pa coming at yer

SUMMIT RIOTER JAILED FOR A YEAR
A Briton suspected of being a ringleader during the Gothenburg riots was today jailed for one year and fined around £30 by a Swedish court.
Paul Robinson, 32, was found guilty of violent rioting after being filmed throwing stones at police officers during clashes at the G7 European summit last month.
He was arrested on June 15 at the height of the rioting which caused an estimated £7 million of damage.
Robinson, a librarian from Camden, north London, went on trial last week at Gothenburg Court before a judge and three magistrates.
They reserved judgment on Robinson until today after hearing from the police officers who arrested him and watching a video showing the Briton throwing stones.
Robinson will serve a minimum of two thirds of his prison sentence, not including time spent on remand, before being deported from Sweden, according to a spokesman for the British Embassy.
He was also fined 500 Swedish crowns, around £30, and banned from entering Sweden for five years after he is deported, the spokesman added.
mfl

Robinson's parents, Eric and Doreen Robinson, of Burnage, Manchester, said they had heard about the verdict but refused to comment further.
ends


(reopens)
Robinson, who was not present to hear the verdict published at 2.00 pm British time, will remain in police custody until he is transferred to a Swedish prison.
A spokesman for the Judge's Department, at Gothenburg Court, said the punishment was harsh by Swedish standards and due to the circumstances of Robinson's offence.
He said: "There have been few similar cases of this charge and it normally occurs during minor demonstrations such as house occupations.
"But because of the scale of the violence Robinson was involved in, it's duration and its location in a city centre, he was given a big sentence.
"It was because the court decided he was taking part in a much bigger type of violence overall that Robinson was sentenced to one year in prison."
Prosecutor Dan Segge added: "I'm satisfied with the sentence Robinson has been given - it was not a hard case to prosecute because we had video evidence against him."
Robinson was arrested on June 15 after hurling stones at a police line in Gothenburg city centre.
He was held in police custody for questioning for nearly a month before being formally charged with violent rioting two weeks ago.
The Briton went on trial, using a translator, last Wednesday admitting he had been present and wearing a scarf as a mask but denying throwing any stones.
The court heard from three policemen, including two officers who arrested the Briton, and an unknown character witness from Britain.
Then, after video footage of him throwing two stones was played, Robinson admitted it appeared he had taken part in the violence but could not remember doing so.
His girlfriend Sarah Ayech, 27, was believed to have attended the trial, a spokesman for the British Embassy said at the time.
end

To describe Paul I can think of no word better than "gentleman". He is everything that being English used to imply. As I travel around Africa the impression of people here when I say I am English is that I must be kind, gentle and polite, but also brave and always ready to put myself on the line to help others. I wish I was strong enough inside to live up to that, but Paul always was.

I remember the instinctive way he used his unprotected body as a shield. Violent? If it hadn't been for his guts I'd have been the victim of brutality by security officers during an entirely peaceful occupation.

Sweet, kind and passionate about helping others. If the world was made up of people as "violent" as Paul there would be no need to demonstrate at all.

He was never involved in organising, always too self effacing. And yet he was never the sort of person to cross to the other side of the road if he saw someone in trouble.

But I mostly want to address anybody who still does not support those of our comrades who get arrested or condemned for being "violent". Never believe the press. Even if you think violence is wrong, you will not be given the true story, only that which defends the actions of the authorities and is sensational enough to sell papers.

Secondly, remember which side of the battleground you were on. Remember who was dressed up in full bullet proof armour with hard shields batons tear gas and now guns. And who desperately tried to create a safe space by throwing rocks at the helmeted well protected "civil servants" as they charged.

Out here in West Africa the people hate the IMF and all the associated agencies of capitalism. They are dying here, rates of illiteracy and infant mortality are *rising*. Now is not the time to cross over to the other side of the road. In The West we are suffering from capitalism, and it will get worse, but here it is already killing millions.

And if a gang of well armed bullies stood between you and a rape scene and you had the guts to throw your naked body into the fray, and threw a couple of punches in the process, we would support you.

Jail the cops !;)