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"Neighbours" Cop tracks OZ Anti-War Radical to London Anarchist Bookfair

some eastern european wannabe | 15.10.2008 16:24 | Analysis | Iraq | London

London Anarchist Bookfair



Senior Sergeant Alan Steiger  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Steiger from Ramsay St. Erinsborough (Australian tv soap opera "Neighbours"  http://neighbours.com.au/home.htm ) is closing in on his old nemisis Irish-Australian anti-war activist Ciaron O'Reilly.

O'Reilly is due to workshop Harry Browne's recent book "Hammered by the Irish"  http://www.indymedia.ie/article/89386 at the London Anarchist Bookfair this Saturday Oct 18th 11 a.m. Room EB2

"Hammered by the Irish", recently published in the United States by Counterpunch  http://www.counterpunch.org and AK Press  http://www.akpress.org/2008/items/hammeredbytheirishakpress, deals with the $U.S.2.5 million act of nonviolent disarmament by the Pitstop Ploughshares of a U.S. Navy war plane at Shannon Airport, Co. Clare, Ireland Feb 03.  http://www.peaceontrial.com

O'Reilly's stormy relationship with Steiger (aka Joe Clements, "The Package", "Big Al", "Chief Wiggum") predates the good Sergeant's initial 2004 appearance on the iconic cul de sac of Ramsey St.

Al/Joe initially engaged O'Reilly in '98, taking a seat next to him on a shuttle bus from the outback Jabiluka Blockade Camp to the Jabiluka uranium mine site (Northern Territory, Australia). O'Reilly initially suspected the short haired, athletic dude was a cop. O'Reilly's well honed counter-surveillance techniques were thrown by the stranger's ability to sing the all the versus of Helen Reddy '70's hit "I am Woman!" - but his initial hunch was to prove to be a self fulfilling prophecy! The other prophecy unleashed on this occasion, of course, was the Jabiluka Ploughshares disabling uranium mining equipment on the lease site....
 http://www.plowsharesactions.org/webpages/JABILUKAPLOWS...S.htm

Acquaintances were renewed with Steiger's associates at the S11 2000 blockade of the World Economic Forum at Melbourne's Crown Casino, where O'Reilly was one of many protesters stampeded, batoned and kicked in the head by the Victorian riot police.

Seven years later, O'Reilly settled out of court and the Murdoch Press settled for making O'Reilly a poster boy for Victorian cop grievance (  http://www.indymedia.ie/article/81331 )

It's been a long time between drinks for Steiger and O'Reilly. As Australian viewers of "Neighbours" well know Snr Sgt. Steiger departed Ramsey St. in Episode 5255 for Cairns after marrying Janelle Timmins. Meanwhile British viewers of episode 5255 were lead to believe that Snr. Sgt Steiger had departed for the Solomon Islands.

Why the need for such subterfuge?

What is the Senior Sergeant doing at the London Anarchist Bookfair? -  http://www.anarchistbookfair.org .

O'Reilly has recently run the gauntlet of the
PSNI in Belfast  http://www.indymedia.ie/article/87990
Irish Specal Branch on the way to Brigid's Well in County Kildare
 http://www.indymedia.ie/article/85992
the British Counter Terrorist Police at Luton Airport
 http://www.indymedia.ie/article/84989
and the homeboys Australian Security Intelligence Organisation at Brisbane Airport
 http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Peace-activist-s....html

O'Reilly claims to be in London to workshop the recently Counterpunch publication of Harry Browne's "Hammered by the Irish". The book details......

"On a damp night in February 2003, as the U.S. prepared to invade Iraq O'Reilly & four other Catholic Workers scrambled across runways and broke into a hangar at Shannon Airport. Swinging hammers and a pickaxe, they did more than $2.5 million damage to a U.S. Navy transport plane.

The five were hit with the full weight of the law, and were quickly condemned by the media and much of the anti-war movement. But three and half years later, a Dublin jury decided they were innocent of any crime.

This is the story of how a civilian airport in the west of Ireland became a "Pitstop of Death", and how the act of conscience touched the hearts and minds of twelve jurors making political and legal history, in an epic of popular resistance."

Has Snr. Sgt. Steiger been drafted from Ramsay St/ Cairns/ the Solomons to the Anarchist Bookfair in London by some shadowy covert ops..........who knows?

*Find out!
Be there!
"Hammered by the Irish"Workshop
with Ciaron O'Reilly & Senior Segeant Steiger
11 am
Saturday Oct 18th
Room EB2
London Anarchist Bookfair www.anarchistbookfair.org
Queen Mary College
Mile End Rd.
(East End)
E1 (closest tubes Stepney Green and Mile End)
London

some eastern european wannabe

Comments

Hide the following 3 comments

what are blathering on about?

16.10.2008 12:04

Doubtless some of the things you reference here happened or are happening, but the connection between them and what you are trying to tell us is anyone's guess.

In english mate?

Oscar


Response

16.10.2008 14:16

Well it is an imposed colonial language that we continue to struggle with, so bear with us!

I guess it is an (slightly situationist) attempt to attract people to a 11 a.m. start for a workshop. Even putting aside authoritarian left stereotypes of anarchist rising times...one must try ones best to promote the workshop at this ungodly hour. Joe Clements of Melbourne punk band "The Joes" happens to be in London and moonlights as a cop on "Neighbours" so I thought I would liven up the 11 a.m. gig with his input.

And yes, all these things have happened and continue to happen.
With an escalating and expanding US/UK wars and no visible support for the wars and no visibile opposition to the wars - those who remain active are being continually tagetted by the overstaffed overresourced security services.

My focus over the past 12 months has been to help archive the Pitstop Ploughshares www.peaceontrial.com action...the most disruptive civiian act of NVDA to U.S. deployment to the 03 invasion of Iraq (there wasn't much competition from a pretty tame now defunct anti-war movement/phenomenon. So I guess being the most disruptive is a bit like winning the Eurovision!).

So far this has included
-helping to promote the anarch doc "Route Irish" google it available free on the web.
-now helping to promote Harry Browne's "Hammered by the Irish" anavailable from amazon uk and ak press and www.counterpunch.org
-the recently retrieved ploughshares hammers will soon be an exhibit at a downtown Dublin gallery
-and a celebrated Irish playwrite is toying with writing a play.
The purpose of this work is to archive dissident memory before it vanishes. So it is easier for folks in 5, 10, 20 years time to reach back for nourishment as the confront the wars coming down the line.

So event though my last 12 months focus has been archiving not activism - I have been detained 4 times under counter-terrorism legislation in 3 jurisdictions, had a house where I was staying raided and a car I was travelling in confistacated.

This attention is supposed to make me worried, fearful, give up...so I've decided to respond with Snr. Sgt. Steiger from "Neighbours"...ok maybe this terms of pop cult terms of reference
amd humour is lost on you. No worries!

Bear with us, when you ain't got an agent.....it's all self promotion!

If 11 a.m. is to early for ya and ya interested I'll behanging around bookfair for most of the day and will be up for a chat.

Ciaron
- Homepage: http://www.peaceontrial.com


Ex-Cop Spooks in the Jabiluka Campaign '98-2000

17.10.2008 05:53

" The unit also deployed undercover officers to "assess" events such as
a 1989 teddy bears picnic in the Fitzroy Gardens organised by the
Victorian Childcare Action Group and a Reclaim the Night rally in the
city in 1985, at which female officers posed as feminists. "

in the age: infiltrat. and mention of barra/memet

Ex-undercover officer spied on green groups for uranium miners -
EXCLUSIVE - THE SPYING GAME
Age, The (Melbourne, Australia) - October 17, 2008
Author: Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie, Age Investigative Unit
THE owners of Australia's biggest uranium mines paid a former
undercover Victoria Police officer to infiltrate environment and
Aboriginal groups in Melbourne.

The former police intelligence unit officer, known as Mehmet, was hired
by North Ltd - before its takeover by Rio Tinto in late 2000 - and US
nuclear and defence giant General Atomics to spy on Friends of the
Earth, Jabiluka Action Group, Nuclear Free Australia, radio station 3CR
and radical Melbourne bookstore Barricade Books.

Mehmet first infiltrated the Jabiluka Action Group and Friends of the
Earth in 1998 as part of an undercover police operation. It is not
known why police chose to infiltrate and monitor the groups, though
both were involved in anti-uranium protests.

After leaving the police in late 1999 to set up his own security
company, Universal Axiom, Mehmet retained his covert police persona as
a Kurdish migrant concerned about indigenous and mining issues.

He was able to stay inside the groups and provide information to the
mining companies about campaigns being planned against their respective
uranium mining operations until his cover was blown in mid-2001, when
Friends of the Earth received an anonymous phone call warning about
Mehmet's true identity.

Deputy Police Commissioner Simon Overland told The Age it was a breach
of the Police Regulations Act for an officer to use a covert identity
after leaving the force or to use information gathered in the course of
official duties for private gain.

"It's a criminal offence and we would take that very seriously. We have
prosecuted people in the past and we will continue to do so when they
do that," he said.

Mr Overland also acknowledged some covert operations by Victoria Police
in the late 1990s were not as accountable as they should have been.

"It is pretty much a matter of public record that there were issues
with the way activities in this area operated in the past," Mr Overland
said. "But I do make the point that it is eight years ago ... I want to
make it very clear that that is not the way we do business now."

Friends of the Earth spokesman Cam Walker said there was no
justification for police infiltration of the group in the late 1990s,
especially as it was already holding regular meetings with the police
intelligence unit at the time to discuss its campaigns.

Mr Walker said it was unethical for mining companies to pay the former
undercover officer to continue to spy on groups opposed to uranium
mining.

"It is inappropriate on so many levels. We are a membership-based
community group," Mr Walker said. "We are no risk of violence against
the police or the companies. We see this as a criminal act,
particularly as the guy came to be here in the first place as a police
officer."

Former North Ltd executives have confirmed the engagement of Mehmet's
company, Universal Axiom, as well as two other corporate intelligence
firms, British-owned Control Risks Group and a Melbourne firm headed by
another former undercover Victoria Police officer.

"We were facing a very strong, active protest outside our Melbourne
headquarters because of Jabiluka and we needed security advice to
protect our staff," a former company executive said.

"We were also facing a takeover and we had to take steps to ensure the
security of our internal information and boardroom discussions."

It is believed only a handful of North Ltd executives were aware of the
engagement of Mehmet, who was first hired to assess the quality of
information supplied by other private intelligence firms.

A spokesman for Rio Tinto, which acquired North Ltd in late 2000, said
the company was not aware of North Ltd's engagement of security
consultants.

"We hire security companies and consultants to support our operations
worldwide," the Rio Tinto spokesman said. "However, the purpose of
these contracts is solely for the protection of the group's assets and
personnel, it is completely defensive. These services are not used for
infiltration of competitors or anyone else."

US company General Atomics and its Australian subsidiary, Heathgate
Resources, declined to answer questions about Mehmet, who also provided
personal protection to visiting General Atomics executives.

A Heathgate spokeswoman said the company was privately owned and had a
policy of not responding to media questions.

Got a tip? Call the unit or email  investigations@theage.com.au
Edition: First
Section: News
Page: 1
Index Terms: Politics/Civil Rights/Privacy ; Law/Police/Malpractice ;
Company/Rio Tinto ; Company/North Ltd/was North Broken Hill Peko Ltd ;
Industry/Mining/Uranium ; Exclusive
Location(s): VIC
Record Number: 20081017000030431352


MORE:

READ:
 http://www.theage.com.au/national/infiltrating-community-groups-has-a-
long-history-20081015-51k2.html

RELATED
 http://www.theage.com.au/national/the-spying-game-20081015-51lr.html


" The police's intelligence group has achieved significant success in
counter-terrorism operations, with one of its operatives infiltrating a
radical Islamic cell in Melbourne." (Comment: translation they set up
the Muslim blokefesters by setting off an example bomb! )

 http://www.theage.com.au/national/police-spying-on-activists-revealed
-20081015-51k0.html?page=-1

Who are the people in your neighbourhood?


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