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Home
| 28th
April 1995 |
Issue 20
Justice? Brighton's Campaign in Defiance of the Criminal
Injustice Act
CJA ARRESTOMETER
Hunt Sabs 148
Footie Fans 42
Road Protestors 17
Travellers 11
Tree Defenders 11
No Live Exports 3
Fascist Printers 2
* at least 500 arrested under the 1986 Public Order Act this
year
MAYDAY! MAYDAY!
VILLAGE IN THE SKY
ALL SET FOR EVICTION
That's right folks! From
Monday 1st May tree-dwellers in Stanworth Valley near Preston in
the way of the proposed M65 are all set to defend this beautiful
ancient woodland from the bulldozers.
The woods are home to
a wide range of species of flora and fauna including Tawny Owls
and Goldcrest, and are also recognised by local nature conservation
groups as being part of one of the ten most valuable woodlands in
Lancashire.
There are presently over
30 tree-houses with 4 km of aerial walkways which even the Under-Sheriff
of Lancashire has acknowledged will be "very difficult" to
evict. Hundreds of anti-road protestors are expected to arrive over
the weekend.
Why not join them
in what could be the UKs biggest eviction ever!
The No M65 Campaign are
advising everyone to go to the woods by way of the public footpath
from the Sun Paper Mill, nr. Feniscowles, Blackburn by very early
Monday at the latest. To be in the trees, safety equipment is essential,
for specific details ring 0161 861 7895. Please arrive on Sunday
for safety training and to find a space. Self-sufficiency in outdoor
clothing, food and water strongly recommended.
crap arrest of the
week.
As ever, there's quite
a lot of competition for the daftest arrest by the boys in blue.
But this week it's back to Shoreham to the case of the clearly-a-criminal
motorist who had the audacity to give a supportive hoot to demonstrators
while driving along the A259. The police quickly weighed up the
situation and decided to take the necessary action - three of them
dragged him out of his car, shoved him in a police van and drove
off.
Call SchNEWS with your
crap arrests
RECLAIM THE LAND!
Positive and Sustainable
Futures
Last Sunday 400+ people
from a mishmash of direct action groups converged on a site in Surrey
to reclaim the land that is rightfully everyones. Some farmland
on the disused Wisley aerodrome, near Leatherhead is being occupied
for a week to draw attention to our lack of access to land. Today
50-75% of England is owned by just 1% of the population!
One enthusiastic occupier
told the SchNEWS... "Greetings from rural idyllic paradise as the
land rights movement parties its way to the end of a brilliant week.
The camp is well sorted - terraced gardens leading to a huge communal
bender where acoustic music and singing goes down. There 's a reception
area, kitchen with bread oven, healing space and bath (fire underneath
it). Amazing response from locals Many people from the area are
expected to come to the procession and a St George and the Dragon
play (Donga style) on Friday evening..."
Others are less pleased
with the venue changing at the last minute, from the symbolically
important St George's Hill (Once the site of the Diggers land occupation,
now the home of a golf course and some of England's most disgustingly
wealthy people).
"Aside fiom the issue
of whether the land actually belongs to anyone, such 'private property'
was won by the sword and a system of extortion and enclosure in
the first place. In the present day exclusion from the 'private
property' of the big landowners is a major part of what keeps us
down. All of this is what the original diggers were fighting against
but unlike St. Georges Hill - the Wisley site this signified nothing."
WATCH THIS SPACE!
TRAVELLERS CHALLENGE
CJA
A women whose child suffers
from a serious medical condition is set to become the first traveller
to challenge an eviction order brought under the Criminal Justice
Act.
Tracey Foster has been
granted Legal Aid to fight the order under the Children's Act which
states that a council has a legal duty to safeguard and promote
the welfare of children in need.
Wealdon District Council
in East Sussex issued the eviction order on March 22nd. About 50
travellers, including two pregnant mothers and 12 toddlers live
in Phie forest, a 42 acre woodland site, which is an old army training
camp.
Under the Criminal Justice
Act, the council does not have a legal duty to find another site
for the travellers - it intends to move the group on to a lay-by
where they will then be the responsibility of East Sussex County
Council.
Another travellers has
also been granted legal aid on behalf of her 21 month old child,
whose health and safety may be put at risk if she is moved to a
place where is nearby road traffic and no access to food and water
such as a Lay-by.
Linda Dodge, a spokesperson
from the Halelth Visitors Association, said "If children are receiving
medical care they should not be evicted at all. Chelsea Foster could
easily end up brain damaged if she does not receive proper care
if they've got no other use for the land its wrong to evict families
with children." The eviction has now been postponed until April
24th.
INSIDE SchNEWS
Jim Chambers still on
remand for alleged Criminal damage to a road construction site PV
2504, HMP Pentonville prison. Caledonian Rd., London N7.
John Livingstone,arrested
at the No M77 Pollok Free State in Glasgow HMP Greenock, Greenock,
Glasgow.
Tracey Hart, on remand
on trumped up charges of criminal damage to perimeter fence of Menwith
Hill Spy Base in Yorkshire. Low Newton Women's Prison. Brasside,
Durham, DH1 55D.
 
STRANGEWAYS RIOTS
FIVE YEARS ON
Five years ago, Strangeways
prison in Manchester saw the biggest protest in the history of British
prisons. As the CJA threatens more and more of us with prison -
as well as reducing the few fights prisoners have - the Strangeways
protest still has a lot of relevance today.
'When the sun rose over
Strangeways on Monday 2nd April 1990, 140 prisoners were in control
of five wings of the prison. Some of those on the roof gave clenched
fist salutes to the crowd below. Some wore prison officers' caps
and jackets; others sported head or face coverings improvised from
towels or blankets. A few strummed guitars and makeshift drums..
.' from Strangeways 1990: a serious disturbance.
The uprising lasted from
the 1st-25th April with smaller protests in over 20 other prisons.
It was a lengthy and extremely courageous protest aimed at focusing
attention on the horrific treatment of prisoners on British prisons.
It took place at a time of nationwide resistance to government policies,
not unlike today's anti-CJA and anti-road building campaigns - the
day before Strangeways kicked off, the battle of Trafalgar Square
had taken place when a massive anti-poll tax demonstration was violently
attacked by police leading to pitched battles between the police
and anti-poll tax protesters.
Every trick in the book
was used to discredit and demoralise the protesting prisoners in
Strangeways. Without any evidence, the media claimed that 20 sex
offenders had been murdered; water was repeatedly sprayed on to
the roof and for a while the scene resembled an outdoor rock fesrival
as the police played deafeningly loud music to try and force the
prisoners down. The Observer described how "bright spotlights
and strobes are trained on the roof, rock music is intermittently
played and a low-flying helicopter buzzes..." Some former prisoners
still refer to the riot as the 'Strangeways Open Air Concert'.
Less amusing were the
abuse, war-like hammering on shields, insults to prisoners and their
families and ball-bearings catapulted at the roof.
When all these proved
ineffective, the prison system devised more cunning ploys to end
the protest. Women prison officers crept through the prison at night
and seductively called out the names of the protesters. According
to the Daily Mirror 'ring-leader' Paul Taylor had two such 'brave
young women' all to himself, one imitating a 'devoted girlfriend,
softly moaning his name in the night' the other pretending to be
his mother urging him to surrender.
Strangeways was notorious
for its squalid conditions - men held three to a cell, 23 hours
a day, with no sanitation, one shower a week, clean clothing in
short supply, 15 minute visits for remand prisoners with no physical
contact permitted. It was also notorious for the thuggery and bullying
of some of the screws who terrorised prisoners purely for kicks.
Many screws openly flaunted their membership of fascist groups like
the National Front.
Before the protest was
over the government announced the commissioning of the Woolfe Inquiry,
the most far-reaching inquiry ever into the state of British prisons.
The protest had succeeded in exposing the squalor and brutality
of Britain's penal dustbins and something had to be seen to be done.
As the final five protesters surrendered on 25th April 1990 no one
anywhere was saying that the prison system was working well. Even
a government White Paper stated 'Imprisonment can lessen people's
sense of responsibility for their actions and reduce their self-respect...
Imprisonment is costly for the individual, for the prisoner's family
and for the community'.
This mood was short lived.
Today the backlash is in full swing with the prison population soaring,
sentence lengths increasing and conditions in jail being deliberately
harassed. All the while Home Secretary Michael Howard confidently
announces that 'prison works' . When Strangeways blew Britain already
had the highest prison population in western Europe. It is now higher
than ever before - 51,300 men and women are behind bars in England
and Wales alone. Only the man who thought up the CJA could see those
sort of figures as a success story.
Many of the prisoners
who highlighted the state of the prison system by their rooftop
protest at Strangeways have been victimised in a series of show
finals. 23 men were sentenced to between four and 13 years additional
imprisonment for taking part in the protest. And they are being
victimised in more grotesque ways - when compulsory drug-testing
under the CJA was introduced into Wakefield prison recently, the
very first prisoner chosen for a test was Barry Morton, who is serving
nine and a half years for his part in the Strangeways revolt.
The final Strangeways
trial opens on 12th June at Nottingham Crown Court. David Bowen
is charged with escaping from custody on the way to Manchester Crown
Court to be tried for riot. David is currently serving 12 years
for charges arising from the revolt, charges of which he strongly
maintains his innocence. At the time of the protest in April 1990
he was in Strangeways awaiting a trial for shoplifting.
For the full inside
story read Strangeways 1990 - a serious disturbance by Nicki Jameson
and Eric Allison (Larkin Publications £7.95 - phone 0171 837 1688
or through AK Press).
SchNEWS IN BRIEF
One of the Northamptonshire
5, the first Hunt Sabs to be done under the CJA, was arrested for
blowing a horn up a tree during a hunt. He was fined £200 and given
a two year bindover
*** Chaotic scenes at
the Wimpey AGM last Monday! A group of protesters from Pollok turned
up and the delegates refused to answer their questions. The protesters
then clambered onto the display to make their point but it collapsed.
Sound monitors outside the conference centre picked up this and
the noisy expulsion of the people involved!
*** A long established
biker club was chased all over Wiltshire by police wielding the
CJA when they tried to hold a spring rally last week. At one point
they even tried to set up their PA on their own land but police
eventually hassled them into a neighbouring county. The section
of the CJA which refers to "repetitive beats" is not just being
used against ravers it seems.
*** Monthly mag to include
info on CJA, music and anything vaguely controversial wants people
to contribute Contact Amy & Sam, PO Box 430, Orpington, Kent,
BR6 0AP
*** Bristol has a new
Anti CJA Centre with squatting advice (given by Bristol Housing
Action Movement). @ 4 Sussex Place, St. Werburghs, Bristol
*** Thanks to police
intervention Norwich cyclists brought their city centre to a standstill
on global warming day. Initially the police had threatened the Norwich
Cycling Campaign with the Public Order Act and considered banning
the ride as it was intended to disrupt traffic. It was pointed out
that bicycles are traffic too! In the end 2 van loads of police
led the 150 cyclists which included children and o.a.p.'s with 16
traffic wardens stopping cars at every junction giving the riders
probably the safest journey they'll ever have thru the city centre!
*** Next Wednesday special
banner making day at Justice? squat. Meet at midday with paints,
ideas, sheets 01273 685913
*** The women's peace
camp outside Menwith Hill US Spy-Base in Yorkshire was recently
evicted. Six women were arrested for chaining themselves to caravans
and charged with obstruction of the highway
e-SchNEWS
pHreak BBS
- 0171 434 3800 Web - http://www.mistral.co.uk/cbuzz
Or e-mail address
below to be on e-mailout
Party and Protest
FRI 28th -1 MAY Action
vigil and party, SHUT SELLAFIELD 0706 371 387
SAT 29 -30 APR Barricading
fun-day + party afterwards at the last house on the route on the
proposed M11 Link Road 0181 5274896
SAT 29 APR Leyline Beacon
light up May Hill. Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire
SAT 29 APR WaIk route
of Wells relief road! Meet Milton Roundabout, Blueschool, Wells.
Rally later for a Dragon Drama (?) 01749 880639
SAT 29 APR Live Exports.
Shoreham and Beyond, Gardner Arts Centre, Falmer, Brighton. 10:30AM.
SAT 29 APR 6-Midnight
Anti-A299 Party, Umbrella Centre, Whitstable. Kent. Sound systems,
bands etc.
SUN 30 APR National Demonstration
against CJA Embankment; London 12 noon followed by carnival in Clapham
Common. Organised by 'Coalition' against CJA 0l8l 801 5285
SUN 30 MAY. Beltane Free
Festival. Calton Hill Edinburgh.
FRI 28 - MAY 2 Beltane
Gathering at Anti-A30 camp Fairmile, 0385 278157
INTERNATIONAL MAY DAY
PICKET of the Bank of England (Bank tube) 12pm then onto Coutts
Bank (opposite Charing Cross St. Strand)
MON 1 MAY Anti-CJA Demo,
Leicester. 0181 8015285.
MON 1 MAY Anarchists
picnic at Mote Park, Maidstone 2pm
MON 1 MAY Beginning of
month long Operation Roadblock at Pollok Glasgow. Month of non vioient
direct action against proposed M77 thru Europe's largest urban green
space. 0141 810 1600
THURS 4 MAY Protest British
Aerospace AGM, Marriot Hotel, Grosvenor Square. Meet 1PM. 0171 2810297
THURS 4 MAY Court date
for people arrested under "ag. trespass" for defending trees on
the A3 in Surrey. 01635 521770
SAT 6 MAY Anti CJA Rally
in Cheltenham
SAT 6 MAY Oxford Anarchist
Bookfair. East Oxford Community Centre, Princes St, Cowley Rd.,
SAT 6 MAY Congress of
the Networks. Gathering at Exodus Collective in Luton sharing info
about Agenda 21 01582 508 936
THUR 11 MAY Women's Beltane
Walk Info- Greenham common women's peace camp 0374 136 728 (8 -
9.30pm only)
For further copies of
the SchNEWS send stamps/donations (payable to Justice?) SchNEWS
c/o on-the-fiddle PO Box 2600 Brighton East Sussex . Tel: (01273)
685913. Or pick one up @ Peace Centre, Gardener St, Brighton and
around town e-mail: Justice?@intermedia.co.uk
Justice? meet every wednesday
7pm @ the (71) grand parade squat
Strictly @nticopyright
- customise. photocopy. ditsribute.We don't edit: we sample/massacre/customise/blag
and rip off - do the same!
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