[JNV] milan rai jailed

[Milan Rai]

Hello JNV folks
Mil was sent to Wandsworth jail yesterday for organising the 'Naming
the Dead actions' organised by JNV. I'm forwarding the press release.
Although he was sentanced to a month, the time to serve seems to be
getting shorter and shorter and he will probably be out by the
beginning of next week.


All the best

Emily

PRESS RELEASE
Justice Not Vengeance [1]
07973 484 202

AUTHOR JAILED FOR "UNAUTHORISED" ANTI-WAR PROTESTS.

The first person to be convicted of organising an "unauthorised"
demonstration within 1km of Parliament Square was sentenced to 14 days
imprisonment yesterday for refusing to pay his fines.

On 25 October 2005, author [2] and editor [3] Milan Rai (42) was arrested
opposite Downing Street with vegan chef Maya Evans, after the pair read out
the names of Iraqis and British service personnel who had been killed in
Iraq since the 2003 invasion. Mr Rai was subsequently convicted of
organising an "unauthorised" demonstration within 1km of Parliament, fined
=A3350 and ordered to pay =A3150 in costs [4].

In May 2007 the pair were convicted again, this time for organising and
participating in an "unauthorised" demonstration within 1km of Parliament,
namely the "No More Fallujahs" weekend of nonviolent resistance marking the
2nd anniversary of the US/UK onslaught on the Iraqi city of Fallujah [5]. A=
t
least 550 women and children are believed to have been killed during the
latter attack [6], during which US forces used white phosphorus - a
substance that burns down to the bone on contact with human flesh - as a
weapon [7].

At his second trial Mr Rai was fined =A3100. On both occasions Mr Rai had
declared that he would refuse to pay his fines on grounds of conscience. In
June, Mr Rai was awarded Catholic peace group Pax Christi's biannual Peace
Award [8].

Contact 07973 484 202

NOTES
[1] Justice Not Vengeance (JNV) is an anti-war group campaigning for a
peaceful resolution of international conflicts, based on justice and
equality. See www.j-n-v.org
[2] Mr Rai is the author of the following books: 'Chomsky's Politics'
(Verso, 1995), 'War Plan Iraq' (Verso, 2002), 'Regime Unchanged' (Pluto,
2003) and '7/7: The London Bombings, Islam and the Iraq War' (Pluto, 2006).
[3] Mr Rai is the editor of Peace News, the UK's oldest peace movement
newspaper. See www.peacenews.info.
[4] Under section 132 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (April
2005) organising an "unauthorised"
demonstration within 1km of Parliament is a criminal offence punishable by
imprisonment for up to 51 weeks and a =A32500 fine. Participating in such a
demonstration is a criminal offence punishable by a fine of up to
=A31000. See www.parliamentprotest.org.uk
[5] See www.rememberfallujah.org
[6] See 'Death toll in Fallujah rising, doctors say', IRIN, 4 January 2005,
http://tinyurl.com/2b6m49
[7] See 'U.S. official admits phosphorus used as weapon in Iraq', CBC News,
16 November 2005, http://tinyurl.com/25p39a
[8] See http://tinyurl.com/yo3mt7