22 August 2007
PRESS RELEASE
Justice Not Vengeance [1]
0845 458 9572 or 07973 484 202

AUTHOR JAILED FOR "UNAUTHORISED" ANTI-WAR PROTESTS.

The first person to be convicted of organising an "unauthorised" demonstration within 1km of Parliament Square was sentenced to 14 days imprisonment yesterday for refusing to pay his fines. Author [2] and editor [3] Milan Rai (42) is currently being held at Wandsworth prison, following a court appearance at Horseferry Magistrates court on 21 August.

On 25 October 2005, Mr Rai was arrested opposite Downing Street with vegan chef Maya Evans, after the pair read out the names of Iraqis and British service personnel who had been killed in Iraq since the 2003 invasion. Mr Rai was subsequently convicted of organising an "unauthorised" demonstration within 1km of Parliament, fined £350 and
ordered to pay £150 in costs [4].

In May 2007 the pair were convicted again, this time for organising and participating in an "unauthorised" demonstration within 1km of Parliament, namely the "No More Fallujahs" weekend of nonviolent resistance marking the 2nd anniversary of the US/UK onslaught on the Iraqi city of Fallujah [5]. At least 550 women and children are believed to have been killed during the latter attack [6], during which US forces used white phosphorus - a substance that burns down to the bone on contact with human flesh - as a weapon [7].

At his second trial Mr Rai was fined £100. On both occasions Mr Rai had declared that he would refuse to pay his fines on grounds of conscience. In June, Mr Rai was awarded Catholic peace group Pax Christi's biannual Peace Award [8].

Contact 0845 458 9572 or 07973 484 202

NOTES
[1] Justice Not Vengeance (JNV) is an anti-war group campaigning for a peaceful resolution of international conflicts, based on justice and equality. See www.j-n-v.org
[2] Mr Rai is the author of the following books: 'Chomsky's Politics' (Verso, 1995), 'War Plan Iraq' (Verso, 2002), 'Regime Unchanged' (Pluto, 2003) and '7/7: The London Bombings, Islam and the Iraq War' (Pluto, 2006).
[3] Mr Rai is the editor of Peace News, the UK's oldest peace movement newspaper. See www.peacenews.info.
[4] Under section 132 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (April 2005) organising an "unauthorised" demonstration within 1km of Parliament is a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment for up to 51 weeks and a £2500 fine. Participating in such a demonstration is a criminal offence punishable by a fine of up to £1000.
See www.parliamentprotest.org.uk
[5] See www.rememberfallujah.org
[6] See 'Death toll in Fallujah rising, doctors say', IRIN, 4 January 2005,  http://tinyurl.com/2b6m49
[7] See 'U.S. official admits phosphorus used as weapon in Iraq', CBC News, 16 November 2005,  http://tinyurl.com/25p39a
[8] See  http://tinyurl.com/yo3mt7