UK Newswire Archive
Palestine Today10 10 2011
10-10-2011 16:23
OCCUPY Protesters Unfocused? My Ass!
10-10-2011 15:19
News from ALARM
10-10-2011 14:55
ALARM (All London Anarchist Revolutionary Movement) meets every second and fourth sunday of the month, 6pm, in Central London.
http://www.soundthealarm.org.uk/
Good meeting this Sunday 9th of October, about 25 people in the room.
### DATES TO PUT ON YOU DIARY ###
# Next ALARM distro: Meet 3pm East Croydon train station on Thursday 13th October to help distributing our brand newFreeSheet!
# Red and Black club Friday 21st October 8pm till Midnight, atLARC 52 Fieldgate st, E1. The ALARM monthly social. Come, enjoy cheap drinks and good company on the eve of the most exciting day of the year!
# Anarchist Bookfair, 22nd October 10am to 7pm, Queen Mary’s, University of London on the Mile End Road. ALARM will have a stall, a workshop and a meeting. Check out the program of the event.
# ALARM will organise around November the 9th, students demo and walk out. Come to the next meeting to chat more about that
# EMA not ETON, first demo was brilliant, come to the next one on 12th November. See here for more details.
** NEXT ALARM MEETING: Sunday 23rd October 6pm **
Probably at Calthorpe Arms, check here for confirmation nearer the date
ALARM propaganda is doing great, the paper is out and distribution has started. Come on thursday in Croydon to help distributing some more. Flyers are being printed and we have some awesome stickers on the way!
We had few people from Radical London coming along. Radical London is a network of local radical organisations doing some amazing work (such as Radical Islington, Haringey Solidarity Group, Action East End...). We discussed making stronger links between our two organisations. If anyone is interested in contributing or starting a local group, come to the next Radical London meeting 12th November, 12-6pm at LARC.
Other events organised by anarchist friends:
- Hackney Housing infonight organised by HAG (Hackney Anarchist Group)
Tuesday 25th October 7pm, Marcon and Aspland community centre, Amhurst road.
- Thurrrock heckler distro sometimes mid November, in Grays (Essex). Will let you know more the details nearer the date.
Ceilidh Benefit Night For Antifascist Prisoners
10-10-2011 13:03
A benefit organised by supporters in London. Info about the case at www.leedsabc.org Sounds like it'll be a great night.Mark Kennedy: more pictures discovered
10-10-2011 12:55
Have discovered more photographs of undercover police officer Mark Kennedy. There has been much reporting of his monitoring activities in watching [&contributing to] direct action of climate change issues.
Well before anyone was aware of his mission, here he is at an event organised to oppose the building of the Kingsnorth power station by E-on.
Background:
Mark 'Stone/Kennedy' exposed as undercover police officer?
- Indymedia UK 21 October 2010
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2010/10/466477.html
Ratcliffe: 2nd Court Case of 6 activist Collapses
http://notts.indymedia.org.uk/articles/867
Ratcliffe Crown Court Trial 'Collected Report' PDF
http://notts.indymedia.org.uk/zines/855
*****
Reported at the time:
On Tuesday morning 1 April 2008, 30 people blockaded the entrances to E-on's offices on Mount St, Nottingham City Centre. People covered in green paint to represent E-on's greenwash, locked onto the front entrance to E-on's office and stood in front of other entrances preventing E-on workers from getting to work. The climate activists from Eastside Climate Action blockaded E-on workers as part of International Fossil Fools Day.
At E-on's offices today, Bob Castle said “We are here today because despite E-on publicly claiming green credentials, it is trying to build a new generation of coal fired power stations. It is trying to build the first new coal fired power station in the UK in 50 years, at Kingsnorth in Kent, and wishes to continue its expansion with a new power staion at High Marnham in Nottinghamshire. We are here to tell E-on that they will not suceed and the only real solution to climate change is to keep fossil fuels in the ground. Coal is the dirtiest Fossil Fool and to build new coal power stations in the face of climate change is collective suicide.”
Fossil Fools Day, called by the international Rising Tide network and its allies, has seen over one hundred actions take place around the world. Protests have focused on the companies responsible for runaway carbon dioxide emissions, as well as complicit governments and those promoting false solutions.
Fossil Fools Blockade E.On Offices in Nottingham 2008 : Pictures 1
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2008/04/395382.html
Fossil Fools Blockade E.On Offices in Nottingham 2008 : Pictures 2
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2008/04/395403.html
Nottingham Fossil Fools Blockade E.On Offices Surveillance and Specialist Equipment
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2008/04/395429.html
Police Searches Houses After Arrests At E.On Blockade
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2008/04/395366.html
2008 Nottingham Fossil Fools Take On E.ON In Nottingham [Feature]
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2008/04/395424.html
____________________________________________
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>
Block the Bridge NHS Action Reports
10-10-2011 12:55
Around 2500-3000 people blockaded Westminster bridge on Sun 9th October in an action to oppose the Health and Social Care bill and defend the NHS from privitisation. Called by UKuncut and supported by several Trade Unions the mass act of civil disobedience also saw an assembly to discuss the wave of occupations seen around the world and plans to occupy the London stock exchange on 15th October (more)
Further reports and pictures: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
The action started around 1pm with people blocking the bridge by lying down, many dressed as health workers. Two massive banners stretched across the bridge, one suspended from bamboo tripods reading "Save Our NHS" and "Block the Bill".
The blockade dissolved just after 4.30pm, following which a group of around 70 people were kettled by police on Lambeth Bridge.
During the action and the occupy london assembly many people were also talking about the student protests planned for 9th November and the strikes on 30th November.
Other coverage:
http://www.urban75.org/blog/block-the-bridge-save-the-nhs-protest-westminster-bridge-photos/
http://storyful.com/stories/1000009328
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattietk/sets/72157627729597953/
http://entoptika.co.uk/block-the-bridge/
http://arbolioto.blogspot.com/2011/10/occupation-of-westminster-bridge-by.html
Previous NHS Features:
Jan 30th: UKuncut Shut Ox St Boots in NHS cuts action
Boots on Oxford street was shut down by protesters campaigning against cuts on Sunday 30th January. The Ukuncut protest was part of a nationwide series of around 30 actions. Hundreds of leaflets were handed out to passers by with many engaging in discussions about the cuts: "The Tories and Lib Dems are lying to us when they say these brutal cuts are based on necessity. The truth is that they are a political choice. They choose to cut vital public services and they choose to protect the interests of super-rich individuals and corporations, allowing them to dodge £25bn tax every year. The governments cuts are not 'fair', we're 'not all in this together', and there are alternatives."
http://london.indymedia.org/articles/7170
Feb 27th: Save Whittington Hospital's A&E
Thousands of protesters have gathered to march against proposals to close the accident and emergency (A&E) department at north London's Whittington Hospital. The protest was organised by the Defend Whittington Hospital Coalition. The hospital may have to merge its A&E with London's Royal Free Hospital due to NHS cutback plans.
http://london.indymedia.org/articles/4378
March 10th: 'Day X for the NHS' Demonstration
More than 500 people followed the call to demonstrate in defense of the NHS on Wednesday 9th. They included many medical staff concerned at NHS cuts which will close hospitals and privatise the NHS by stealth. The march started at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, and ended at the St Bartholomew's Hospital in Spitafields.
http://london.indymedia.org/articles/7795
May 17th: March to save the NHS
Following a call to "march for the NHS" around 1500 demonstrated on Tuesday 17th from Euston to Whitehall to protest the planned cuts for the NHS. The NHS bill currently pushed through by the Government will ultimatelly allow neoliberal capitalist thinking and its belief in the markets to dictate the type of services the NHS will provide, causing irreparable damage to it.
http://london.indymedia.org/articles/9082
May 30th: UKUncut Emergency Operation
On Saturday 28th local high street branches of different banks were transformed into hospitals in a 'UK Uncut's Emergency Operation'. Anti-cuts activists from several parts of London followed the call to "tell the government to leave our NHS alone; it's the banks that are sick"
http://london.indymedia.org/articles/9172
10 years in Afghanistan:torture and detention
10-10-2011 12:55
Friday 7th October 2011 marked the tenth anniversary of the start of the current NATO-led war in Afghanistan in 2001. As well as leading to the death of thousands of civilians and soldiers, the war in Afghanistan is also the birthplace of one of the lesser known aspects of the so-called "war on terror": the torture and arbitrary detention of thousands of prisoners of all ages and nationalities.
10 years in Afghanistan: 10 years of torture and arbitrary detention
Friday 7th October 2011 marked the tenth anniversary of the start of the current NATO-led war in Afghanistan in 2001. As well as leading to the death of thousands of civilians and soldiers, the war in Afghanistan is also the birthplace of one of the lesser known aspects of the so-called "war on terror": the torture and arbitrary detention of thousands of prisoners of all ages and nationalities.
Most of the prisoners held at Guantánamo Bay had been held at prisons in Afghanistan, such as Bagram and the Salt Pit near Kabul, before being taken to Guantánamo, on the other side of the world, or were taken to Afghanistan as victims of the CIA's kidnap and torture programme, "extraordinary rendition".
Campaigners from the London Guantánamo Campaign and the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign held actions on Friday 7th and Saturday 8th October to mark ten years of this ongoing brutality.
On the evening of 7th October, around a dozen people gathered outside the US Embassy in Mayfair to stand in solidarity with all victims of torture and prisoners held without charge or trial over the past ten years. This demonstration, part of a monthly action held outside the US Embassy by the London Guantánamo Campaign, was held especially to mark 10 years of arbitrary detention and torture at Bagram and other prisons. In particular, they called for justice for victims and for the American government to return Guantánamo prisoners Shaker Aamer and Ahmed Belbacha, who have links to the UK, to this country.
On 8th October, the London Guantánamo Campaign joined the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign for a special "Ten Hours for Ten Years" action to mark ten years of Shaker Aamer's illegal detention in Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay as part of the Stop The War Coalition's Anti-War Mass Rally in Trafalgar Square. Shaker Aamer, a 44 year old Saudi national, who has a British wife and four children, including a son he has never met, was abused and tortured at Bagram before being sent to Guantánamo Bay where he has been held without charge or trial for almost the past ten years; he had been working for a Saudi charity in Afghanistan in 2001. He has never faced any charges or trial. Four other British residents whose release was sought at the same time as his by the British government in 2007 have long since returned to the UK. Although the government insists it is doing all it can, it has never explained why it has failed to secure his return to the UK.
Over 5000 people attended the successful anti-war rally, according to the Stop The War Coalition, from all over the UK. Talks were given by politicians, representatives of NGOS, celebrities, journalists and musicians. Speakers included Stop The War President Tony Benn, journalists John Pilger and Lauren Booth, Jemima Khan, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, musicians Lowkey and Brian Eno as well as many others. The names of over 120 people who have died in Afghanistan were read out.
The action for Shaker Aamer, which was eventually reduced to 8 hours (ending at 6pm instead of 8pm) by the powers that be, consisted of volunteers taking turns to stand inside a cage to highlight his plight. Signatures were also collected on a petition to the government calling for his release to the UK. In another cage, protesters donning Bush, Blair and Cameron masks and wearing the notorious Guantánamo orange jumpsuits were finally - temporarily - put behind bars for their crimes against humanity. They were joined for a short while by Kate Hudson, CND General Secretary, and anti-war campaign Pat Arrowsmith who spoke out against Shaker Aamer's continuing imprisonment without charge or trial. At 3pm, around 20 protesters held up letters spelling "B-R-I-N-G S-H-A-K-E-R A-A-M-E-R H-O-M-E". The stall and the action attracted a lot of interest from demonstrators and passers-by.
At 4pm, the rally concluded with protesters being led down Whitehall to Downing Street by veteran 105-year anti-war campaigner Hetty Bower and former soldier Joe Glenton, who was jailed for refusing to serve in Afghanistan, to deliver a letter to the Prime Minister from military families and soldiers calling for British troops to return home from Afghanistan. Over a thousand people joined this part of the rally. However, protesters were only allowed to go as far as Downing Street and not towards Parliament Square, further down the road, and those who remained outside Downing Street were threatened with arrest under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA) 2005.
------------------------
Back in 2001/2002, foreigners in Afghanistan were arrested by local warlords who sold them to the American military for a bounty of $5000, a small fortune to its recipients. Many had their personal items and identification stolen. After being tortured and abused in Afghan prisons, most were then sent to another illegal prison at Guantánamo Bay. Conditions in Afghan prisons are reported to be worse, with former British Guantánamo prisoner, Moazzam Begg, describing Bagram as being worse than Guantánamo. Deaths are not uncommon; the 2007 Oscar-winning documentary film Taxi to the Dark Side tells the true story of the savage murder at the hands of US soldiers of an Afghan taxi driver in 2002. Banned torture techniques such as hooding, sleep deprivation, the use of white noise and repetitive music as torture as well as physical and sexual abuse have been reported.
Prisoner conditions have not improved over the past decade; Bagram is very much in the same state Guantánamo Bay was in several years with no exact details of the prisoners held there, although the majority are reported to be Afghan nationals. Prisoners do not have access to medical and legal representation or communication with their families, except through the Red Cross. While prisoners at Guantánamo Bay have described the experience of being held there as "being buried alive", in parts of Bagram, prisoners are quite literally buried alive in tiny cells in underground bunkers. Since Barack Obama became president in 2009, the facility has grown fourfold in size, going from a prisoner capacity of 600 to over 2400. Although the Afghan government is due to assume control of all prisons in Afghanistan from January 2012, the US military has decided to retain control over a prison at Parwan near Bagram, which it is currently expanding and claims it is using it to hold high-value detainees.
Afghanistan has also been a hotspot for secret CIA-run torture jails and a destination for victims of extraordinary rendition. British residents, formerly held at Guantánamo Bay, Binyam Mohamed, who was kidnapped in Pakistan and Bisher Al-Rawi and Jamil El-Banna, who were kidnapped in Ghana were all taken to Afghanistan where they were tortured. In spite of pressure from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Extraordinary Rendition, the transfer of prisoners will not feature in the forthcoming torture (detainee or Gibson) inquiry set up by the government; the British government was aware that British residents and nationals were being tortured while detained in Afghanistan in 2002.
Perhaps one of the most extraordinary stories to emerge is that of German citizen, Khaled El-Masri, who was kidnapped on holiday in Macedonia in 2003 and taken to Afghanistan where he was detained for several months: http://www.pen.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/4051/prmID/1873
The main feature of this decade-long practice of torture and abuse of prisoners is the complete lack of justice and due legal process. Prisoners are detained and held outside of the recognised confines of the law. Wikileaks earlier this year revealed how random the investigation of prisoners conducted at Guantánamo Bay were, prisoners - 170 of whom are still held without charge or trial - considered to be "bad men" and the "worst of the worst". While all the main political parties in Britain have openly condemned the continuing regime of illegal detention at Guantánamo Bay, for the main part, they continue to support the ongoing war in Afghanistan, in which similar, if not worse, facilities exist as part of the war effort there. Similarly, while Barack Obama talks about closing Guantánamo (he had promised to close it by January 2010 - last year!), money is being pumped into expanding the illegal detention facilities at Bagram and Parwan.
The London Guantánamo Campaign will continue to seek the closure of Guantánamo, Bagram and similar prisons elsewhere. We are currently in the process of organising a series of events to mark the tenth anniversary of Guantánamo Bay in January 2012; this will include a candlelight vigil outside the US Embassy on Wednesday 11 January at 6-8pm and a demonstration in central London on the afternoon of Saturday 7 January. Please check us on Facebook or visit our blog: http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.com/ for updates and more details.
We are also collecting signatures on a petition to the American ambassador which we will deliver to the embassy on Guantánamo's 10th birthday on 11 January 2012. Please add your name to the petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/release_aamer_and_belbacha/
The Save Shaker Aamer Campaign will also hold an event outside Downing Street on International Human Rights Day, 10 December, calling for the release of Shaker Aamer. Please check out the website: www.saveshaker.org for details.
A new documentary film, "YOU DON'T LIKE THE TRUTH - 4 days inside Guantánamo" about Omar Khadr, a Canadian national who has been held and convicted at Guantánamo Bay for war crimes allegedly committed in Afghanistan when he was 14 (he is now 24), went on general release on Friday 7 October. It is currently playing at the Ritzy in Brixton: The Ritzy - Picture House, Brixton Oval, Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, London, SW2 http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Ritzy_Picturehouse/
© Pictures and report by Aisha Maniar for the London Guantánamo Campaign
london.gtmo [at] gmail.com
http://londonguantanamocampaign.blogspot.com/
More media on these actions:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.267294963311347.68095.114010671973111&type=1
Friday demonstration:
Saturday action:
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/pictures/photos-11393/pictures-london-anti-war-protest-8-oct/3
http://www.demotix.com/photo/863090/stop-war-coalition-march-downing-street-london
http://www.demotix.com/photo/864350/ten-years-stop-war-coalition-london
http://www.demotix.com/photo/864351/ten-years-stop-war-coalition-london
10 years in Afghanistan: torture and detention - report
10-10-2011 12:09
Friday 7th October 2011 marked the tenth anniversary of the start of the current NATO-led war in Afghanistan. As well as leading to the death of thousands of civilians and soldiers, the war in Afghanistan is also the birthplace of one of the lesser known aspects of the so-called "war on terror": the torture and arbitrary detention of thousands of prisoners of all ages and nationalities.Pics here:
https://london.indymedia.org/articles/10367
S.A.S. Veteran, Priest & Anti-War Actvists Bailed for DowningSt. Anti-War Action
10-10-2011 10:56
VIDEO (3 mins) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEwd0KfBD7I VIDEO (15 mins)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BUByoxHA0I PHOTOGRAPHS
https://london.indymedia.org/articles/10350 Kettles after Block the Bridge NHS demo
10-10-2011 10:55
After the Block the Bridge Block the Bill demo, the police kettled around 70-80 people on Lambeth bridge, while groups of police hassled people in Westminster and later prevented some walking to Lambeth bridge.
At 4.30pm most of the bridge blockade dissolved after an announcement was made that people should leave en masse in the opposite direction to parliament. People dispersed in several directions. One stream of people walked along the river and were confronted by police as they crossed Lambeth bridge. They were surrounded and 70-80 people were kettled onto the pavement apparently under Section 60 A A which gives the police powers to make people remove any items that are being used to conceal identity or to seize them (pretty spurious since only a couple of people had face coverings).
With up to 10 police vans present and a helicopter hovering overhead they were held for several hours, being released one at a time, held whilst they were questioned and filmed from head to toe. The whole incident was streamed live by one of the people kettled. Interestingly the CO11MetPolice twitter account claimed that the people were a "group of protestors not affiliated to UKuncut".
Later a group of around 10 people were confronted by 20 odd cops who prevented them from walking towards Lambeth bridge where the kettle had almost finished.
For background to the NHS bill see http://ukuncut.org.uk/blog/block-the-bridge-block-the-bill
International Anarchist Bookfair
10-10-2011 10:55
Unlike it's more regionally based little brother, the Bristol Bookfair, the London Anarchist Bookfair is an international event. The 22nd of October will see the 28th Bookfair in London, and it attracts visitors from not just these islands, but from right around the world.
Unlike it's more regionally based little brother, the Bristol Bookfair, the London Anarchist Bookfair is an international event. This year is the 28th Bookfair in London, and it attracts visitors from not just these islands, but from right around the world.
Its a great opportunity to get a feel for the internationalist nature of anarchism, and meet people from groups, projects and struggles around the world. There will be 100 stalls this year. Of course the focus remains on events and struggles in this country, and this is reflected in the 60 or so meetings arranged for this year, alongside films, performance and kids spaces (see 'Whats On').
10:00 am - 7:00 pm, Saturday 22 October
2011 London Anarchist Bookfair
Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS.
As ever Bristol will have a sizeable presence at the event, with 4 groups taking stalls, and many individuals taking the trip east for a day of talking, plotting, strategising and socialising. Of particular interest to Bristol comrades could be the presence of NUJ President Donnacha DeLong at a meet about reclaiming the media (12noon). D DeL was prominent in condemning the attack on the Evening Post in mid-August by unknown direct actionistas, claiming it was an attack on press freedom and effectively defending the Evening Post, despite the NUJ's failure to even defend its own members jobs there over a series of cuts. Of course as any silly billy with 2 brain cells to rub together knows, the attack on the E/Post was because of their collaboration with the police in fingering anyone who may have been involved in Bristol's disturbances of April & August. One Bristolian is being sought by police for the attack on the E/Post.
Get down to the Bookfair if you can, its worth the trip.
Antifascist Prisoners Leaflet
10-10-2011 09:49
German capital slowed down by several strikes of sabotage
10-10-2011 08:00
This morning we slowed down the German capital and its function as a global player in the export of armaments!Acts of sabotage at several important cables of the “Deutsche Bahn AG” force Berlin into a break mode. Communication systems are disturbed. Many regional and long-distance trains are late or not running at all.
InfoUsurpa: 10th October 2011
10-10-2011 00:55
InfoUsurpa is a weekly listing of events taking place in London's radical spaces and beyond...
Download, print and stick it up for others to see
Unless otherwise stated all events should be free / on donation
Enjoy your week
Block The Bill blockade ... more pics
09-10-2011 22:55
Westminster Bridge was blockaded today for several hours by thousands of people that followed call to defend the National Health Service from the NHS Reform bill currently pushed through parliament. Here there are some snaps of the blockade ...
More reports:
Greek minister flushed out of cinema - video
09-10-2011 21:56
A GREEK minister has been forced out of a cinema by protesters, as popular anger at neoliberal 'austerity' measures spirals.Pictures from Block the Bridge NHS action
09-10-2011 20:55
Some snaps from today's mass action against the Health and Social Care bill. Called by UKuncut and supported by several trade unions and ngos. Around 2000 people taking part in civil disobediance to block westminster bridge.
Block The Bridge, Block The Bill - QuikPix
09-10-2011 20:55
Dateline: Westminster Bridge, London, UK, 13:00-16:40, Sun 09 Oct 2011 - Enraged by the attempt by the Cameron-Clegg clique of millionaire politician pratts to wreck our National Health Service, today hundreds of people from all over the UK heeded UK Uncut's Call to Direct Action and physically blockaded Westminster Bridge. On a sunny Sunday afternoon, just three days before a vote in the House of Lords which could scupper the Con-Dem government's NHS-wrecking bill, we symbolically Blocked The Bill by Blocking The Bridge between the law-makers in the Houses of Con-mens to the west and St Thomas Hospital to the east.
At the request of UK Uncut, I'm uploading these photos as soon as possible, without the photo-editing an captioning that normally characterises my Indymedia Action Reports. So, letting the pix speak for themselves,
Share-&-Enjoy,
Up the Revolution,
Tim Dalinian Jones
Footnotes
All these photos and video clips are 'CopyLeft' This means you are free to copy and distribute any of my photos and videos you find here, under the following license:
• Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License
» Human-readable summary –http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
» Attribution: tim.dalinian.jones@gmail.com
NB: The pix above are auto-downsized versions for onscreen webpage display. If you would like the free, edited, full-sized versions (up to 3072x2304px, 7.1Mpx, typically 1-2 MB) just click on an image: bingo! You can also right-click on an image and choose ‘Open Link in New Tab’ (or similar) to open a full-sized version alongside the report webpage. If you'd like to take a copy of the full-sized image version, right-click on it and choose ‘Save Image As...’ (or similar). Share and Enjoy!
No Riot Evictions
09-10-2011 16:55
In the months since the Nottingham riots, anarchists have been trying to kickstart a campaign against the victimisation of whole communities that has been called for by the state. The courts, with encouragement of the government, have been handing out much harsher sentences than usual, and Nottingham City Council leader Jon Collins has called for the families of rioters to be evicted from social housing. We have leafletted some of the areas where the people arrested during the riots live offering solidarity and practical support.
Hundreds of leaflets have been distributed in Hyson Green, Forest Fields, Sherwood, St Ann's and Sneinton giving details of phone and email contact for the campaign. We have received nothing but positive responses from people in areas that are routinely neglected by the powers that be (apart from the cops of course), including from people who are waiting for court dates. If you haven't been leafleted but you, your family or your friends want support then please get in touch.
No riot evictions
We are a local group angry with the way people are being victimised for their alleged participation in riots that arose from police violence and the obvious inequalities in our society.
The courts' sentences and the council's eviction threats are victimising our communities to make a political point.
We don't think society will be made better by locking people up for years and kicking their families out onto the street.
When what we do can cause our benefits to be taken away and bailiffs to show up at our doorsteps, neighbours need to be supporting each other in ways that the government will not.
If you or anyone you know is facing one of these sentences, cuts to services, or eviction we would like to offer our help and support.
People in similar situations have needed transport, help with changes to benefits and services, eviction protection, better solicitors, fundraising and sometimes just support from their neighbours. Please let us know what you need.
There's power in numbers and no on has to face these things alone.
Contact: 07906523995, nottriotevictionsATriseupDOTnet
Twitter: #nottinghamevictions