Repression
Police and state oppression news.
Notts Police Face Scrutiny
23-06-2009 10:50
Nottinghamshire Police attracted national media attention when a video was released onto the internet showing officers from the force assaulting a member of the public in Nottingham City Centre. In the video the four officers can be seen shooting the man with a Taser stun gun and punching him repeatedly.
The release of this video comes at a time when Nottinghamshire Police are already having to answer questions about their recent decision to arrest without charge 114 people who were allegedly intending to disrupt Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station. The action which involved officers from four forces is estimated to have cost more than £70,000, despite no crime having been committed. Meanwhile, questions have also been raised about Reece Staples, 19, who died in police custody at Oxclose Lane station on 7th June.
On the newswire: Demo against Notts Police & £700,000 bill for arresting 114 enviro activists (photos) | Taser Frenzy in Nottingham | Another young, black man dies a police cell | Demand Police Accountability: End the harassment of public protests | Police spent £700.000 on climate action bust operation
Previous features: Mass Arrest of 114 Climate Activists in Raid | Tasers in Nottingham
Related links: Inquest | Campaign Against Criminalising Communities | Notts Indymedia Repression topic page
Full article | 5 additions | 6 comments
Detention protests met with brutal assaults
18-06-2009 16:08
Update: More than 40 women in Yarl's Wood continue their hunger strike for the 5th day [more].
A mass hunger strike by families detained at Yarl's Wood detention centre in Bedfordshire has been met with violent assaults on men, women and children by Serco security guards who mange the prison on behalf on the UK Border Agency. The detainees started the hunger strike on Monday and staged a sit-in in the corridor over their inhumane conditions.
Meanwhile in Brook House, the newly opened detention centre at Gatwick airport, a 'disturbance' broke out on 12th June and a fire was set by rioting detainees in the exercise area causing some damage.
A solidarity protest outside Serco's offices in London (22 Hand Court, Holborn, WC1V 6JF) has been called by No Borders London in support of the Yarl's Wood hunger strikers on Friday, 19th June, from 12noon. Activists from the Tyneside Community Action for Refugees (TCAR) gathered outside government offices in Newcastle on Wednesday to protest against racism and all immigration prisons.
Links and sources: No Borders UK | NCADC | TCAR
Attacks On Tamils Continue - Westminster Bridge Besieged
15-05-2009 22:09
As attacks by the national army in Sri Lanka have intensified, so do the protests around the world. After the news of thousands of civilian deaths in Sri Lanka at the weekend, which the UN has described as ‘a bloodbath’, British Tamils began a civil disobedience protest on Monday (11.05.09) in the hope that the British government might put genuine and decisive pressure on Sri Lanka to stop the atrocities it is currently committing. Five hundred began the protest at Parliament Square early in the morning. Thousands more joined them, at which point they moved onto Westminster Bridge and closed it off to traffic. Police officers were taken by surprise. The blockade lasted until mid-afternoon, at which time police resorted to physical attacks on people in an effort to clear the bridge.
More than 300,000 Tamils are currently under siege by the Sri Lankan forces. Aerial bombardments and shelling of civilians are continuing. Children and elderly are dying as a direct result of the aerial bombardment. There has been increased violence in Sri Lanka following the capture of Tamil territory. It is estimated more than 75,000 people have already died in the conflict.
Upcoming: Tamil solidarity event this Sunday (17.05.09)
Previous features: Large Protests Erupt In Support Of Tamils | Tamil Blockade at Parliament (IMC London)
On the newswire: Estimate 1700 Tamil civilians killed 3000 injuried in 48 hrs in Sri Lanka | Civil Disobedience Protest By British Tamils Met With Police Brutality | Tamils Blockade Parliament Square Again (photos) | Tamils Blockade Parliament Sq (photos) | Bloodbath unfolding in Sri Lanka | Tamil blockade of Parliament Monday 11th May (photos) | "State terror in Sri Lanka - a Tamil perspective" today at Resonance 104.4 FM | Tamil protesters take to streets as the GENOCIDE of there people gose on | Urgent, westminster blockade happening now | Tamils genocide: More than 2,000 civilians feared slaughtered in a single night
Campaign against CCTV in Forest Fields continues to grow
28-04-2009 15:40
The Nottingham City Council scheme to impose CCTV on Forest Fields is facing increasingly organised opposition. Much of the affected area has been leafletted with anti-CCTV material and campaigners against the scheme attended a consultation meeting last Thursday to make their views known. Many are worried about the intrusive and controlling nature of CCTV and think it would contribute to suspicion rather than strengthening the local community.
Whilst the police and the Council's Area 4 Management claim to be engaging in consultation their language regarding CCTV has always framed it as a necessary development. Ironically, these same people objected to a journalist taking their photos at the meeting, indicating that residents are not the only ones who are concerned about surveillance! The plans have already been scaled down from 5 camera masts in Forest Fields to masts at 3 locations but campaigners vow to continue until it is scrapped.
Newswire: CCTV proposed scheme for Forest Fields : public meeting report | CCTV in Forest Fields - public meeting on April 23rd | Forest Fields Latest: CCTV | Forest Fields CCTV Update | CCTV coming to Forest Fields unless we act NOW! | Surveillance of Nottingham city centre | Surveillance of Nottingham City Centre [Update]
Previous feature: Watching the watchers in Nottingham
Links: ForestFields.org.uk | No CCTV | Area 4 management
Zimbabwe ‘Death of Democracy’ Gathering in Hyson Green
22-04-2009 22:38
On Saturday 18th April, the ex-patriate Zimbabwe Community from around the UK, came together to discuss the ‘Death of Democracy’ in their country. The gathering was held in Nottingham at the Hyson Green Youth Centre.
The NZCN (Nottingham Zimbabwe Community Network) organized and hosted the event. Most attendees dressed in black to remember and honour the hundreds of Zimbabweans who have been murdered during the MDC’s struggle for democracy. Guest speakers included MDC activists still working and striving towards a new, free and safe Zimbabwe.
Event Photos: ‘Death of Democracy’ Gathering
Previous articles: NZCN mourns the death of democracy in Zimbabwe | Zimbabwean Community Show The Film Flame at Sumac Centre | Zimbabwean Asylum Rights Demo @ Speakers Corner, Nottingham
Links: No Borders Nottingham | Nottingham Zimbabwean Community Network | Zimbabwe Civic Action Support Group | Association of Zimbabwean Journalists in the UK (AZJ-UK) | Zimbabwe Association Ltd | Operation Mavhoterapapi (how did you vote) - Post-election violence [pdf 5.2M]
Audio: Zimbabwe - [Speeches and Interviews] - mp3 16M [64kbps]
SHAC supporter unlawfully arrested at Barclays Bank
22-04-2009 20:54
During a regular demo outside Barclays (due to their support for Huntingdon Life Sciences) a group of teenagers came to find out what the demo was about. The police were called, they arrested one teenager (Video) for alleged criminal damage (kicking the door of Barclays) which activists claim he didn't do, then refused to take details of bystanders who were witnesses to the non-crime. See update on arrested person and the SHAC topic page for information on the ongoing campaign.
Update: Another arrest at Barclays
Full article | 4 additions | 12 comments
Large Protests Erupt In Support Of Tamils
09-04-2009 10:56
Spontaneous protests have erupted in London as a result of the ongoing state violence in Sri Lanka. On Monday, over 300 Tamil youths blockaded Westminster Bridge, which remained closed overnight. On Tuesday and Wednesday large numbers gathered outside parliament and had reached at its peak up to 3000 to call on Gordon Brown to 'open his eyes' and work towards securing an immediate ceasefire in Sri Lanka. Under the banner 'Stop the genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka' over 150.000 people marched in Central London on Saturday 11th April. Further demonstrations happened in Oslo, Paris and Copenhagen. Reports: [1] [2] [photos 1] [photos 2] [video]
Earlier on in the week police tactics were violent, with unprovoked attacks on demonstrators. On Wednesday morning Tamil flags were being confiscated under the Terrorism act. Demonstrators reported that police used truncheons and dragged protesters across the ground. A three-year-old's leg was reportedly broken in the process. Seven people have been arrested, two under the terrorism act on suspicion of carrying articles supporting proscribed literature. Two people started a hunger strike earlier in the week, of which one was still fasting on Saturday 11th April.
More than 300,000 Tamils are currently under siege by the Sri Lankan forces. Aerial bombardments and shelling of civilians are continuing. Children and elderly are dying as a direct result of the aerial bombardment. There has been increased violence in Sri Lanka following the capture of Tamil territory. It is estimated more than 70,000 people have already died in the conflict.
On the newswire: Fast unto last breathe (day 13) | Video of the Tamil protests | Massive Tamil Protest Against Sri Lankan Genocide | Tamil Hunger Strike, London - pictures (day 6) | Stop the Genocide in Sril Lanka Protest - London April 11 2009 | Tamil protest (day 6) | Tamil Demo in Central London | Emergency Protest In London 11th April Please Come | Supporting the Tamil protests, SOCPA arrest | parliment square still going strong (day 4) | Tamil Protest in Parliament Square: Students on Hunger Strike to the Death (day 4) | Tamil protest still going strong / 8th April 3pm (day 3) | Tamils protest against chemical attacks | Tamil protest amid more police violence (day 3) | A lively night in Parliament Square (day 2) | Tamil protest still going strong /continues (day 2) | Tamil Protest still going strong | Tamil Protest on Westminster Bridge (day 1) | Sri Lanka: Killings, Concentration Camps and International Silence | Students on Hunger Strike | Tamilgotcha! Westminster Bridge occupied for 3 hours - Sat 31st Jan
Around the world: Netherlands | South Africa | New Zealand | Scotland
Links: British Tamils Forum | Online appeal | Wikipedia on Tamil people
Home Secretary Blatantly Ignores Unfavorable Court Decision
04-03-2009 11:28
The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, appears to have declared war on the government’s own secret terror court, overruling decisions made by judges in the Special Immigration Appeals Court (SIAC). In what can only be described as an act of executive fiat, two men who attended a hearing at the SIAC were driven away from the court, expecting to return home, as ordered by the SIAC judges, but were, instead, delivered to Belmarsh prison, where they were joined by three other men, who had been seized in raids on their homes.
Journalist and author Andy Worthington notes that the whole operation was clearly planned by the Home Secretary in advance. "Even though she had informed neither the men’s lawyers nor the SIAC judges." The first the lawyers heard about it was when one of the men’s wives rang, inquiring why he had not yet returned home. He adds; "the Home Secretary has acted in a manner that would have pleased King John, in those days before England's nobles forced him to sign the Magna Carta in 1215, establishing for the first time that the king had no right to imprison his subjects except upon the lawful judgment of his peers or the law of the land."
On The Newswire: Jacqui Smith versus Justice Mitting | Home Secretary ignores Court decision, kidnaps bailed men and imprisons them in Belmarsh | Revealed: flawed intelligence exposes the scandal of Belmarsh detainees | Invisible Barriers: Detention without Trial/Social Housing Policy in the UK Today
Previous Features: Hundreds Join Demo for Academic Freedom and Against Deportation | Anger Over "Terror Arrests" at Nottingham University | The Global War of Terror | The Racist 'War on Terror' | Terror profiling nets innocents
Links: National Guantanamo Coalition | Cageprisoners | 100 Days to Close Guantánamo and End Torture | The Campaign against Criminalising Communities | Scotland Against Criminalising Communities (SACC) | Reprieve | Andy Worthington | Indymedia Topic Pages: Terror War | Guantanamo
Full article | 2 additions | 26 comments
Hosting Indymedia Servers is Illegal?
12-02-2009 18:30
This Monday (9 February 2009), Kent Police arrested a man in Sheffield under the Serious Crime Act 2007 in relation to the recent Indymedia server seizure. His home was raided, all computer equipment and related papers taken. He was released after eight hours. The person had neither technical, administrative nor editorial access to the Indymedia UK website. He was only associated to the project by hosting its server.
The arrest took place under Section 44-46 of the Serious Crime Act, which was passed into law on 1st October 2008 to combat serious international crime like drug trafficking, prostitution, money laundering and armed robbery. Sections 44-46 refer to “encouraging or assisting offences”.
Kent police claim that they are after the IP address of the poster of two anonymous comments to a report about a recent animal liberation court case, which included personal details of the Judge. The IP address of the poster is not stored as Indymedia does not log IP addresses. This was acknowledged by British Transport Police in 2005, after the Bristol IMC server seizure.
For the police to arrest the person who happened to sign the contract for server hosting, is sheer intimidation, in light of Indymedia’s openly stated policy of no IP logging.
With the implementation of the EU Data Retention Directive in March 2009, the UK government attempts to turn every internet service provider in the country into part of the law enforcement apparatus. This legislation will provide a legal basis to track, intimidate, harass, and arrest people who are doing valuable and necessary work for social change, for example as peace activists, campaigners for economic and social justice or against police brutality.
The present intimidation of the open publishing alternative news platform Indymedia will have serious implications for anyone running a server in the UK which allows user contributions – blogs, social networking sites, wikis. This is an attempt to close down sites that respect the privacy of their contributors, pure and simple.
Nottingham Gaza solidarity occupation violently evicted
01-02-2009 23:05
Students who had been occupying a lecture theatre at the University of Nottingham have branded university authorites a "national disgrace" after they were violently evicted by university security. Around 10 security staff used force to remove the occupants into the snow outside. Students were forced to wait in the cold and only alowed in one by one to pick up their belongings. They were forced to give ID in order to be allowed entry.
The occupation of B62 in the Law and Social Science Building at the University of Notttingham was today violently evicted by university security. The occupation which has been taking place since Wednesday is in solidarity with the people of Gaza and is one of a wave of university occupations which have taken place across the UK following the recent Israeli assault against Gaza. Although the occupiers have been clear throughout that they had no intention of disrupting other students' education, the university had refused to follow the lead of Kings College in London and negotiate with the occupying students.
Previous Feature: Nottingham university occupied in solidarity with Gaza
Newswire: Eviction video & post occupation statement from Nottingham Uni | Nottingham University Gaza solidarity occupation violently evicted 1 | 2 | Nottingham Gaza solidarity occupation violently evicted | Nottingham University Authorities: A National Disgrace
Recent Gaza Demonstrations: Nottingham Gaza Emergency Protest 1 | 2 | Gaza Public Meeting at Bobbers Mill Community Centre | Nottingham Gaza Protest 'candle-lit' Vigil 1 | 2 | Nottingham Gaza Protest March Through Nottingham to Market Sq 1 | 2 | Nottingham University Students Occupation in Solidarity with Gaza 1 | 2 | Gaza support protest at Nottingham BBC | Tash's 'Collected' actions Piccys 2009
Links: Books not Bombs | Occupation Nottingham | UK Occupations | Notts Palestine newswire
