WPJF member charged under SOCPA
A couple of weeks back I received a summons for taking part, last October, in an unauthorised demonstration in a public place, namely opposite Downing Street, Whitehall, SW1, in a designated area, when authorisation under section 134(2) of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA) 2005 had not been given when the demonstration started.
SOCPA has removed the right to protest within a kilometre of Parliament, and has replaced it with the right to protest in this area only with prior police authorisation, the police being able to set conditions on the place and duration of the demonstration, the size of banners and the number of people who may protest. This picture sums up my feelings about SOCPA. I’ve had some correspondence with MP Steve Pound about SOCPA after hearing his defence of the Act on Radio 4 just after Christmas.
Anyway, I did take part in an unauthorised Peace Camp in Parliament Square last October. It took the Crown Prosecution Service six months to decide that it was in the public interest to prosecute under SOCPA, but now they have, and I’ve got a provisional court date of 14 September. I’m planning to plead not guilty because I cannot accept that it is a criminal offence (serious organised criminal offence, even) to remember the British soldiers who have died in Iraq by reading out their names in a solemn remembrance ceremony, even if I choose to do that outside Downing Street without asking for police permission.
I’ve written an article for indymedia about the court cases to date, which you can read here.
Hi
This article on St Athan might be of interest.
http://whatiswales.blogspot.com/2007/07/what-defence-for-arms-trade.html
Comment by Greg — July 24, 2007 @ 10:09 am