BBC: " Demo ban protesters deny charges"

| 3 Comments

The BBC reports. without much detail, that:


Demo ban protesters deny charges

Ten anti-war activists have appeared in court accused of defying a ban on unauthorised protests near Parliament.

Ann Clancy, 70, from Harrow, north-west London, was among those arrested in demonstrations days after the ban came into force at the start of August.

All of the accused denied charges under laws which prohibit protests, without prior police approval, within half-a-mile of Westminster.

Bow Street magistrates bailed all 10 until a hearing later this month.

The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act effectively bans all spontaneous protests near Parliament"

The article names:

  • "Ann Clancy, 70, from Harrow, north-west London"

  • "Caroline Simpson, 61, a mother of three from Bounds Green, north London"

Prasanth Visweswaran and Emma Sangster are presumably a couple of those also appearing, but this BBC article does not specify exactly what charges any of these people are accused of, e.g. are there any charges of organising a demonstration or of using a loudspeaker ?

Who are the other six people ?

The BBC are still persisting in their erroneous reporting about the extent of the Designated Area:

"Critics of the exclusion zone also said there was no need to extend the ban over such a wide area - it will cover St James's Park, much of the South Bank and Charing Cross to Lambeth Bridge."

Actually, of course, St James's Park is not within the Designated Area ("rightwards along Birdcage Walk as far as Horse Guards Road, along Horse Guards Road as far as the Mall"). This makes any attempt to argue that "security" is somehow being served by these restrictions, utterly ridiculous, as St James's Park is literally a stone's throw from Down Street , and within spitting distance of any official vehicles entering or leaving via Horse Guards Road.

UPDATE:
According to RTE:


"All ten pleaded not guilty at a hearing at Bow Street Magistrates Court this morning and were granted bail until further hearings on 30 August."

3 Comments

RTE reports

http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0816/uk.html


"Irish woman in court over UK demo ban

16 August 2005 17:07

A 70-year-old Irish woman has appeared in court in London after defying a new law banning demonstrations within 1km of the Houses of Parliament without police authorisation.

Ann Clancy, who is originally from Dublin but now lives in Harrow in London, was one of ten anti-war activists charged under a section of the Serious and Organised Crime and Police Act.

All ten pleaded not guilty at a hearing at Bow Street Magistrates Court this morning and were granted bail until further hearings on 30 August."

I could venture that in all the millions of square feet in the UK you might try ptotesting outside the Chinese Embassy about Tibet, the Russian about Azerbahjan, the Saudi about womens repression or any South American country you care to name about basic hunam rights. But then you wouldnt get the precious light of publicity you so crave and of corse isn't it wonderful to be able to disrupt normal decent people going about their daily grind

@ "Plain Joe Schmo" (sounds American ?) None of the demonstrations against the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act Designated Area have caused any "disruption" whatsoever - they have all been far too small to fill Parliament Square Gardens etc., an area which is usually deserted.

The Designated Area is much bigger than this, and includes, for example, the London Eye ferris wheel across the River Thames, which has nothing to do with Parliament at all.

Although various anti-war protestors have been in the forefront of the protests so far, they are not the only people who are furious with the NuLabour Government over this issue.

This iniquitous and disproportionate law applies equally to pro-war demonstrators, and even to people who might be inclined to "show solidarity" with or to support the current Government.

The ban is on *any* "demonstration" by "normal decent people", without *prior, written permission* from the Metropolitan Police.

It also covers any "public areas" of any buildings within the Designated Area i.e. you now need written prior permission to peacefully lobby your own Member of Parliament in person, in the public areas of the Palace of Westminster, or even to "demonstrate your faith" at a religous service in Westminster Abbey.

How can you possibly defend such a betrayal of our traditional freedoms and liberties ?

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This web blog has been set up as an information resource and discussion area (please be polite in the comments) to help organise resistance to the restrictions on peaceful democratic demonstrations and protests, which have been enacted by law, in a wide Designated Area around Parliament Square in London.

It appears that in order to remove the peace protester Brian Haw, who has now been demonstrating continuously in Parliament Square, day and night, for over 5 6 years, the NuLabour Government have overreacted, and have granted themselves draconian and arbitrary powers, which affect the rights of all individual British citizens to lobby their Members of Parliament, or to walk in a vast Designated Area wearing a "political slogan" T-shirt, badge, rubber wristband etc. without first seeking prior written permission from the Police.

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Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005

The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 was rushed through, "on the nod", with minimal debate, during the undemocratic "wash up" process at the end of the last Parliament when the General Election had been called.

The bulk of the Act deals with the setting up of the Serious Organised Crime Agency, but there are also sections such as:

Section 110 Powers of Arrest

From 1st January 2006 this section makes any offence, no matter how minor, into an arrestable offence. Arrests by the police these days can mean taking 10 fingerprints and two palm prints, a DNA tissue sample and processing it into a digital "DNA fingerprint", forcing you to remove any facial coverings, (even those worn for religous purposes) to take photographs of your face etc. All of these items of personal data can then be retained forever, even if you are not charged, or any charges against you are dropped, or if you go to court and are found not guilty.

These new powers are regulated by the new statutory Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) Code of Practice G (.pdf)

Section 128 Trespass on a Designated Site - e.g. Crown Property or National Security

Sections 132 to 138 Demonstrations in the vicinity of Parliament - the controversial restrictions in detail.

The Public Whip website has details of how the Members of the House of Commons voted on these controversial clauses.

Designated Area

The current Designated Area is set out in: Statutory Instrument 2005 No. 1537 The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (Designated Area) Order 2005

Read more about the Designated Area in our category archive.

Write to politicians

Write To Them - identify and contact your local councillors, Members of Parliament, devolved Assembly members and Members of the European Parliament

You can also write to the Home Secretary David Blunkett Charles Clarke John Reid Jacqui Smith

You can send an email public.enquiries@ homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk or a letter to:

Rt. Hon. Jacqui Smith MP
Home Secretary
c/o Direct Communications Unit
Home Office
2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF

Home Office Contact Us page

Mass Lone Demonstrations

Comedian Mark Thomas's website has details of Mass Lone Demonstrations which legally show up the absurdity of this law, and the bureaucracy involved in enforcing it. These multiple independent one person demonstrations take place on the third Wednesday of the month, from 5pm - 7.30pm within the Designated Area (often in Parliament Square, but not exclusively so)

Meet on the second Wednesday of each month outside Charing Cross police station (located at Agar Street, London, WC2N 4JP - see the map) any time between: 5.30 pm -7.30pm to hand in your Metropolitan Police SOCPA forms (download the optional Word or PDF forms from the Metroplitan Police) or your own personal Written Applications for Prior Permission.

Regular Protests in Parliament Square

Parliament Square - supporting the long running, 24/7, peace protest by Brian Haw in Parliament Square

Global Women's Strike who held "open mike" loudspeaker protests every Wednesday for over two and a half years, which are now banned.

London Critical Mass - group bicycle ride on the last Friday of every month, for the last 10 years, which often strays into the Designated Area.

The People's Commons Meeting / Tea Party / Picnic-Protest is now meeting every Sunday afternoon starting at 1 for 1.30pm on the Green in Parliament Square. wiki - new website PeopleInCommon.org

Website Links

Home Office - "Not fit for purpose. It is inadequate in terms of its scope, it is inadequate in terms of its information technology, leadership, management, systems and processes" - Home Secretary John Reid. 23rd May 2006.

Metropolitan Police Service

Metropolitan Police Authority - meant democratically to supervise the Metropolitan Police Service

Independent Police Complaints Commission

United Kingdom Parliament - Palace of Westminster, House of Lords, House of Commons etc.

Booking Parliament Square - Greater London Authority booking forms, terms and conditions for filming and photography for Parliament Square - "The GLA does not grant permission for demonstration, rallies and public meetings on Parliament Square Gardens".

They Work For You - a more user friendly version of the House of Commons Hansard

Pledgebank pledge:

"I will form part of a human chain around the Westminster no protest zone but only if 6,000 other people will join in."

Repeal-SOCPA-Info has useful briefing material for the Public Consultation into the laws restricting demonstrations, marches and assemblies, sample letters to MPs etc..

Blog Links

Spy Blog - Privacy and Security and Civil liberties campaigning

Mayor of London Blog - unnofficial comments on the Mayor of London and Greater London Assembly

Fuel Crisis Blog - Petrol at £1 per litre ! Protest !

Bloggerheads graphics of the 1km zone and the actual Designated Area

Charity Sweet - who has been harrassed for reading a copy of the Independent newspaper outside Downing Street etc.

BBC Travel Jam Cams

BBC Radio London has some links to Traffic Monitoring CCTV cameras, which they publish every 5 or 10 minutes, not usually in real time.

Whenever there is an "incident" or a march or demonstration, these online images are deliverately censored i.e. "not available for operational reasons", This is despite the images being of too low a resolution to identify anybody, and, the effect of not diverting traffic away from the incident, which should be the whole point of the online Traffic Cam images in the first place.

Whitehall / Parliament Square - this camera view sometimes shows Brian Haw's peace camp, and the new GLA fence around Parliament Square Gardens. (now removed, for the time being)

Northumberland Avenue / Victoria Embankment

Trafalgar Square (on the edge of the Designated Area)

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