UK Newswire Archive
Britain and the Long Emergency
11-01-2011 13:00
An excellent summay of the unfolding situation in the UK.
http://orwellianuk.blogspot.com/2011/01/britain-and-long-emergency.html
IMPORTANT: A respectful request to all activists regarding Mark "Stone"
11-01-2011 12:59
In the wake of the Mark "Stone" story breaking in the mainstream media yesterday, a lot of journalists are trying their best to dig out all the gorey personal details. They are phoning up lots of activists and trying to find out more information. You may be one of those activists.Police scum travelling abroad on a false passport
11-01-2011 11:02
Questions need to be raised about the false passport Flash used and why the British were paying him to do actions abroadUndercover police officer back in the spotlight
11-01-2011 10:25
The Met Police are facing serious questions and the threat of an investigation into the role of one of their undercover officers. PC Mark Kennedy infiltrated activist groups between 2003-2009. On Monday, the second trial relating to planned action at Ratcliffe on Soar power station collapsed after the prosecution offered no evidence. This is believed to be an attempt to conceal the extent of involvement of their undercover officer, Kennedy, who was one of those arrested in connection with the action. He was described as having taken a leading role in planning the action and has been described as an agent provocateur by some.
Newswire: Second Ratcliffe trial collapses | Ratcliffe Trial: Media interest outside court | Ratcliffe: 2nd Court Case of 6 activist Collapses
Previous feature: Mark Kennedy/Stone exposed as undercover
Over the last few weeks, 20 protestors had been appearing in Nottingham crown Court, accused of conspiring to shut down the Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station. They were found guilty and were sentenced on the 5th January.
Today was to have been the beginning of a trial of a further 6 people arrested during the police Operation Aeroscope in which 114 people had been arrested by Nottinghamshire Police to prevent the action going ahead.
Integral to this case is the revelations of the work of the undercover Metropolitan Police Officer Mark Kennedy.
Mike Schwarz,a solicitor at the Bindmans law firm who represented the activists, said last night:
“I have no doubt that our attempts to get disclosure about Kennedy’s role has led to the collapse of the trial. It is no coincidence that just 48 hours after we told the CPS our clients could not receive a fair trial unless they disclosed material about Kennedy, they halted the prosecution. Given that Kennedy was, until recently, willing to assist the defence, one has to ask if the police were facing up to the possibility their undercover agent had turned native.”
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer was spotted in Nottingham Crown Court this morning. A few of us were wondering if that his presence had anything to do with the trial collapse? A couple of journalist asked court staff if this was so. But, no!! Apparently he was on a routine visit to the court. We looked at each other and said: “yea right” at the same time :-)
Sitting in Court 3 the defendant initially seated in the dock glass tank! were invited to seating within the court. Before His Honour Judge Milmo QC, Miss Felicity Gerry for the prosecution said that on last Wednesday 5th January, the Crown Prosecution Service undertook a review of the case and that as a result, the crown had decided to offer no evidence. The judge therefore declares all six defendants not guilty. The defendant were represented by six individual barristers each of which then applied to the court for an assortment of legal and travel costs all being agreed by the judge.
He then rose.
The whole gig done and dusted in under ten minutes!
Of course the defendants had had this case hanging over their lives since Easter 2009. Obviously being in possession of more of the facts than they had let on. It would of course have been nice if the prosecution might have alleviated their distress by pulling the plug earlier. But no!
Outside, speaking on the court steps, solicitor Mick Schwartz said that the reason for the collapse of the trial was that:
“Previously unavailable material that significantly undermines the prosecution’s case came to light on Wednesday 5 January’. The discovery of this material came at the time when the prosecution were informed that we planned to pursue disclosure of the evidence relating to PC Kennedy with the judge. Unsurprisingly, they have declined to confirm whether the new material relates to PC Kennedy. In my opinion the two are obviously connected. The timing speaks for itself. These events also beg wider, serious questions. Would this evidence have been uncovered had the defence not become aware of it through other avenues?”
The primary difference in the defence operated in these two trials was that the first 20 said in court, that they were going to carry out the action that they were accused of, but claimed that it was ‘necessary’. A lawful excuse for action. This latest trial of the six, would have said that yes, they were there, but had not decided whether to have taken part in any action, or not. PC Kennedy being present there, might have been able to help the court with that!!
It seems obvious to me that with the scale of the climate emergency in front of us, these and similar cases are only just the beginning. As time progresses runs out, many other concerned citizens will be taking direct actions on these issues. The law will of course be 47 steps behind, uncertain if action is necessary or not, or, if democracy and political process can save us. Having heard all the evidence from the last trial ….. I think not. Personally, I hope one day, the law might progress that we can eventually take action against companies / government for the new offence of ecocide, rather than defending individual peoples actions to be ‘necessary’.
Why we need a law on ecocide – Polly Higgins barrister, international environmental lawyer Guardian 5 January 2011
www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-gree...
This Is Ecocide | Making the destruction of our planet a crime
www.thisisecocide.com
I wish everyone with concerns about our future, the very best in any action they can take to help us protect it. For all future generations and species on the planet. My thanks.
+
Mike Schwarz’s of Bindmans Solicitors statement on undercover policeman Mark Kennedy and the Ratcliffe trial
On Easter Monday 2009 over 400 police officers were involved in a raid at Iona school in Nottingham, which led to 114 arrests. I represented 113 of those arrested. The 114th we now know was PC Kennedy, an undercover police officer. Six of my clients were due to face a long trial starting today. However, the prosecution told the defence on Friday 7th January 2011, just before the trial was due to begin, and almost 20 months after the investigation began, that ‘Previously unavailable material that significantly undermines the prosecution’s case came to light on Wednesday 5 January’. The discovery of this material came at the time when the prosecution were informed that we planned to pursue disclosure of the evidence relating to PC Kennedy with the judge. Unsurprisingly, they have declined to confirm whether the new material relates to PC Kennedy. In my opinion the two are obviously connected. The timing speaks for itself. These events also beg wider, serious questions. Would this evidence have been uncovered had the defence not become aware of it through other avenues? And is it appropriate that access to, and decisions about, disclosure of key evidence should exclusively be in the hands of a prosecution whose primary function is to secure convictions? Let me be clear about this. My clients were not guilty. They did not agree to join in any plan to occupy the power station. The evidence of PC Kennedy presumably confirmed this. Yet that evidence, had it been kept secret, could have led to a miscarriage of justice. Serious questions must be asked relating to the policing of protest, from the use of undercover officers, to the use of expensive and legally questionable mass pre-emptive arrest of protesters, to extremely restrictive pre-charge bail condition, to the seemingly arbitrary nature by which the 114 initially arrested were reduced to the final 26 who were eventually charged. The police need to answer some serious questions about their conduct relating to protesters generally.
SDS lies and misdirection
11-01-2011 09:54
The SDS are years old and still going but they are no longer what they were.Open Letter to Prime Minister David Cameron on Ninth Anniversary of Guantánamo
11-01-2011 08:33
The London Guantánamo Campaign, along with PeaceStrike, will this morning deliver a letter to Downing Street asking the Prime Minister David Cameron to take immediate action to secure the release and return to the UK of Shaker Aamer, seek the release of other prisoners to the UK on humanitarian grounds and help the US close Guantánamo Bay. The letter has been signed by 75 individuals and on behalf of organisations. Signatories include MPs Caroline Lucas and John McDonnell, MEPs Jean Lambert and Baroness Sarah Ludford, London Assembly Member Darren Johnson, Bruce Kent, Victoria Brittain, Andy Worthington, Lindsey German, Kate Hudson and many others.[Tunisia] Evidence Of Civilian Massacre 10-01-2011
11-01-2011 02:04
SPREAD THE VIDEO DOWN LOAD IT AND RE-UP LOAD IT. PLEASE HELP.
THIS IS A LINK TO MY SOURCE
http://www.youtube.com/user/freedomtunisia
Release the Kennedy Files
11-01-2011 01:13
The dramatic collapse of the trial of the remaining six Ratcliffe power station defendants has been seriously misrepresented.
government attacked civilians in tunisia
11-01-2011 00:46
horrific scenes from a hospital http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXYJw-on5KU
Strike the royal wedding
11-01-2011 00:30
Tube drivers and BA workers are reported (albeit in the daily mail) to be planning strikes for the day of the royal wedding. In the wake of the horrendous situation most people find themselves in, it will be reassuring to see the royal family step out in public to remind us that we're all in it together. I remember the talk of united strike fronts through 2011, and wonder what better opportunity unions will ever have to maximise their potential.No JDL-EDL Zio-Nazi Nonsense in TO!
10-01-2011 22:55
'We are community groups that work daily to fight racism. We have come together to condemn the Jewish Defence League for their Islamophobia and their support for the racist English Defense League.'Are the food riots spreading across north africa being caused by commodity specu
10-01-2011 22:47
it’s not like it hasn’t happened before. financial speculators buy up food commodities, hoping prices will rise. if prices do rise, there is no incentive to sell. the longer demand is greater than supply, prices will rise. eventually, someone will sell, and prices will stabilize......if you weren’t paying attention in those days, there were food riots all over the world. the rioting sparked revolutions which topples at least three governments.
this was originally written this from an american perspective, but it’s clear that the peole who casually toss people’s lives away don’t just hate people in one country or another, they seem to hate human beings in general.
and this post didn’t even bring up the pointless wars, the resource extraction industries, trigger-happy cops and ideologies of hate…this world isn’t going to hell, it’s become hell.
two screws attacked as Littlehey prison set on fire
10-01-2011 22:47
In what one can only hope is the second in a long line of prison revolts, prisoners refused to return to their wings after exercise, attacked two screws and set fire to and smashed up part of the prison estateNorwich UnCut Demonstration Saturday 15th January 2011
10-01-2011 22:03
15 January · 12:00 - 15:00 Outside Topshop, 15/17 The Haymarket, NorwichBuilding workplace and community solidarity: MASH (Mutual Aid Sheffield)
10-01-2011 20:58
Flash Mark Filled Minibus with Crusty Cuties
10-01-2011 19:36
Slavering hordes of vampires!Combating the Cuts agenda is now available
10-01-2011 18:23
The Notts SOS Combating the Cuts: Planning for Action event will take place in Nottingham as planned, on Saturday, 15th. January 2011 in the Dunkirk and Old Lenton Community Centre.
An agenda has been put together to help structure the day which can be found by following the link above. Full venue details can also be found there.
Across the UK, groups have sprung up in opposition to the cuts being imposed by the Coalition Government - with students, protesting against the trebling of fees, taking the lead. Locally Notts Save Our Services (Notts SOS) has organised a public meeting, a demonstration attracting more than 1,000 people and a number of smaller actions. Students have rallied at both local universities and occupied the Great Hall at University of Nottingham.
But it is not enough to simply protest against the cuts, even in vast numbers. This is one of the key lessons from the movement against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. If we want to win, we need a strategy. Notts SOS have some ideas about what this might involve, but we don't pretend to have all the answers. It is with this in mind that we are organising the Combating the Cuts event on Saturday, 15th. January 2011.
We hope to bring together as many people as possible to come up with ideas for campaigning around the different lines of attack on our communities and then try and build these into a coherent strategy. For this to work, we need participation to be as wide as possible: activists, service users, public sector workers, trade unionists, the unemployed and others. We need your ideas to carry the fight-back forward.
So get in touch with us to let us know that you will be participating. Also tell people you know about this important event.
Contact us via Notts SOS website conference page.
Ratcliffe: 2nd Court Case of 6 activist Collapses
10-01-2011 18:23
Today was to have been the beginning of a trial of a further 6 people arrested during the police Operation Aeroscope
Ratcliffe: 2nd Court Case of 6 activist Collapses
Over the last few weeks, 20 protestors had been appearing in Nottingham crown Court, accused of conspiring to shut down the Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station. They were found guilty and were sentenced on the 5th January.
Today was to have been the beginning of a trial of a further 6 people arrested during the police Operation Aeroscope in which 114 people had been arrested by Nottinghamshire Police to prevent the action going ahead.
Integral to this case is the revelations of the work of the undercover Metropolitan Police Officer Mark Kennedy.
Mark 'Stone/Kennedy' exposed as undercover police officer? - Indymedia UK 21 October 2010
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2010/10/466477.html
Mike Schwarz,a solicitor at the Bindmans law firm who represented the activists, said last night:
"I have no doubt that our attempts to get disclosure about Kennedy's role has led to the collapse of the trial. It is no coincidence that just 48 hours after we told the CPS our clients could not receive a fair trial unless they disclosed material about Kennedy, they halted the prosecution. Given that Kennedy was, until recently, willing to assist the defence, one has to ask if the police were facing up to the possibility their undercover agent had turned native."
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer was spotted in Nottingham Crown Court this morning. A few of us were wondering if that his presence had anything to do with the trial collapse? A couple of journalist asked court staff if this was so. But, no!! Apparently he was on a routine visit to the court. We looked at each other and said: "yea right" at the same time :-)
Sitting in Court 3 the defendant initially seated in the dock [glass tank!] were invited to seating within the court. Before His Honour Judge Milmo QC, Miss Felicity Gerry for the prosecution said that on last Wednesday [5th January], the Crown Prosecution Service undertook a review of the case and that as a result, the crown had decided to offer no evidence. The judge therefore declares all six defendants not guilty. The defendant were represented by six individual barristers each of which then applied to the court for an assortment of legal and travel costs all being agreed by the judge.
He then rose.
The whole gig done and dusted in under ten minutes!
Of course the defendants had had this case hanging over their lives since Easter 2009. Obviously being in possession of more of the facts than they had let on. It would of course have been nice if the prosecution might have alleviated their distress by pulling the plug earlier. But no!
Outside, speaking on the court steps, solicitor Mick Schwartz said that the reason for the collapse of the trial was that:
"Previously unavailable material that significantly undermines the prosecution's case came to light on Wednesday 5 January'. The discovery of this material came at the time when the prosecution were informed that we planned to pursue disclosure of the evidence relating to PC Kennedy with the judge. Unsurprisingly, they have declined to confirm whether the new material relates to PC Kennedy. In my opinion the two are obviously connected. The timing speaks for itself. These events also beg wider, serious questions. Would this evidence have been uncovered had the defence not become aware of it through other avenues?"
The primary difference in the defence operated in these two trials was that the first 20 said in court, that they were going to carry out the action that they were accused of, but claimed that it was 'necessary'. A lawful excuse for action. This latest trial of the six, would have said that yes, they were there, but had not decided whether to have taken part in any action, or not. PC Kennedy being present there, might have been able to help the court with that!!
It seems obvious to me that with the scale of the climate emergency in front of us, these [and similar] cases are only just the beginning. As time progresses [runs out], many other concerned citizens will be taking direct actions on these issues. The law will of course be 47 steps behind, uncertain if action is necessary or not, or, if democracy and political process can save us. Having heard all the evidence from the last trial ..... I think not. Personally, I hope one day, the law might progress that we can eventually take action against companies / government for the new offence of ecocide, rather than defending individual peoples actions to be 'necessary'.
Why we need a law on ecocide - Polly Higgins barrister, international environmental lawyer Guardian 5 January 2011
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2011/jan/05/ecocide-law-ratcliffe
This Is Ecocide | Making the destruction of our planet a crime
http://www.thisisecocide.com
I wish everyone with concerns about our future, the very best in any action they can take to help us protect it. For all future generations and species on the planet. My thanks.
+++
Mike Schwarz's of Bindmans Solicitors statement on undercover policeman Mark Kennedy and the Ratcliffe trial
On Easter Monday 2009 over 400 police officers were involved in a raid at Iona school in Nottingham, which led to 114 arrests. I represented 113 of those arrested. The 114th we now know was PC Kennedy, an undercover police officer. Six of my clients were due to face a long trial starting today. However, the prosecution told the defence on Friday 7th January 2011, just before the trial was due to begin, and almost 20 months after the investigation began, that 'Previously unavailable material that significantly undermines the prosecution's case came to light on Wednesday 5 January'. The discovery of this material came at the time when the prosecution were informed that we planned to pursue disclosure of the evidence relating to PC Kennedy with the judge. Unsurprisingly, they have declined to confirm whether the new material relates to PC Kennedy. In my opinion the two are obviously connected. The timing speaks for itself. These events also beg wider, serious questions. Would this evidence have been uncovered had the defence not become aware of it through other avenues? And is it appropriate that access to, and decisions about, disclosure of key evidence should exclusively be in the hands of a prosecution whose primary function is to secure convictions? Let me be clear about this. My clients were not guilty. They did not agree to join in any plan to occupy the power station. The evidence of PC Kennedy presumably confirmed this. Yet that evidence, had it been kept secret, could have led to a miscarriage of justice. Serious questions must be asked relating to the policing of protest, from the use of undercover officers, to the use of expensive and legally questionable mass pre-emptive arrest of protesters, to extremely restrictive pre-charge bail condition, to the seemingly arbitrary nature by which the 114 initially arrested were reduced to the final 26 who were eventually charged. The police need to answer some serious questions about their conduct relating to protesters generally.
Undercover officer spied on green activists - Rob Evans and Paul Lewis Guardian 9 January 2011
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jan/09/undercover-office-green-activists
Mark Kennedy: A journey from undercover cop to 'bona fide' activist - Rob Evans and Paul Lewis Guardian 10 January 2011
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jan/10/mark-kennedy-undercover-cop-activist
http://ratcliffeontrial.org
____________________________________________
ALAN LODGE
Photographer - Media: One Eye on the Road. Nottingham. UK
Email: tash@indymedia.org
Web: http://digitaljournalist.eu
Member of the National Union of Journalists [NUJ]
____________________________________________
"It is not enough to curse the darkness.
It is also necessary to light a lamp!!"
___________________________________________
<ends>