Repression
Police and state oppression news.
10th Annual United Families & Friends Remembrance Procession
28-10-2008 11:39
On Saturday 25th October 2008,several hundred people attended the 10th Annual United Families & Friends Remembrance procession which was led by many family members of those who have died in suspicious circumstances in police custody, prison and 'secure' mental health facilities.
In customary tradition the procession made its way in dignified silence from Trafalgar Square down Whitehall to Downing Street in dutiful respect to those who mourn the loss of loved ones and to invoke their memory and the collective injustices that their deaths represent. In the past year 182 such deaths have been recorded recorded, and a banner carried in the march listed over 2500 who have died.
Reports and Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Previous UFF processions: 2005 | 2006 [More] | 2007
External links: Inquest | Injustice the film 1 | 2 | Online petition against the Shoot to Kill Policy
Merseyside Police Versus Freedom Of Speech
11-10-2008 17:44
Freedom not Fear
11-10-2008 03:47
11th of October saw the first worldwide protests against surveillance measures such as the collection of all telecommunications data, the surveillance of air travellers and the biometric registration of citizens. In at least 15 countries citizens demanded a cutback on surveillance, a moratorium on new surveillance powers and an independent evaluation of existing surveillance powers.
In Liverpool, political campaigns came together to hold stalls in the city centre and distribute leaflets. Police riot vans surrounded and intimidated them, but surrounding crowds helped intervene to block the police and defend the stalls.
Reports: | 1 | 2 |Callouts with background: 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Amdani, Mustafa and Selina are still here
09-10-2008 08:18
The past few weeks have seen a flurry of activity in anti-deportation campaigns in the city. Neither Selina Adda's family or Mustafa have been deported, although their statuses are still uncertain. Selina and family are back in Nottingham to continue their campaign for the right to stay. Mustafa remains in detention whilst fresh representations to the Home Office are considered.
It has also been announced that Nottingham refugee Amdani Juma's Judicial Review of his case is approaching. The Friends of Amdani are holding a rally in support of his right to stay on Saturday.
Newswire: Demonstrate for Amdani Juma's right to stay | Amdani Juma: No Let up in Local Support as Hearing Date Set | URGENT - Stop the deportation of Mustafa! | Mustafa Belongs to Nottingham | Amdani's Judicial Review | Sanctuary for Brian, Chelsea & Selina
Previous Features: Anti-deportation campaign for Notts family | Campaign Victories As Hich And Amdani Are Released On Bail | Nottingham Protests in Support of Detained Resident
Links: No Borders Nottingham | National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns | Nottingham and Notts Refugee Forum | Notts Indymedia Migration topic page
Anti-deportation campaign for Notts family
01-10-2008 12:19
A popular family from Wilford had their home raided by immigration police on Monday. Brian, Chelsea and their mother Selina Adda from Ghana are now being held in Yarl's Wood IRC and due to be forcibly removed from the UK on Friday 3rd October on British Airways flight BA81 @ 14:15hrs from terminal 5 Heathrow to Accra, Ghana.
Selina came to the UK seeking asylum from a forced marriage to a man from another culutre in Ghana. Her sister recently committed suicide and she has no remaining friends and family in Ghana. The family's friends and asylum campaigners have begun a campaign to ensure that they stay in Nottingham.
Newswire: Sanctuary for Brian, Chelsea & Selina
Previous Features: Protests in Nottingham as Zimbabwe Goes to the Polls | Campaign Victories As Hich And Amdani Are Released On Bail | Nottingham Protests in Support of Detained Resident
Links: Nottingham and Notts Refugee Forum | National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns | Notts Indymedia Migration topic page
Full article | 3 additions | 11 comments
Solidarity For Political Prisoner Sean Kirtley
10-09-2008 11:52
On Saturday 6th September two hundred activists made it to Ledbury, Herefordshire, for the Carnival Against Vivisection in solidarity with political prisoner Sean Kirtley. The day of action was called by various groups in resistance to the imprisoning of peaceful campaigners under SOCPA legislation, and as a stand for the animals suffering inside vivisection laboratories.
Protesters met on the grass verge, where the police held them allowing a maximum of 15 at a time to demonstrate outside Sequani labs. Shortly after campaigners made a spontaneous break for the labs, with police responding by blocking the bridge to push back the crowd, creating minor scuffles. Multiple attempts were also made to access the labs using various pre-planned routes, meeting police each time, some of which had dogs. Protesters then regrouped at the grass verge to march the original route around town.
Newswire: Sequani demo | Carnival Against Vivisection - Arrest Witnesses Appeal | Carnival Against Vivisection - some thoughts | Carnival Against Vivisection - Latest
Previous features: Carnival Against Vivisection | Sequani Besieged by Surprise Action
Related links: Free Sean Kirtley | Stop Sequani Animal Testing | Antispeciesist Action | Animal Liberation Front | Bite Back | NETCU Watch | FIT watch | Western Animal Rights Network | Indymedia UK Stop Sequani topic page
Full article | 1 addition | 8 comments
The not-so-secret 'guide to policing protest'
05-08-2008 23:31
Sometime during a busy day of policing the Camp For Climate Action, near Kingsnorth Power Station in Kent, an officer dropped a so-called 'Pocket Legislation Guide on Policing Protest'. The document, issued by the National Extremism Tactical Coordination Unit (NETCU), gives an overview of legislation the police can use to stifle all forms of legitimate protest. The document, which is supposedly not for public consumption, was subsequently posted on Indymedia UK by a camper attending the Climate Camp.
NETCU describe themselves as "promoting a coordinated response to domestic extremism by providing tactical advice to the police service, and information and guidance to industry and government." According to NETCU Watch, an online initiative to monitor the service's activities, the main purpose of their existence is to monitor protest groups, especially related to animal rights campaigns. A further concern is that the police seem to be supporting commerce (especially the vivisection industry) beyond their remit of upholding the law.
Newswire: Police drop top secret NETCU guide to policing protest - Part 1 | Police drop top secret NETCU guide to policing protest - Part 2 | Download full document (PDF)
Links: NETCU Watch | Liberty | Freedom Of Information Act
Grandson of State-Sponsored Terrorism Victim Visits Nottingham
04-07-2008 11:26
Just two weeks after the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) released a report by their Historical Enquiries Team (HET) on the McGurk’s Bar Bombing in 1971, Robert McClenaghan, grandson of Phillip Garry, one of the victims, visited Nottingham to speak at the ICC. He was representing An Fhirinne (The Truth), an organisation of relatives of people murdered by loyalist paramilitaries where there is evidence of collusion between the paramilitaries and British state forces. An Fhirinne and other relatives’ organisations are calling for an Independent International Truth Commission into the slaughter of their loved ones. They believe that a British government inquiry could not possibly be independent, and neither could a government of Ireland one, as they have done little to uncover the truth of killings in the twenty six counties.
Robert visited Nottingham as part of a tour of four English cities as a guest of the Troops Out Movement (TOM), the British- based organisation which campaigns for British withdrawal from Ireland. He showed a very harrowing video of relatives speaking of their lost loved ones. It showed to people in England the reality of what was done in their name.
Newswire: Grandson of Collusion Victim in England - Guest of Troops Out Movement | Truth & Justice for Collusion Victims
Links: Troops Out Movement | An Fhirinne | Notts Indymedia Repression topic page
Protests in Nottingham as Zimbabwe Goes to the Polls
29-06-2008 13:39
On Friday June 27, Zimbabwe went to the polls in the second round of its presidential election. This followed a first round in March. Concerned about the scale of state-directed violence against supporters, the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai had withdrawn on Sunday June 22, making a victory by the incumbent Robert Mugabe inevitable.
In Nottingham, the election was marked by the recently formed Nottingham Zimbabwe Community network (NZCN) who held a protest against deportations to Zimbabwe in Old Market Square and organised a public meeting at the Sumac Centre to discuss the situation in the country.
Newswire: Stop Forced Removals / Deportation of Zimbabweans | Demonstration Against Deportations to Zimbabwe | Report on Zimbabwe Film Showing | Stop Deportations To Zimbabwe Protest 27.06.08
Previous Feature: Nottingham's Zimbabwean Community Responds to Rigged Elections
Links: Nottingham Zimbabwe Community Network | No Borders Nottingham | Nottingham & Notts Refugee Forum | Nottingham Refugee Campaign Ground | National Coalition of Anti-Deportation campaigners | Notts Indymedia Migration topic page
Full article | 2 additions | 7 comments
Anti-Bush Visit Protest Marred by Police Violence and Snatch Arrests
18-06-2008 07:55
On Sunday 15th of June, as George W. Bush was making his way to Downing Street for his last state visit to the UK, thousands of people were gathering in Parliament Square following a call from the Stop the War Coalition.
Although the turn out to Sunday's protest was much smaller than in 2003 when Bush last visited the UK in the high of the Anti-War protest movement, by mid afternoon a crowd of around 2500 determined people were already making clear what they thought of the legacy of George Bush's wars in the Middle East and the US driven War on Terror [Demo video report] A powerful sound system had been set on the square from where several people, including Brian How, made speeches. Meanwhile the crowd kept demanding the arrest of George Bush for his "terrorist activities and war crimes" in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
The protest had already been banned by the Metropolitan Police from marching through Whitehall, therefore crash barriers and police lines had been set at the southern end of Whitehall to prevent the demonstration from moving forward. At some point, the crowd approached the barriers and police lines to demand their right to demonstrate, but they were faced by a line of baton wielding police that started hitting those at the front. As a result a series of scuffles followed, resulting with some head injuries and bruises to some protesters, and the first wave of arrests.
Eventually, a large number of police with riot gear took positions to protect the entrance to Whitehall, whilst at the same time groups of TSG and FIT police forces started to carry a series of snatch arrests around the Parliament Square area [Video of arrests]. By the end of the evening 25 people had been arrested, some of which are now facing charges.
