Polden, David

On 12 November, four of us who “locked-on” across a gate at the Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston, during the Big Blockade on 27 October last year were cleared by Reading court of obstructing the highway and awarded costs.

We were: Jean Oliver from Scotland, Emma Sangster and myself from London, who defended ourselves; and Renate Zauner from Switzerland, represented by professor Nick Grief.

The “not guilty” verdict was on a technicality – the prosecution…

Bil’in

The small West Bank Palestinian village of Bil’in depends on agriculture for its livelihood, but since 1980 has lost some 60% of its farmland to illegal Israeli settlements and the illegal separation wall.

Bil’in’s response? For over four years, after Friday prayers each week, the Bil’in popular committee has organised a nonviolent walk to the wall, often with Israeli and international supporters, to demand access to its land, and has been stopped by Israeli troops…

Palestinians, Israelis and international activists continue to resist the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. On 21 June, Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem, including clerics, held a nonviolent demonstration in a neighbourhood in Silwan scheduled for takeover by the Israeli municipal authority, which plans to destroy 88 Palestinian homes and blocks of flats, which currently house around 1,500 Palestinians.

The Israeli media reported on 23 June that the…

In May and June, five people were up on charges arising from the April 2008 “Carnival Against the Arms Trade” at the EDO-MBM arms factory in Brighton. At the carnival, 800 people marched through police cordons into the factory car park and smashed windows and the managing director’s car.

Four people were found guilty by Brighton magistrates of aggravated trespass for entering the premises, though the case for this was flimsy: no business was going on as the factory was shut, and…

Several demonstrations were organised to protest at the present state of the world on 1 April, on the eve of the “G20” world leaders’ summit in Docklands, East London.

In the G20 Meltdown event, demonstrators arrived in front of the Bank of England at about noon, coming in four marches from four directions, each led by one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Red Horse against War, Green Horse against Climate Chaos, Silver Horse against Financial Crimes and Black Horse against…

On every demonstration we are subject to being photographed by the police – presumably to add to the vast database the government holds on us – on a level constituting harassment. But as of 16 February, we may risk 10 years inside if we dare to photograph them!

That was the day when section 76 of the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 came into effect, under which eliciting, publishing or communicating information on members of the armed forces, intelligence services and police officers…

Between 8-11 September the ExCeL Centre in London’s Docklands hosted the Defence Services Equipment International exhibition (DSEi), the world’s largest arms fair.

The day before the arms fair proper began, a connected “UK Defence Conference” was held at the QEII conference centre in Westminster. Before this started, Christian peace activist Chris Cole sprayed “Build Peace, not War Machines” across the doors and “arms trade = death” on the steps. Chris, director of the Fellowship…

On 5 February, the Court of Appeal quashed Ministry of Defence bye-laws banning “camping in tents, caravans, trees or otherwise” near the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment in Berkshire.

The case, brought by the Aldermaston Women’s Peace Camp (AWPC), hinged on whether the ban on camping violated rights to freedom of expression and assembly as guaranteed by articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, now part of English law.

In delivering the court’…

The Free Gaza Movement has broken the siege of Gaza twice since the last issue of PN.

On 29 October, the SS Dignity, carrying 27 people from 13 countries, including member of the Palestinian legislative council Mustapha Barghouti, Israeli peace activist Gideon Spiro and Nobel peace laureate Mairead Maguire, landed with 500kg of medicine.

Then on 8 November, the Dignity landed with 11 journalists, human rights and peace activists and 12 European parliamentarians, including…

On 7 November, I was due to appear, with others, at Newbury magistrates’ court for “obstruction of the highway” at Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment on 27 October.
First hearings are always just for “plea and directions”. It is only if you plead “guilty” that the case is dealt with at the first hearing. If you plead “not guilty”, the court adjourns hearing the case.
I wrote to the court asking for a plea of “not guilty” to be entered on my behalf. For the first time,…

On 4 October, in terrible weather, demonstrators arrived at Menwith Hill spy station, Yorkshire, for the annual “Keep Space for Peace” demo, part of an international protest against Star Wars “missile defence”.
After a public meeting, with live music and speeches from Rebecca Johnson and local Labour MP Colin Challen, the demonstration circled the base as planned.
The police, expecting a walk, had served “Section 12” notices under the Public Order Act (1986), prohibiting any…

On 3 September, the last of the four days of the US Republican National Convention (RNC) in St Paul, Minnesota, demonstrators attempting to march on the convention centre after 5pm (when the permit to demonstrate expired) were met by police in riot gear using snow-ploughs, horses and dump trucks to stop the march.
At about midnight, police in riot gear encircled people leaving a Rage Against the Machine gig and made some 150 arrests including four distinctively attired “Peace Team”…

In Westminster Magistrates Court on 25 July, an admission was made by the prosecutors that lent weight to the belief that the Serious Organised Crime & Police Act (SOCPA) can no longer be used against protestors near Parliament.
Barbara Tucker was appearing accused of causing alarm and distress to Alan Duncan MP by haranguing him outside Parliament for voting for the Iraq war.
In the prosecution case summary appeared the remarkable statement: “Owing to changes in SOCPA…

On 6 June, after an 18-week trial, the operator of a website criticising animal testing company Sequani, was found guilty under section 145 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA), “interfering with the contractual relationships of a laboratory”.

For allegedly conspiring to organise protests at Sequani Limited and associated companies, Sean Kirtley was jailed for four and a half years followed by a five-year ASBO (anti-social behaviour order). The main “proof”…

After a vigorous campaign to defend him, Nottingham University staff member and peace activist Hicham Yezza was freed from detention on 15 June and the threat of deportation lifted.

After a university staff member found the manual on his computer, Hicham, editor of the university peace magazine, Ceasefire, was arrested on campus on 21 May, along with 22-year old research student Rizwaan Sabir. Both were held under the Terrorism Act, accused of downloading an al-Qa’eda training…