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more socpa violence and harrassment at the hands of the met

rikki | 25.06.2006 21:25 | SOCPA | Indymedia | Repression

barbara tucker was today violently assaulted outside downing street. meanwhile steve was arrested for holding a banner appealing for witnesses to his assault last week

barbara tucker was carrying on her solo protest outside downing street this afternoon. as she did on wednesday, ( http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/06/343251.html), she carried a copy of her police notification with her. she was approached by 'diplomatic' police first, and they called officers from charing cross. once again, ignoring barbara's notification they said they were 'notifying' her to the crown prosecution service for likely summons for holding an 'unauthorised' demonstration. as this has been threatened more than thirty times before, she was furious at this repeated police harrassment, and demanded that her statement be taken (swear words and all). but officers then tried to arrest her under a public order section 5, and wrestled the poor woman to the ground in front of horrified tourists, twisting her arm so badly behind her back that she thought they were breaking it.

they carted her off to charing cross, but then refused to let her sign any statement and instead of processing her, escorted her outside. she demanded to make an official complaint against the officers who had assaulted her, especially in view of the fact that they seemed to be dropping any proceedings against her, throwing the whole arrest into doubt.
eventually her assault complaint was taken and the marks on her arm photographed.

back at downing street, steve, who had been subject to assault by other charing cross thugs last sunday ( http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/06/343058.html), was holding a banner asking for witnesses to come forward. but in the bizarre universe of the serious organised crime and police act ban on demonstrations, an officer from that very same police station decided that this was in itself a protest, and told him he would be reported for the offence. as per last week, steve refused to give his details , believing he was not doing anything illegal. but constable burnett would not listen to reason, and decided to arrest him. thankfully, this week officers decided not to handcuff him, and so he got into the police van and was bundled off to the station.

latest report is that he is still refusing to give his details. of course the police must now have access to this information because he gave his full name and address in court last monday after his assault and arrest, but they were refusing to let him out until he complied again.

he is due in court in the morning relating to last week, but it looks like he might be there anyway after another night in the cells.

again, it seems that if you carry on a lone demonstration in the socpa zone, it is impossible to know how you will be treated. perhaps, like wednesday ( http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/06/343251.html) you will be allowed to peacefully continue your business. or perhaps, like steve last week and barbara this week, you will face injury at the hands of violent bullies in uniform. and if you try to collect evidence of your assault, the police might just come along and spuriously arrest you again to prevent you from doing so.

while the courts and judges still have the power, i am confident that these unjust assaults on liberty will be evntually exposed for what they are, deemed unlawful, and that freedom to protest will win through. but blair is talking about summary justice and doing away with even more civil liberties. if you want to know what this really means on the streets, look no further.

rikki
- e-mail: rikkiindymedia@googlemail.com

Additions

pics

25.06.2006 21:31

witness appeal
witness appeal

barbara's arm
barbara's arm

the witness appeal banner, and barbara's arm after the assault

rikki


short film

26.06.2006 00:10

film interview with barbara tucker after her violent arrest, and footage of steve's arrest for holding up a banner appealing for witnesses to his violent arrest the previous week.

mp4 format - to view this on any operating system, you can download the free vlc player from www.videolan.org - excellent player for loads of different formats.

i've also succumbed and posted a wmv version for you (reluctant) bill gates supporters out there.

rikki
mail e-mail: rikkiindymedia@googlemail.com


update on steve's status and welfare

26.06.2006 08:55

steve was let out last night after a further assault in the station.

according to steve, in the custody suite, police refused to process him even though he told them that when properly processed he would comply and give his details. he was not given a copy of pace, but was told to go to the cells and would be processed later. fearing for his safety after last week, and knowing that there are cameras in the custody area but not in the cells, he loudly refused to cooperate until he was properly processed, charged with a crime, and given opportunity to make a statement - all under the eye of the camera. police refused to do this, and six of them wrestled him to the ground, aggressively handcuffed him (although once again he was only offering passive resistance), and dragged him to the cells.

he was held there without charge for about five hours, and then at just after ten last night they finally charged him with organising or participating in an unauthorised protest under the socpa legislation. there were no charges of assault or resisting arrest added this time. after fingerprints and dna, he was allowed to leave, with badly bruised left arm (it was the right last week), at about half past ten.

steve is due at bow street for the pre-trial hearing of last week's charges under socpa as well as assault, and will also be entering a plea (not guilty) for the charge made yesterday.

rikki


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