Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

14 October - Fairford Coaches case at the Court of Appeal

j | 13.10.2004 17:46 | Anti-militarism | Repression | London

Does the High Court uphold the right to protest in the UK? No, in February the courts ruled that Police can prevent a group from attending a demonstration when no one within the group has committed an offence or is actively threatening to do so.

As the law stands now, there only needs to be a suspicion in the Senior Police officer's mind that someone present in the group would be willing to commit a minor offence (eg- property damage/cutting a hole in a fence). The police don't even need to prove that you had the equipment to commit the offence, just that their intelligence suggests someone would want to commit the offence.

For example, you go on a hire coach to a demo. Some people who also board the coach are from a group that the police like to bully and harrass. Then the police note that some members of the group are present, and claim that some group members have been previously linked to property damage or violent behaviour. This is enough to make it so none of you get to go to the demo.

Sounds all cozy and democratic, eh?

Come and join the coach detainees in a demo outside the Royal Courts of Justice 9am-10am both days (Th-Fr 14-15 October, 2004). Also, come inside from 11am-4pm and watch the wigged justices (including Lord Chief Justice Woolf) and countless barristers decide how to apply the law. But leave your camera at the shop on the opposite side of the street, as the Royal Courts have no camera storage facilities, and they won't let cameras physically into the Courts.

In case you were wondering what people have to say about the case, read the quotes below which can be found at the website-

MARK THOMAS - COMEDIAN

"If you only see one case this year make it this one!"

"Gloucestershire police must be the envy of the human rights-abusing cop world. From Turkey to Indonesia they will say, 'Kidnapping peace protestors! How did they get away with that one?'" (Zoo Weekly 24-30 Jan 2004)

"Maybe… there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for unlawfully detaining 120 people. Maybe they just got carried away with last year's idea of pre-emptive strikes and thought, 'Let's not wait for an actual crime to occur. Let's get the innocent.'" (Zoo Weekly 24-30 Jan 2004)

"Were British protesters, armed with little more than a frisbee and a bag of plastic toy soldiers, really in danger of being shot by the US military in Gloucestershire?" (New Statesman, Monday 1st March 2004 - "Mark Thomas wonders why the police fear frisbees")

"In the circumstances, you have to admire the protesters' restraint." (New Statesman, Monday 1st March 2004 - "Mark Thomas wonders why the police fear frisbees")

"One can only guess the amount of magic mushrooms a sane person would have to consume to believe that a frisbee constituted a genuine threat to roughly 3,000 police officers." (New Statesman, Monday 1st March 2004 - "Mark Thomas wonders why the police fear frisbees")

Mark Thomas, Comedian/Writer
www.mtcp.co.uk


AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

"Amnesty International expressed concern about the chilling effect on the rights to freedom of assembly, peaceful protest and expression, insofar as the judgment's finding that preventing the coaches from proceeding to Fairford was lawful, and that, as a result, the police actions had not violated Jane Laporte's right to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression."

Amnesty International, Europe and Central Asia: Summary of Amnesty International's Concerns in the Region, January - June 2004
web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGEUR010052004?open&of=ENG-GBR


LIBERTY

"The right to peaceful protest is an important foundation of democracy. The actions of Gloucestershire police not only prevented peaceful protesters from exercising their legitimate rights on the day, but will also have a serious chilling effect on the rights of others if allowed to be repeated. Furthermore, the lengthy detention of the protesters was a shocking breach of their right to personal liberty."

Alex Gask, Solicitor for Liberty
www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk


DAVID DREW - MP

"I attended the demonstration at RAF Fairford. It was well attended but peaceful throughout. I can see no reason why those who wished to legitimately demonstrate were not allowed to do so rather than being stopped in transit and I hope that this matter can now be resolved so that free speech and justice remain paramount in the United Kingdom."

David Drew, Labour and Co-operative MP for Stroud
www.daviddrew.ik.org



LYNNE JONES - MP

"Stop and search powers under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act (2000) were used 2132 times at RAF Fairford as people demonstrated there in 2003. By contrast during the same period, there were only 56 searches under Section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act (1994). No one was subsequently arrested or prosecuted as a result of the 2132 searches, which clearly shows that the Terrorism Act was used to harass people protesting against the war on Iraq."

Lynne Jones, Labour MP for Birmingham Selly Oak
www.lynnejones.org.uk



JEAN LAMBERT - MEP

"The right to peaceful protest is a cornerstone of democracy and has to be defended whether in Beijing, Diyarbakir, Rangoon or Fairford. Democracy should not have different standards for home and abroad."

Jean Lambert, Green Party MEP for London, England
www.jeanlambertmep.org.uk



CAROLINE LUCAS - MEP

"The UN Secretary-General has now confirmed what many of us already knew - that the attack on, and occupation of, Iraq was illegal. The right to peaceful protest on the other hand, remains a legal cornerstone of any civilised democracy. This detention of peaceful protestors against an illegal and immoral war is an outrageous abuse of power. The Court of Appeal must ensure that justice is done and that the right to peaceful protest is upheld."

Caroline Lucas, Green Party MEP for South East England
www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk



KEN LIVINGSTONE - MAYOR OF LONDON

The right to protest is fundamental in a democracy - a right millions choose to exercise in opposition to the war with Iraq.

It is essential that courts uphold this right.

Ken Livingstone - Mayor of London
www.london.gov.uk



JENNY JONES - LONDON ASSEMBLY / EX-DEPUTY MAYOR

"There was no need to turn away the coaches from the demo, let alone detain them. I attended the original High Court hearings in January and February where the judges ruled that police can prevent ordinary people from attending legal demonstrations. Police are now appealing for permission to detain innocent Londoners who wish to exercise their democratic rights by attending a demonstration. I fully support the Fairford Coach detainees in their struggle for basic human rights." (September 2004)

"Stopping the Fairford coaches was an outrageous use of police resources. Until recently here in London, the police classed environmental protesters with 'burglars and other criminals'. It's time the police realised that peaceful civil rights activists are not terrorists, but people who are concerned about the lack of democracy and are fighting for all of us." (September 2004)

"To join a peaceful demonstration is accepted as a basic right in this country... they were, in effect, arrested without having done anything wrong." (from 15 January 2004 News Release)

Jenny Jones, London Assembly and Ex-Deputy Mayor (Green Party Member)
www.london.gov.uk/assembly

j
- Homepage: http://www.fairfordcoachaction.org.uk

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech