littlemoth
New Member
Saw this on Indymedia and the PeopleInCommon.org newsletter:
We Own The Streets - Freedom of Assembly day of action:
Saturday 12th January
At a public meeting on the 2nd December, we collectively decided it
was time for a campaign for the freedom to assemble in the UK. This
was in response to continued police repression and the Government's
consultation 'Managing Protest around Parliament', which proposes
giving the police powers to censor the content of banners and
placards, and that the laws about restrictions and notifications which
currently apply to marches should be extended to static
demonstrations. This is what has already happened in the 'SOCPA zone'
around Parliament.
The proposed powers and those already given to the police create a
climate of criminalisation, a plethora of laws are applied
arbitrarily, so people are arrested simply for standing in the wrong
place at the wrong time, for having the wrong face, and combined with
a police culture that evades accountability even when innocent people
are killed, as in the Menezes case and others, there should be no
complacency that the court system can be relied on to prevent abuse.
Whatever the campaign you are involved in, whether it's for a safer
school crossing or to end a war this proposal will affect you.
The government consultation, which ends on 17th January, needs a
response not on paper but on the streets, our message is simple - we
claim the freedom to assemble without prior notification or permission
- and this is not open to negotiation. We therefore call for a
nationwide day of action on Saturday 12th January proclaiming this
freedom, as the first step in establishing a new era where it is
unquestionable that our liberties cannot be consulted away.
The next public meeting of the campaign will be on 5th January, venue TBC.
Campaign for Freedom of Assembly
Here's a link to the Indymedia article.
We Own The Streets - Freedom of Assembly day of action:
Saturday 12th January
At a public meeting on the 2nd December, we collectively decided it
was time for a campaign for the freedom to assemble in the UK. This
was in response to continued police repression and the Government's
consultation 'Managing Protest around Parliament', which proposes
giving the police powers to censor the content of banners and
placards, and that the laws about restrictions and notifications which
currently apply to marches should be extended to static
demonstrations. This is what has already happened in the 'SOCPA zone'
around Parliament.
The proposed powers and those already given to the police create a
climate of criminalisation, a plethora of laws are applied
arbitrarily, so people are arrested simply for standing in the wrong
place at the wrong time, for having the wrong face, and combined with
a police culture that evades accountability even when innocent people
are killed, as in the Menezes case and others, there should be no
complacency that the court system can be relied on to prevent abuse.
Whatever the campaign you are involved in, whether it's for a safer
school crossing or to end a war this proposal will affect you.
The government consultation, which ends on 17th January, needs a
response not on paper but on the streets, our message is simple - we
claim the freedom to assemble without prior notification or permission
- and this is not open to negotiation. We therefore call for a
nationwide day of action on Saturday 12th January proclaiming this
freedom, as the first step in establishing a new era where it is
unquestionable that our liberties cannot be consulted away.
The next public meeting of the campaign will be on 5th January, venue TBC.
Campaign for Freedom of Assembly
Here's a link to the Indymedia article.
