Home | 11th August 1995 | Issue 35

Justice? Brighton's Campaign in Defiance of the Criminal Injustice Act

SchNEWS
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CJA ARRESTOMETER
Hunt Sabs 154
Road Protestors 67
Footie Fans 45
Environmentalists 43
No Live Exports* 38
Tree Defenders 14
Travellers# 11
Ravers 3
Illegal Gatherers 3
Peace Campaigners 2
Druids 1
* 1000+ animal rights activists nicked this year
# not including grief and harassment

JUST SAY NON!

TO FRENCH NUCLEAR TESTING ..50 YEARS ON FROM THE BOMB

Britain is insisting it be allowed to join France and China in the new round of nuclear testing as the world marks the 50th anniversary of the atrocities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The new nuclear-free-for-all makes a mockery of the non-proliferation treaty signed in 1992 and French testing, due to start on Sept 8th, has caused a storm of world-wide protests.

The World Court has condemned the French plan to conduct eight nuclear tests at Muroroa atoll in French Polynesia. Over half of France are saying 'NON' to their prime minister Jacques Chirac, while the boycott of French goods is biting - wine sales are down by a quarter.

Britain is one of five declared nuclear countries who hold a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. In April and May, an International Conference took place which could have been a chance to agree the global nuclear ban. Instead, the nations undertook to "exercise utmost restraint" on nuclear testing - and France promptly declared it would start again just three days later.

In Britain anti-nuclear campaigners have been camped for 13 years at Faslane Peace Camp, outside the Royal Navy's Clyde nuclear submarine base. From here the first Trident sub, HMS Vanguard, went out on its first patrol last November. It is intended that the Trident system will eventually consist of four subs - each with the destructive capability of approximately 750 Hiroshimas. After the Cold War it's the Third World threat that demands this defence, say the government, at enormous cost. At Sellafield (Windscale) in Cumbria, THORP is still poised to become both the world's nuclear dustbin and plutonium factory.

DIRECT ACTION! A spectacular week of UK protests came to a head on Wednesday when 32 people were nicked at Faslane on Nagasaki Day. Campaigners staged a 'die-in' at the main gates at 11am for two minutes of deathly silence, dripping with fake blood. Later in the day 20 were arrested for running into the base near Glasgow. A further twelve were nicked for blockading the main gate. They were held until night-time when all the charges were dropped. In London four protestors were arrested as they tried to enter the French consulate in South Kensington after scuffles with police.

Earlier in the week, anti-nuke protesters had converged on the Military Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle and the Ministry of Defence HQ in Glasgow. And Colport, where the nuclear warheads are stored, was invaded in a mass trespass.

PROTEST! Every Tuesday 5-7.30pm, outside the French Embassy in London (58 Knightsbridge, SW1). If the French do test come to the Embassy in the evening from 5pm.

IN-YER-FACE FRENCH BOYCOTT! Don't buy and say WHY! Top shopping tips - Select your supermarket. Fill your trolley with all the French goods you can. The best options are wines, beers, brandies, bottled waters, cosmetics, some fresh fruit and vegetables, yoghurts and cheeses. Ohh, and some champagne, non? Go to the checkout, hopefully lined up in military fashion with your pals and put everything on the conveyer belt. When you've bagged your goods, hand over a leaflet, wave your arms about and shout JUST SAY NON! (Oddbins has a French promotion during September).

Youth CND: 0171 607 3616

Faslane Peace Camp: 01436 820 901

NukeWatch UK: 01703 221 116

Hibakusha (survivor memories)

HIROSHIMA 6 AUG 19457am Enola Gay drops the bomb - 100,000 die

"The light came at first, a whiteness that bleached the colour from everything. Then the heat, sufficient to roast a human being half a mile away in an instant. And then the shock wave, pushing before it a black wall of dust and crunching buildings like balsa models. After that came silence, a silence that smothered the city all day. The dead could not talk and the living would not. In their tens of thousands they began moving, fleeing to the rivers or parks to escape the flames of the burning city. Many in the shuffling horde were naked, the clothes scorched from their backs. Many were horribly maimed - a woman with no jaw, children without hands, people whose arms or faces had melted or carbonised, people whose stomachs had been sliced open by flying glass, people blinded and deafened. By the end of the year half the city's population was dead."

NAGASAKI 9 AUG 1945

11am Boxcar drops the bomb - 74,000 die

"No-one, no other race, should have to suffer what we suffered. I was in an air-raid shelter near my home. In a flash of light I was blown unconscious. When I woke up the scene was hell on Earth. I saw many people wandering around whose sex could not be distinguished. Their eye-balls were protruded and their hair gone. My father and I finally found our house. A man living next to us was charred to death in a sitting figure, looking up, his arms folded. My mother was also so charred that I could not identify her. My brother kept crying: "I don't want to die, I don't want to die." Three days later, he breathed his last."

RIGHT ROYAL VIC-TREE!

An avenue of 300-year-old Royal Oaks have been saved from the chop by tree sitters in Windsor Great Park. Prince Philip, the International President of the Worldwide Fund for Nature, wants to cut the 38 oaks down because he doesn't like the way they look. He thought he could get away with it by using his 'Crown Immunity' even though the tree felling contravenes conservation legislation and has been condemned by loads of conservation and nature protection groups. Even government quango's such as English Nature are against these ancient oaks being cut down - but it took direct action to stop the work.

The oaks are a unique habitat for rare insects, mosses, lichens and fungi and are of major ecological significance. They are part of the historic Queen Anne's Ride and are of immense importance for nature conservation. Tree-sitters have saved the oaks so far by using peaceful direct action (and hammocks) and the chainsaw people are waiting for protesters to go away before they continue work. Of course the protesters aren't going any place and will stay sat up the trees until Prince Philip stops being a tosser, stops abusing his power, or is embarrassed into giving up plans to chop down the oaks. Needless to say they want to get more people down there and HELP! Ring 01635 521 770 for more info.

SAVE THE TREES! JOIN THE PROTEST!

Meanwhile over in the little county village of Chopwell in Durham last month.... A row of beech trees in a cherished part of the village, were threatened by some horrible people with chainsaws who wanted to cut them down and build houses on the land. Though only a small out of the way place, 30 villagers turned up to defend the trees and stop work for the day, as well as have a bit of a party at the same time, complete with benders, campfires and didgeredoo. When the chainsaws returned 5 days later, the protesters were waiting. Loadsa police arrived and there were 3 arrests under the CJA. It was still a victory for Chopwell, as only 3 of the 10 trees were felled and beeches will be planted to replace them.

FREE MUMIA!

Due to international pressure the American Mumia-Abu Jamal has been granted an indefinite stay of execution. The revolutionary journalist known as the 'voice of the voiceless' has been on death row for the past 13 years and was due to executed in Pennsylvania on the l7th August for a murder he did not commit. However a spokesperson for Mumia said: "Mumia could still be, executed at any time after the 17th. It could be a plot to stop the world-wide demonstrations. SO - join the non-stop vigil outside the US Embassy, Grovensor Square, Bond Street Tube 0181 519 9288

WHOSE AFRAID OF THE CJA?

Hunt Sabs have been flying ahead at the top of the Arrestometer since the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) became law last November. Sections 68 & 69 "aggravated trespass" were specifically aimed at destroying hunt sabbing. This means people are now committing a criminal offence if they intend to disrupt a legal activity. Those charged face a maximum £3,000 fine and/or 3 months in jail.

However of the 154 Sabs nicked only 11 have been convicted, one bound over, 12 acquitted and 74 cases dropped while the rest of the cases are still pending. This gives an amazing conviction rate of 7%! A Sab spokesperson said : "The act is quite simply, a mess. Most police forces have been very wary of using it, as it is so badly put together it's impossible to put into practice. The blame for this shambles must be laid firmly at the door of Home Secretary who introduced the act for the sake of a few cheap cheers at party conference."

* A week of action against grouse shooting is planned from August 28th to September 2nd. Hunt Sabs are planning to stop shooting from taking place on grouse moors in the Yorkshire area. For this to be successful they need sheer weight of numbers so the police can't use their shiny new CJA powers 01159 590 357

SchNEWS IN BRIEF

SKINT! Freedom Network going down? Desperate plea for cash and fun-raising from one of the groups who got the anti-CJA ball rolling. PLEASE HELP even if its just a couple of phone stamps to The Old Dole House, 372 Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, London, SW9 or ring 0171 738 6721

*** Counter Information , the quarterly newsletter fighting and writing about all struggles against injustice, oppression and exploitation are also brassick. Donations/stamps to C.I c/o Transmission, 28 King St., Glasgow, G1 5QP.

*** Someone somewhere PLEASE let direct action video collective Conscious Cinema know where they can get a cheap/free video projector (or the money for a new one!) Get the new video (suggested donation of £5+?) from: PO Box 2679, Brighton BN2 1UJ

*** Any homeless people who fancy having Labour leader Tony Blurghh as a neighbour could take a trip down Richmond Avenue, North London where a very nice abode is apparently begging to be squatted

*** If you've ordered The Book and you've not yet received it - sorry! We've been inundated and Brighton's going mad - we're on the case...

*** No more dead trees? New Earth Hemp want to supply DiY media with tree-free paper at cost price. Write to Paul: 11 Northumberland Rd, New Barnet, Hertfordshire, London, EN5 1EF. Tree-free SchNEWS coming soon!

*** New direct action group SPOT (Stop Picking on Trainspotters) staged a sit-in at Euston station campaigning against loss of platform access. They superglued their anoraks to Platform 9 and were warned with the CJA ?!

*** If you're pissed off at the activities of multinational Smell Oil then you can now phone them at their own expense. Shell have helpfully given a freephone no. in their TV ads, so ring them up and have a go about the 1000's of people from the Ogoni tribe in Nigeria, who have been murdered by the Shell financed military regime. 0800 006 008

*** Reclaim The Streets had a little party in Birmingham last Saturday, a couple of hundred people bringing traffic to a standstill for a few hours. And in Greenwich morning rush-hour came to a halt as protestors unfurled a giant 'Breathe' banner to highlight the area's appalling air quality 0171 254 2290

e-SchNEWS
pHreak BBS -0171 434 3800
Web page back online soon!e-mail: Justice@intermedia.co.uk

Party and Protest

Freedom Network Action Line 0171 501 9253

FRI 11th - 14th Reclaim the Land Weekend on Solsbury Hill, Bath. Info. on 01225 448556 / 444133

SAT 12th Hunt Sabs National Day of Action against 'Glorious 12th"

TUE 15th National Day of Action against the A39 in Wells, Somerset. Info. on 0585 116620 / 106615

FRI 18th Mass sit down in Brightlingsea to remember 6 months of shame. 01245 420 178

FRI 18th -28th Rainbow Circle 'Performing Arts and Craft Camp' 0181 248 0298

SAT 19th Stop the Car Rally on the Downs! Meet @ 10.15am, Lewes St to Juggs Arms, Kingston @ 11.30am

SUN 20th-3rd Sept Permaculture Camp 01256 893369

SUN 20th A year of independence for Pollok Free State! You're invited to the party. Ring 0141 226 5066 for details

MON 21st-24th The Bute Bash international folk festival 0141 887991

WED 23rd-3rd Unicorn Camp 'Dances of Universal Peace' 01256 893 369

THUR 24th-28th Fleadh Cole, Listowie, Co. Kerry, Eire. Traditional music festival. Free!

and Finally

Okay, okay, we live here - but is Brighton avin' it or wot?!! Last weekend saw 300 cyclists on the Critical Mass, 24,000 visitors at the amazing Festival of Freedom in Wild Park, 3,000 attending all-night free parties, squatters on the derelict West Pier still standing defiant, and over a 1,000 at the Sunday drumming with illegal Conscious Cinema showings under the Pier! FUCK THE CJA!

DISCLAIMER

The SchNEWS warns all readers not to attend any illegal gatherings or take part in any criminal activities. Always stay within the law. In fact please just sit in, watch tv and go on endless shopping sprees filling your house and lives with endless consumer crap.... you will then feel content. Honest.

To subscribe to 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 at the new kensington, kensington gardens, every Wed @ 7pm

This weeks SchNEWS a drag? Thanks, SLACK, for the hangovers!

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SchNEWS, PO Box 2600, Brighton, BN2 0EF, England
Phone: +44 (0)1273 685913
email: schnews@brighton.co.uk

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