The “Lakenheath 8” are on trial at Bury St Edmunds court on 6, 10 and 11 July for SOCPA criminal trespass (and criminal damage), at USAF Lakenheath last October. Sylvia Boyes and Helen John are awaiting a trial date for their SOCPA criminal trespass at Menwith Hill a year ago. The judge wants proof from the prosecution that the US spy centre at Menwith Hill is an RAF base. The next hearing is on 8 June.
Civil liberties
1 April 2007News
The week of anti-Trident demonstrations in mid-March saw arrests made under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA) both outside parliament and at Aldermaston.
Campaigners from Aldermaston Womens Peace Camp (AWPC) and Block the Builders brought Parliament Square to a halt on the day of the Trident debate (see story in news section). After four hours the last was released and then arrested - with eight others - for obstructing the highway and participating in an…
1 February 2007News
Mark Wallinger's “State Britain” installation, a loving recreation of the whole forty metres of Brian Haw's Parliament Square anti-war protest site in all its former glory, opened on 15 January at Tate Britain.
One week on, Brian was at Westminster Magistrates' Court to hear whether he had a case to answer for allegedly breaching conditions imposed on his demonstration last May.
Masterclass of absurdityHis defence had asked for the case to be thrown out on two grounds, and…
1 December 2006News
Nearly a year after Maya Evans became the first person to be criminalised under Section 132 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 for demonstrating without authorisation the “designated area” around Parliament, she and three others appealed against their convictions at the High Court on 16 November.
Lawyers for the four argued that the enforcement of SOCPA was disproportionate in the, very peaceful, circumstances in which they were demonstrating. If they lose their…
1 December 2006Review
In October 2005, Maya Evans was arrested for reading out the names of British soldiers killed in Iraq during a remembrance ceremony at the Cenotaph on Whitehall. She was charged with taking part in an “unauthorised demonstration” in a “designated area” under section 132 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA) and on 7 December 2005 she became the first person to be convicted under this Act.
The case attracted huge attention in the mainstream media as well as being…
3 November 2006Comment
In the controversy over the veil sparked by Jack Straw, there is one thing that is ignored both by his supporters and his detractors: “The veil” (singular) is not a dress code rooted in culture or religion. The form of veiling that we now see spreading all over European and North American countries comes from nowhere: it is a recent syncretic outfit, picking up from various traditions, that has been invented by fundamentalists as their political uniform, as their very visible flag.
…
1 November 2006News
As more observant readers will have noticed, parliament was not sacked on 9 October. However several hundred people did turn up to show their opposition to the war on Iraq and to challenge the ludicrous provisions of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA).
The day started slowly, with more journalists and bystanders than protesters. But by 1.30pm around 100 people had gathered in Parliament Square, all expectantly waiting to see if anything would happen... and sure…
1 November 2006News in Brief
Helen John and Sylvia Boyes, both charged under the Serious Organised Crime Act for breaking into Menwith Hill, the US spy base in North Yorkshire, will go to trial on the from 9 to 11 January 2007.
The pair were arrested on 1 April 12006, as the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (S128) came into force for additional designated sites - criminalising trespass at a number of military and nuclear facilities across Britain. Both women had visited the North Yorkshire spy base to…
16 October 2006Feature
Stupid, repressive laws require creative and surreal responses. On 22 September, more than 100 “lone protesters” gathered simultaneously in London's Parliament Square in response to the ongoing criminalisation of protest within 1km of the Houses of Parliament - under provisions contained in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act. In a bid to overwhelm the Metropolitan Police with paperwork, those involved had all applied - and received permission - for their individual protests. The…
1 July 2006Feature
There was a mood of celebration - and also relief - on the well attended Critical Mass cycle ride in central London on 30 June, following a High Court ruling a few days earlier that a police attempt to declare the event “unlawful” should have “had the benefit of sounder legal advice”.
Participants in the Central London ride last September - when they met on the South Bank at 6pm on the last Friday of the month as usual - were handed letters by the police saying that the event was not…
1 July 2006News
On 1 April 2006, two peace campaigners from Yorkshire were arrested under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA). They face up to a year in prison, or a maximum #5,000 fine, after protesting against the law, sections of which criminalise trespass and remove the automatic right to peaceful demonstrations.
The two women, Helen John, 68, and Sylvia Boyes, 62, were arrested after walking 15 feet past the patrol line at Menwith Hill, a US military spy base in North Yorkshire…
16 June 2006Feature
Just before 3am on Tuesday 23 May, around 50 police swooped on Brian Haw and his supporters in Parliament Square. Their instructions were to remove most of the anti-war display.
They brought a lorry and freight container, and unceremoniously dumped placards, cuttings, models, religious items and donated artworks, in a crammed heap into it.
Two supporters climbed on top of the container and held up the police until they were overpowered…
16 June 2006Feature
On 8 May, Brian Haw's exemption from the ban on unauthorised protest under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA) came to an end.
The Home Office won an appeal against last year's High Court decision that the Act could not be applied retrospectively and Brian's protest has, in theory, been brought under police control.
Attempts at controlDespite media headlines to the effect that this would be the end of Brian's epic stand against this government's foreign…
3 June 2006Comment
Governmental attempts to soften up public opinion for an announcement of more nuclear power stations have their parallel in the nuclear industry itself.
The British Nuclear Group - they're the people who oversee the radioactive waste mountains at Windscale/Sellafield - are advertising for “environmental specialists” at salaries of up to #43,000 pa. Amongst the work needing doing is coming up with strategies for contaminated land. Dealing with contamination sounds worthy; but you…
3 June 2006Comment
The government's response to the recent Home Office debacles has become all too predictable over the last nine years - promise new legislation, promise the repeal of the poor old Human Rights Act, and promise an ID card. This is a reactive government, not a proactive one.
The first two of these promises are easily dealt with; new legislation is likely to have little or no effect, and repeal of the Human Rights Act will still leave us subject to the European Convention on Human Rights…