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.

Parliament Sq. Protest in Peril

London IMCista | 14.05.2006 19:42 | London

On Monday the 8th, the state won their appeal against the decision that the repressive new SOCPA legislation could not be applied reactively to the protest which Brian Haw has been staging on Parliament Square for almost 5 years.

Since Monday there has been sporadic police activity at the site of the protest, and the police have sought to impose conditions on Brian and co-protestor Alex.

Regular updates have been posted on Indymedia UK. The timeline below is drawn from them.

Links: Short film of Monday's events | BBC Parliament Square jamcam | Video of Parliament Square Gathering on Sunday, May 14th

|



TIMELINE:

Monday 8th May: AM: Decision is announced. Brian is refused leave to appeal the decision.

PM: Metropolitan Police contact Brian's solicitor and inform him that the protest is "authorized without prejudice", and that they make seek to impose conditions later.

On BBC London Tonight, Sarah Harris reports that "senior sources" have indicated to her that the protest will be removed within hours.

10 supporters spend the night at the square, with a BBC camera left so they can film any incidents. Police including the Forward Intelligence Team are visible in the square but do not interfere with the protest.

Tuesday 9th May: AM: Several newspapers carry the story. The Daily Mail proclaims "Gone At Last" rather too early. The protest is still there.

PM: At noon a posse of policemen visit Brian and demand that he fills in the 'official authorisation form'. They give him until Wednesday to complete the form, after which they state they will impose conditions.

They also speak to Alex , a Russian, through an interpreter. Alex signs a form. The police leave and a number of supporters stay overnight.

Wednesday 10th May: AM: Metal barriers are installed for PMs Question Time. This is a regular occurrence.

PM: The barriers are removed after PMQT. The police seem to have decided to accept Brian's original application and to dropped the demand that he fill in the official form. He is handed a letter containing conditions, and police say a further letter will set down a timescales for the conditions. Police visit Alex and film his display.

Later they return and hand Alex a letter imposing conditions on the size of his display and the articles he may have with him in the square.

Thursday 11th May:

Police inform Brian's solicitor that by 3pm, steps should be taken to meet the condition restricting the size of his display to 3 metres in any direction. At 4pm another police posse visits Brian and cautions him, informing him he will be reported to the CPS.He starts to make a statement and they decide to leave before he is through. They do not attempt to dismantle any part of the display. Brian follows them onto the road when they leave, and the traffic is stopped for a while.

London IMCista

Additions

what is the eyesore?

15.05.2006 08:14

well, we've made it to the features section, and first i want to make a correction. the timeline reports have been going up as they happen and sometimes information emerges that isn't fully checked in the heat of the moment - this is the nature of turnaround reporting. it seems now that when the cops beat their retreat yesterday afternoon, they did not report to the CPS. they simply reported to base - quite a big difference, certainly legally.

friday was a very peaceful day in the sunshine. the police did visit at around 4 this afternoon. an inspector, a sergeant and a videographer spent some time at alex the russian's display. remember that he was handed conditions earlier in the week. well they got out their tape measure, and the sergeant told the camera that 'this does not comply with the conditions", stating the time and date. he also pointed out on cam that alex was not present (another breach of conditions). and then they went away, without any dealings with brian.

brian was on fine form ringing his bell and crying out the words reported earlier in the timeline at
 http://publish.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/05/340022.html

brian's demo has been described as an eyesore, but as the picture from the square this afternoon shows, the real eyesore is the effect of depleted uranium munitions on the babies of iraq, and this effect will continue for centuries to come. no wonder the government want to rid parliament square of this stain on their conscience.

and the mainstream media are no help. they want their soundbites, they pester brian all day with stupid questions and then they filter the facts through their editorial lenses and select what they want to print. as brian points out, why is it that tony blair can write an article, tony benn can write an article, church leaders can write an article, but brian just gets 'reported'.

if you wonder what you can do to help, and you can't spare the time to come down to the square, then just spend a few minutes writing to your favourite (or otherwise) newspaper, and ask them to allow brian to write a proper full unedited article for them. if enough of us write, there's a chance we can make this happen, and then some truths can be told. surely, after five years on the pavement at westminster he deserves that, before they sweep him away.

all is calm at midnight tonight, and supporters are not expecting any problems overnight. plans are continuing for the massive gathering of supporters on sunday at noon.

rikki
home Homepage: http://www.parliament-square.org.uk


saturday am

15.05.2006 08:28

brian and supporters had a reasonably peaceful night. no police contact. one drunkard seen off.

brian b's comment is correct - that particular picture brian haw was holding up is from afghanistan - one of many - there are similar pictures from iraq too. the use of depleted uranium munitions by western forces in iraq and elsewhere is possibly the greatest war crime ever committed, sentencing future generations to suffering on an unimaginable timescale.

rikki


saturday night

15.05.2006 08:30

no police action today, the sixth day of peaceful defiance against the high court ruling. spirits are high for the mass gathering of supporters tomorrow at noon.

it may be my imagination, but if anything, brian's display has grown even bigger, wrapping round the corner of the green.

rikki


sunday am

15.05.2006 08:31

another quiet night in the square and all is peaceful this morning. brian and his supporters are getting ready to welcome the mass gathering of solidarity at noon today in defiance of the socpa law.

last night at about 11pm, brian spoke with cindy sheehan in america who was outside the whitehouse at the time with the 'families against the war' group there.

more on their conversation later. cindy sheehan is of course the mother who camped outside bush's ranch in america after her son was killed in iraq. bush refused to meet her, and her case name became a cause celebre of the american peace movement and the mainstream media.

rikki


absolute freedom to protest

15.05.2006 08:33

it was as if there had never been any legislation passed against unauthorised demonstrations near parliament. it was as if tuesday's newspapers and monday's tv news reports, that brian haw's five year long protest was over, had never happened. it was as if bye-laws banning music, organised events, demonstrations and indeed ball games on the grass at parliament square had never been written.

another chapter in the 'alice in wonderland' world of the serious organised crime and police act was written as around a hundred supporters of free speech gathered with banners for a mass photo-call and demonstration in support of brian at noon in the square today.

there were no heritage wardens in sight to enforce the by-laws. there were no police at the gates of westminster. there were no community support officers to inquire what we were up to. as the samba band loudly kicked off, i spotted two police watching and talking on their radios from a discreet distance, but as i wandered over towards them, they legged it over westminster bridge.

some folk even shouted at the occasional passing police patrol - "look, this is illegal, come and arrest us", but for some reason (could it possibly be to do with the press presence?) they seemed to have called a total amnesty.

tomorrow afternoon, brian is wondering whether hugo chavez (who will be visiting westminster) may come and visit. if so it's likely to be around four in the afternoon. it will mark the first whole week since brian lost his case in the high court. he's still there. if anything his display has grown even larger. his photos of deformed children, the result of depleted uranium munitions, have become more conscience-shocking, and he is ever more defiant. he is trying to prevent the greatest crimes that humans can commit - the crimes of genocide - the crimes of killing women and children - the crimes of poisoning the earth - the crimes of looting and thieving the wealth of a people. he is not the serious organised criminal, and he will not leave the square.

please support him. write to the press. ask them to give him a platform. ask them to keep this issue in the minds of the public. visit him and give your support. stay overnight if you can. bring cameras and videos to film the police if they interfere with him. we can and will beat this law, and then this war.

rikki
home Homepage: http://URL: http://www.parliament-square.org.uk


Comments

Hide the following comment

Eyesore

15.05.2006 08:27

I believe the photograph shown at Parliament Square came from Afghanistan, not Iraq. See this article by a person (originally from Afghanistan) who has recently visited Afghanistan:
 http://www.rense.com/general70/deathmde.htm

People in the anti-war movement need to remember what has been done to Afghanistan and the situation there now especially when more British troops have been sent there. The same radioactive depleted uranium used in Afghanistan has of course been used again by the same dimwit nations in Iraq.

You are right to say that is the real eyesore. Thanks for the reports rikki.

Brian B


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