8 Brutally arrested at EDO at post-injuction demo

8 people were violently arrested at the Big Demo at arms dealers EDO MBM in
Brighton on Tuesday. 6 are from Brighton, 1 from London and 1 from
Manchester.
This was the first big demo since the (very watered down) injunction was
granted, and the police wasted no time in singling out an 80 year old man
and dragging him accross the street where three cops pinned him down, face
on the tarmac, with their knees painfully in his back. A further arrest was
made and then the police formed a line and pushed en masse into the crowd of
around 40 protesters *inside* the designated protest area.

For those unfamiliar with the geography at EDO, the designated protest zone
is a 2 meter wide grass verge with a 40 foot vertical drop on one side and a
road (exclusion zone) on the other. Several people fell over when the police
charged and it was a matter of luck that nobody fell over the edge. Police
harassment continued but didn't dent a lively and noisy demonstration
despite further violent and arbitrary arrests, including one where a man was
snatched from the crowd and dragged accross the road by his neck.

Interestingly no-one was arrested for breaching the injunction but were
instead fitted up with 'wilfully obstructing a public highway', section 5
for causing harassment, alarm and distress, and 'assaulting a police
officer'. Police used force to prevent people with cameras and legal
observers getting a view as the only assaults were those carried out by them
which will be proved by all the video evidence gathered by those present.
Pre-trial hearings have been scheduled for 13-15 June at Brighton
Magistrates and all the arrestees have bail conditions preventing them
entering Home Farm Road.

As the Argus pointed out on the front page yesterday the demo on June 11
promises to be a Huge One. We will be assembling on the Level near St
Peter's Church at 12. There will be a rally with open mic before a march
around town led by a samba band., route as yet unspecified. As there is
unlikely to be a level playing field bring along cameras as well as banners
and placards.

To keep up the pressure on the arms dealers and show them what a waste of
money the injunction and fence are there will be weekly noise demos at EDO
from 4-6 on Wednesdays. EDO obviously can't bear to be reminded of the
lethal consequences of thier actions so it's only a matter of time before
Home Farm Road is a weapons free zone again and we can turn our attention to
other companies hiding in the local area that are complicit in the global
arms trade.