Defend & Dissent – Isn’t this all sounding a bit familiar? Suggests Free The MBR Beagles
Remember when solicitor Timothy Lawson-Cruttenden was bragging about using the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 for “the criminalisation of civil disobedience”?
The act had been introduced to protect individuals (mainly women) who were victims of stalking, and during its reading, parliament had been assured it would protect civil liberties.
But Lawson-Cruttenden, working on behalf of big business and corporations, shamelessly used the act to obtain draconian injunctions, requiring a company to show only that an employee feels “alarmed or distressed” by protesters.
Huntingdon Life Sciences, Oxford University and Harlan were among those animal exploiting organisations who obtained injunctions to control and criminalise animal rights activists.
The assurances about protecting civil liberties were empty promises!
And similarly, during parliamentary debates about the Terrorism Act 2000, Jack Straw had reassured politicians on all sides who raised concerns about it being used to erode civil liberties.
But that is just what we’re witnessing, the criminalisation of people who are exercising their civil liberties, merely holding a placard in support of people who have been proscribed as terrorists for taking direct action.
Protesters who are peacefully saying ‘we will not comply’ are being redefined as a threat to democracy and are facing charges under terrorism legislation.
And the ‘independent’ advisor, Lord Walney is of course keen to do away with juries in protest cases. The state’s focus is on silencing protest, through intimidation and threats- often using pretty ill informed and biased police officers.
This government would do well to remember our proud history of using civil disobedience and direct action in the UK, and that our policing is by consent.
It’s absolutely vital that we stand together in solidarity at this time, to defend dissent and our right to take direct action, none of us is immune from this blatant attack on our rights and apparent freedoms
This article was reproduced with the kind permission of Free The MBR Beagle – to follow them visit their Facebook Page
The Camp Beagle Team