London Indymedia

SOCPA - sir ian blair and other police in court at last

rikki | 27.06.2007 00:11 | SOCPA | Repression | London

today, brian haw won a major victory in court when district judge workman issued summonses against leading police figures. last year, police raided parliament square on 23rd may and removed 90% of brian's display. in january this year, judge purdey ruled that brian haw had no case to answer as the conditions he supposedly broke were not lawful. this meant the raid itself was unlawful.

in may 2006, the high court accepted a government appeal that brian haw should be covered by the new socpa legislation controlling demonstrations around parliament. until then, brian had been the only person not covered by socpa, as his demonstration had begun in 2001, several years before the act, and so he could not give "6 days notice before the start of his demonstration" as it had started before the law had come into force. the high court decision bent the laws of physics and stated that for the purposes of the law, brian had actually begun his demo in august 2005, not four years before.

the socpa rules state that someone wishing to demonstrate must give six days notice, and then that the commissioner must authorise, but that the commissioner can impose certain conditions if he reasonably believes that certain criteria might be breached.

after the may court ruling, brian received a list of conditions on his demonstration in parliament square, the most draconian of which was a limit of three metres on his display. the conditions were imposed and signed by superintendent peter terry.

despite ongoing negotiations between brian's lawyers and the police, sir ian blair ordered a night-time raid on the 23rd may to remove all but 3 meters of brian's display, and the rest of his placards were thrown into a large container and taken to hendon, where they still remain.

the following january, around the same time as mark wallinger's artistic recreation of the original display opened at tate britain, judge purdey ruled at westminster magistrates court that brian had no case to answer over breach of conditions as the socpa law clearly states that conditions can only be imposed by the commissioner.

this ruling showed that superintendent terry had no more right to impose conditions than a sewer rat, and the police attempt to cover themselves, by bringing to court a mysteriously undated "delegation of authority" letter, was thrown out by the judge.

months later, the police are appealing that decision in an extraordinary court case at the high court on 4th july where they intend to cite mark thomas's mass lone demos as a reason why purdey's interpretation of the legislation is unworkable. what this has to do with the case against brian remains to be seen!

in the meantime, brian has been trying to get some justice over the clearly mischievous and illegal raid on his site, and yesterday judge workman (who has recently been awarded a cbe) agreed to send out summonses as follows:

sir ian blair is summonsed to westminster magistrates court on the 24th july for theft.
the chief superintendents at both charing cross and at hendon are summonsed to the same court on the same date for "receiving stolen goods" (including banksy artworks valued at tens of thousands of pounds).

this is a huge victory for brian, and a kick in the teeth for the socpa law and the degenerate police who protected the war criminals instead of protecting the people who try to expose genocide and war crimes.

supporters and a friendly lynch mob are warmly welcomed at westminster magistrates court on 24th july. more details nearer the time.

rikki
- e-mail: rikkiindymedia@googlemail.com

Comments

Hide the following 5 comments

Fantastic!

27.06.2007 06:01

Is this the real reason that the police currently seem to be ignoring unauthorised demonstrations in Parliament Square? With any luck it might also mean that the cycle police will stop threatening cyclists with sound systems with arrest on the monthly London Critical Mass.

Doug


Excellent, rikki - thanks for posting!

27.06.2007 13:06

I particularly appreciate the Banksy twist - delicious.

I am also wondering whether when/if Commssioner Ian Bliar is brought to the dock there would be any way of working Charles de Menezes into the trial? What did he witness to be so violently murdered?

It is becoming apparent that MI6 has questions to answer the public and the families of 7/7 victims

To Brian Haw - a huge thank you from the heart for having such clear vision and moral stance.

Truth and Justice WILL prevail - the weight of world consciousness now will swing the balance. Of this I am certain...

www.patriotsquestion911.com

Bon Chance


Brilliant!

27.06.2007 16:24

Caught with their trousers down, the met have been. Marvellous!

Rebel W


He is a murderer and a thief!

29.06.2007 06:48

the bastard tried to kill me on the day Alexander Litvinyenko died! he is not only a thief, he is a murderer! i hope he gets his comuppane live! you r a fraudster as well. When are you going - don't you get the message that you are not wanted around Westminster

Abiola Osinuga
mail e-mail: abiolaosinuga@btinternet.com


Awesome News!

29.06.2007 17:43

This article makes me smile inside. Excellent news. It's the very least Brian deserves. Good luck.

freeluncher
- Homepage: http://talkingliberties.wordpress.com/


Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

London Topics

Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

London IMC

Desktop

About | Contact
Mission Statement
Editorial Guidelines
Publish | Help

Search :