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.

Imc Bristol: Seized Server still not returned!

transmitter | 21.10.2005 19:57 | Indymedia

Bristol Indymedia had a server seized by police and a volunteer from its collective arrested at the end of June 2005. Here is an update from the BIMC collective:

********************************************************************************

Public Statement From Bristol Indymedia
---------------------------------------
Latest update, October 2005: The arrested volunteer has answered
bail early October and has yet to be charged. The case is
currently with the Crown Prosecution Service, and Bristol Indymedia
are currently fundraising for legal fees. Three months after the
server that hosted Bristol Indymedia, nor any of the other
equipment taken, has been returned by the police. A request has
been made through legal channels for the return of the equipment,
for which we are still waiting for a final outcome. Discussions
continue with legal advisors as to what action to take next.

Bristol Indymedia wishes to thank all those who have both given and
offered support and issued statements of solidarity.

Thank you,

Bristol Indymedia Collective

For more information on the Bristol Indymedia server siezure:
Solidarity page with a timeline of events:
 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/06/315177.html
First press release:
 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/06/314820.html
Second press release :
 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/06/315147.html

********************************************************************************

Legal Update from Bristol Indymedia, and request for financial solidarity
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Released: 21st October 2005

As most in the IMC UK network know, Bristol Indymedia had a server
seized by police and a volunteer from its collective arrested at
the end of June this year.

This case has serious and fundamental implications for the whole
Indymedia network. The reason is that police charged the individual
from the collective with 'Incitement to cause criminal damage'
after an article posted on the open newswire apparently urged
others to damage cars, despite the fact that the article was
removed under Bristol Indymedia guidelines within 24 hours.

It is clear that the police were, through using this charge,
claiming that the Indymedia volunteer was somehow 'responsible' for
the content of the article because it was 'published on Indymedia':
meaning that anyone who volunteers (or has any connection) with an
Indymedia site can be personally held responsible for anything that
anyone posts on the newswire.

The police response of seizing a server is completely out of
proportion to the situation, especially as the Bristol Indymedia
collective had agreed to discuss the matter with police. In fact it
was the police who called off the meeting at the last minute. The
next thing the collective knew was the server being taken and an
individual arrested.

Through this extreme action, which brought the whole Bristol
Indymedia news service offline, the police made a direct attack at
the very principle of open posting and free media. We cannot let
this precedent be set, and we cannot allow this to become a tool
used against Indymedia anywhere, anytime: for the sake of keeping
Bristol Indymedia available to the public, and that of the whole
Indymedia project worldwide.

The arrested volunteer has answered bail early October and has yet
to be charged. The case is currently with the Crown Prosecution
Service, and Bristol Indymedia are currently fundraising for legal
fees. We would like to make a request to the Indymedia network for
any funds or contributions for financial solidarity. We would very
much appreciate support from the network, so we can keep fighting
this legal case and defend what we all stand for: the existence of
web outlets for free media and independent voices.

Cheques can be sent to:
Bristol Indymedia
c/o Green Leaf Bookshop
82 Colston Street
Box 3
Bristol
BS1 5BB
UK

***********************************************************************************

transmitter
- Homepage: http://bristol.indymedia.org

Comments

Display the following 2 comments

  1. Returning servers — Subcommandente Simon
  2. why not host the server with the people at Indymedia New York? — American Anarchist
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