[JNV] Faslane Peace Prisoner / SOCPA Email Protest and Day of Action

[Justice Not Vengeance]

1) PEACE PRISONER - Barbara Dowling
2) SOCPA CONSULTATION - email now!
3) SOCPA DAY OF ACTION - 12 January

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Dear friends

Below are two actions we would like to invite you to take - supporting
a peace activist currently serving a prison sentence for an
anti-Trident action, and opposing the Serious Organised Crime and
Police Act (2005). There are also details of the anti-SOCPA day of
action on Saturday.

Best wishes for 2008!

Maya Anne Evans
Emily Johns
Milan Rai
JNV


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1) PEACE PRISONER - WRITE TODAY!

Peace activist Barbara Dowling was sent to prison on Monday 7 January
for painting anti-nuclear slogans near the Trident nuclear submarine
base at Faslane in Scotland. Along with fellow activist Morag Balfour,
Barbara, a retired government worker, painted slogans including
"Trident is Terrorism" and "Trident =3D Terror" on a railway bridge next
to Faslane.

Barbara's action took place on Nagasaki Day (9 August) 2006. According
to a report on the Trident Ploughshares website, she explained to the
court how her Christianity motivated and supported her in this action.
She said it was not enough to be just sympathetic, you must also act
on your beliefs and do what you can.

After convicting both women of 'malicious mischief', JP Andrew
Nicholson offered to defer sentence for six months for them to be 'of
good behaviour' in which case he would then admonish them.

Both refused this, explaining that their definition of "good
behaviour" included "acting in love" to uphold International Law and
oppose Trident. After some debate about what the court could and could
not do, procedurally, at this point, JP Nicholson fined each woman =A360
and, when they refused to pay, imposed a Supervised Attendance Order
of 20 hours each.

Barbara breached the terms of the order and was sentenced this week to
a fortnight's imprisonment in Cornton Vale women's prison in Stirling.

By our calculations, Barbara will be released tomorrow, Friday 11
January. (You serve half your sentence so she should be released on
Sunday, the 7th day of imprisonment, but prisons don't release on
Sundays or Saturdays, so she should get out on Friday.)

Please write a letter of support to Barbara, c/o Trident Ploughshares,
42-46 Bethel St, Norwich NR2 1NR, asking them to forward it to her.


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2) SOCPA CONSULTATION - EMAIL NOW!

The government is consulting the public on the Serious Organised Crime
and Police Act (SOCPA). Justice Not Vengeance urges everyone opposed
to the restrictions on protest to take part in the SOCPA consultation
- at least so that the Government cannot claim the public is
unconcerned about the matter. We give some possible sample responses
below.

The deadline for responding is one week from today: 17 January 2008.

Please send in your response to the consultation as soon as possible to:
ProtestaroundParliament@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

The entire consultation document can be found at:
<http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/cons-2007-managing-protest>
<http://tinyurl.com/2ap5l6>

SAMPLE RESPONSES PREPARED BY JUSTICE NOT VENGEANCE

The consultation document poses eight questions to be consulted on:

Public Protest =96 the Legislation Framework
Q1: The Government believes peaceful protest is a vital part of a
democratic society, and that the police should have powers to manage
public assemblies and processions to respond to the potential for
disorder. Should the powers generally in relation to marches and
assemblies be the same?

ANSWER1: Marches and assemblies are indeed vital parts of a democratic
society, and there should be a positive right to protest. Three
existing police powers should certainly be removed: the power to ban
marches, the power to censor placards and banners, and the ban (around
Parliament) on protests which have not received prior police
authorisation - a ban which contravenes the right to freedom of
assembly under the European Convention on Human Rights. The removal of
unnecessary and oppressive police powers may indeed lead to police
powers becoming more similar in relation to marches and assemblies,
but the focus should be on enhancing freedom and respecting rights,
rather than tidying up legislation.

Q2. Do you agree that the conditions that can be imposed on assemblies
and marches should be harmonised?

ANSWER2: See above.

Protest in the vicinity of Parliament
Q3. Is special provision needed for static demonstrations and marches
around Parliament and if so what?

ANSWER3: As noted above, the ban on protest without police
authorisation (infringing the right to assembly under the European
Convention on Human Rights) is unacceptable in a democracy. No special
policing provisions are required for protests around Parliament.

Q4. Are there any other considerations the Government should take into acco=
unt?

ANSWER4: Parliament is rightly the focus for national political
protests, and policing of protests around Parliament should
demonstrate the high value this society places on the rights to
freedom of expression, freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly.

Encouraging and managing the Right to Protest
Q5: Do you have views on the model that should apply for managing
demonstrations around Parliament?

ANSWER5:The policing model embodied in sections 132-138 of the Serious
Organised Crime and Police Act has proved itself to be irrational,
indiscriminate, inconsistent, irrelevant to the needs of security,
and, in short, a threat to freedom. It must be repealed. We need a
policing model based on fundamental human rights.

Q6: Do you consider that a prior notification scheme should apply to
static demonstrations in the vicinity of Parliament? Should any scheme
only apply to static demonstrations over a certain size? And if so,
what size of demonstration?

ANSWER6:Whether or not there is a prior notification scheme, there
should be no system requiring prior authorisation from the police, as
under sections 132-138 of SOCPA. The government has consistently
confused the issue of notification with the issue of prior
authorisation. The former is merely a matter of informing the police
of one's plans; the latter requires the permission of the police
before one can make firm plans. The latter is completely unacceptable
in a democratic society.

Q7: Do you agree that conditions in order to prevent a security risk
or hindrance to the operation of Parliament should remain in relation
to demonstrations in the vicinity of Parliament?

ANSWER7: None of the conditions imposed under section 132-138 of SOCPA
are capable of preventing terrorist attacks in the vicinity of
Parliament, or of deterring hindrances to the operation of Parliament.
They are little more than tools for intimidating and controlling the
organisers of political protests around Parliament.

Q8: Do you have a view on the area around Parliament that any distinct
provisions on the right to protest should apply to?

ANSWER8: There is no particular area around Parliament requiring
special police powers, special restrictions on the right to protest or
special requirements for prior authorisation of demonstrations.

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(There are more detailed comments on the consultation document on
www.repeal-socpa.info This website has details about the SOCPA
legislation and how it passed onto the statute books with links to all
relevant documents and debates. It also has a list of further links
for information on what has happened since SOCPA came into force and
on campaigning against SOCPA.)

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3) SOCPA DAY OF ACTION - 12 JANUARY

'We own the streets - Freedom of Assembly day of action, 12 January'

In response to continued police repression and the Government's
consultation document 'Managing Protest around Parliament', Saturday
12 January has been called as a nationwide day of action to defend
freedom of assembly (see http://tinyurl.com/yrk2kn).

There are events in different parts of the country including
Aberystwyth, the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment, Chippenham,
Cambridge and Milton Keynes. See www.repeal-socpa.info for more
details. The London event is at 1pm, Saturday 12th January at the top
of Trafalgar Square.


JUSTICE NOT VENGEANCE
www.j-n-v.org  0845 458 9571  info@j-n-v.org