War Coalition)
8.30pm – Fund-raising Party - music, theatre and dancing
Map: http://www.bing.com/maps/?where1=BS5%200QZ%20,GB&FORM=M...REDIR
For further information email bristolstopwar@hotmail.com
An Evening Of Fun With Bristol Stop The War
29-11-2010 17:22
Help us raise the money needed to campaign against the continuing occupation of Afghanistan both locally and nationally – and have some fun at the same timeDate: Thursday December 16th
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: The Golden Guinea pub, 19 Guinea Street, Redcliffe, Bristol BS1 6SX
Map: http://www.bing.com/maps/?where1=BS1%206SX%20,GB&FORM=M...REDIR
This is by the main entrance of Bristol General Hospital in Redcfliffe. The room we will use is in the basement, entrance down the stairs in the bar.
Quiz, live music, raffle, other fun
Please come and bring your friends/family/neighbours
For further information email bristolstopwar@hotmail.com
Another video emerges from Millbank.
29-11-2010 17:03
Hard to see reason for this charge, crowd is loose, police not threatened: http://youtu.be/MfTSdKUSwNo Torture Evidence Appeal Hearing: Tuesday 30 November, Court of Appeal, London, 1
29-11-2010 16:26
In 2008, Rangzieb Ahmed from Rochdale was sentenced to life in prison for directing acts of terrorism and was ordered to serve a minimum of ten years. In late June this year, he was given leave to appeal his convictions following allegations that he had been tortured in Pakistan with the complicity of the UK intelligence services.Ratcliffe Trial Day 5 - Cheryl Cole gets props
29-11-2010 16:23
Trial Day 5 - Cheryl Cole more effective than direct action
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http://ratcliffeontrial.org/2010/11/day-5-cheryl-cole-more-effective-than-direct-action/
Week two, Monday morning. As the politicians and industry lobbyists gather in Cancun Mexico for another round of the ill-fated climate talks, Sarah Shoraka, one of those who was arrested in the attempt to shut down Ratcliffe took the stand to eloquently explain why there is a ‘democratic deficit’ when it comes to climate change.
This was the opening for the defence, the chance to lay out why the defendants were compelled to attempt to shut down the third biggest source of emissions in the UK. Sarah spoke of her fears about climate change, and her concern that we are heading towards ‘the tipping point’ of no return. Sarah has been a campaigner for some years, and has had a lot of experience in presenting information to MPs, environment ministers, submitting evidence and answering questions, and has recognized that this approach is limited in the face of the magnitude of the threat of climate change.
While press interest in the action would have been a pleasing side effect, Sarah stressed that there was a very real, and concrete climate benefit in the action. If Ratcliffe had been stopped, E.ON would have been forced to switch to more expensive, but much less emissions-intensive gas in order to meet it’s energy production shortfall, reducing more emissions in this one action than Sarah would have been responsible for in her entire lifetime.
The prosecution then went on to cross-examine Sarah. The main line of offence at this point seems to be “you are all very smart and well organized, but how unfortunately misguided about these tactics you are.” The prosecutor said that direct action would make you look “quirky and kooky” to “ordinary people.” Ignoring or misunderstanding Sarah’s knowledge of the relative emissions-intensity of coal vs gas, the prosecutor insisted that no emissions would have been saved as E.ON would have made up the shortfall from somewhere.
The prosecution then went on to suggest a bizarre list of ways that the activists could better have spent their time. She started off establishing her credentials to do this by letting the jury know that she bought second hand clothes and had a compost toilet, before the judge told her that her personal life wasn’t relevant to the court case.
She cited Paul McCartney and Coldplay’s Chris Martin as examples of effective environmentalism, through their involvement with ‘Meat Free Mondays’. Instead of closing down power stations, she suggested that the defendants would be better off searching for celebrity endorsements for the likes of ‘Turn-off Tuesdays” or “Switch-Off Sundays.” Finally, she suggested that the money that was spent on the action would have been better off hiring Cheryl Cole to model second hand fashions.
We are contacting the UK delegation to Cancun to see if it is not too late for these radical new solutions to climate change to be tabled.
<!--EndFragment-->Oxford Free School #dayx2 activity 30/11/10
29-11-2010 16:05
Tech Tools for Activists book published
29-11-2010 15:10
