In the aftermath of the indymedia server seizure, animal rights activists involved in the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) campaign now face the possibility of being deprived access to open publishing on indymedia.
With SHAC activists now serving a total of 60 years in prison for crimes relating to little more than running a campaign website, it is not surprising that there is a sense of panic and paranoia in the air. Last months seizure of an indymedia server in Manchester and the subsequent arrest of a man in Sheffield have worried even people unrelated to animal rights struggles. Now the divide and rule tactics of the police are starting to bare fruit as one long time indymedia admin 'garcondumonde' has proposed blocking SHAC activists posts from the open publishing newswire.
In his proposal to imc-uk-process list (
http://lists.indymedia.org/pipermail/imc-uk-process/2009-February/0221-46.html) he accuses animal rights activists of having "overstepped the line" and blames them for the arrest of a server sysadmin. His issue with the SHAC campaign predates both the server seizure and arrest, frequently raising objections against proposals for feature articles about the campaign. In one recent email (
http://lists.indymedia.org/pipermail/imc-london/2009-February/0221-x8.html) he refers to SHAC activists motives as "despicable".
Given just 24 hours for debate the proposal could set a dangerous legal precedent for indymedia if agreed and raises serious questions about who is administering the UK indymedia site.
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