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Home | Friday 7th November 2008 | Issue 654

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HOME FARM AND AWAY

As Sussex police continue their vicious crackdown on Brighton anti-arms trade campaign Smash EDO, two people arrested in connection with the 4th June demonstration (See SchNEWS 634) have been re-arrested at their homes. The house raids and arrests were made on Wednesday morning in Brighton and Southampton, both on suspicion of violent disorder.

A spokesperson for Smash EDO said, "Sussex Police were totally humiliated on 4th June by the determination of ordinary people to assert their freedom to protest. This crackdown on demonstrators is typical of their attempts to repress the campaign ever since it began. We will not be intimidated and the campaign will continue until the Brighton bomb makers close down for good."

But despite racking up the repression, Sussex Police's poor record in the courts continues: On Wednesday charges against a woman arrested for singing along to an acoustic guitar were dropped. Sussex police were using the spurious pretext of a Council noise by-law (originally brought in to deal with noisy drunks and buskers) to restrict freedom of speech outside EDO. This is the sixth of eight prosecutions that have been dropped.

* Regular noise protests continue every Wednesday 4-6pm outside EDO, Home Farm Road, Brighton. www.smashedo.org.uk



 

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