Legal support and defence fundraiser

Benefit for Canadian G20 legal defence and Bristol bust fund

Kebele Sound Collective and friends brings you a punk and ska fundraiser supporting direct action defendants, with:
Cartouche – melodic punk from the barricades of Paris
No Choice – legendary anarcho punk from South Wales
Na No and the Nachos – skanking new ska pink band from Bristol

Saturday April 9th from 8pm
The White Hart, Whitehall Road, Easton. BS5 9BJ.
£4/£3 conc

Here’s where the money goes:

26 March legal & arrest update

The following info was published on the Freedom Press website today, having been sourced from the Met Police. Legal support from GBC and LDMG have been at courts and on the phone getting hold of defendants. There are likely to be more arrests and more people charged. Equally, many charges may be dropped, and even when they aren’t and the case goes to court, many people will be found not guilty. If you are arrested, and charged, don’t panic and don’t be scared. The police want you to be frightened and afraid, they want you to stop protesting and fighting. Don’t let them win – there is plenty of support available, make use of it.

Summary of arrests from March 26th

147 people charged with offences:
138 people charged with aggravated trespass in connection with the incident at Fortnum & Mason. Due to appear on various dates at City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court  (first being 9th May)
3 people charged with criminal damage
2 people charged with assaulting a police officer
1 person charged with S4 Public Order Act (threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour)
1 person charged with being drunk and disorderly

No Comment: The Defendants Guide to Arrest

The 4th edition of No Comment: The Defendants Guide to Arrest was updated and republished by LDMG last week.

Funded by damages paid out by the Met Police for wrongful arrest and similar illegal acts, it is very useful reading for anyone at risk of arrest, which means anyone involved in protests.

20,000 copies have been printed up, many were handed out in London on Saturday. A few hundred have made it back to Bristol. Some have already been left at the Kebele and Factory social centres. Or you can download a copy of “No Comment” here (as a pdf).
Get reading.

Solidarity needed with defendants from London anti-cuts protests

The magnificent protests that rocked London on Saturday 26 March will have at least one major downside – mass arrests, with more to follow. Those arrested deserve and need our support.

So far it seems just over 200 people have been arrested, mainly, but not all, at either the Fortnum & Mason shop occupation, or later at night in Trafalgar Square when the cops kettled a party crowd of protesters. Most, but not all, are now out on either police or court bail. A few have taken a caution, a few released without charge, a few remain in custody. No doubt as cops trawl cctv and photo footage in the next days & weeks there will be more arrests.

27 March picket of Charing X cop shop

If you or someone you know has been arrested and you haven’t had legal advice yet, then get it fast. Ring the legal & arrest support helpline on 07946 541 511, or if you got indpendent legal advice elsewhere contact them anyway so they have your details – they may be able to help you anyway.

March prisoner list and letter-writing night

Our monthly list of political prisoners welcoming support has been updated and is published below. It’s packed with links for more info, please use them. If you have any corrections of additions please let us know. Solidarity.

March list (open office format): Prisoners list_March2011
March list (pdf): Prisoners list_March2011

Prisoner support letter-writing night – Wednesday 9 March
Our monthly public letter-writing night returns this month to Kebele social centre, at 14 Robertson Rd, Bristol BS5 6JY. We’ll be there from 7 to 9pm with list of prisoners, paper, pens and envelopes. Come along and help send messages of solidarity to people locked up in places near and far away. Plus lots of other info and interesting news available at Kebele.

Legal aid cuts will mean less justice and more prisoners

The ConDem Coalition’s attack on legal aid is just one of their many class-based attacks at present. As with nearly all of their so-called austerity measures, in practice it is once again lower or un-paid people who are being asked to foot the bill to prop up the financial system and keep the rich ever richer.

Whilst the proposed cuts of around £350 million focus on ‘civil’ legal aid, they will directly affect poorer people most and expose them to greater injustice, poverty, and quite possibly prison. We can also expect a further squeeze on criminal legal aid. All cuts to legal aid effectively reduce access to ‘legal justice’ from those least able to afford it, and in most need of it. The majority of prisoners come from poor and/or vulnerable backgrounds for example, and rely on legal aid not just for their original cases but also to defend their rights whilst in prison, and around such issues as parole hearings and any alleged offences committed whilst locked up.

Thessaloniki 4 in Greek court appeal win shocker!

In an extremely surprising decision, the Thessaloniki 4 have effectively won their appeal against sentences ranging from 5 to 8.5 years, and have been released.(except for Michaelis Triakapis who remains inside for a different matter).

Chapman's ordeal began when cops planted a black rucksack full of petrol bombs on him

This has been confirmed by a text from a close personal friend of UK defendant Simon Chapman, and by this post From the Greek Streets:
“All of the Thessaloniki 4 are free. The four comrades, including UK anarchist Simon Chapman, have been found not guilty for all (except one minor charge) in Greek court of the charges going back to the EU Summit protests and riots in Thessaloniki in 2003.

All four of the defendants are free. All the initial charges were dropped apart from “distinguished defiance of authority” which was then reduced to “minor defiance of authority”. This is a misdemeanour, carrying a 6-month suspended sentence, but none of them will be imprisoned unless of course someone is charged again during these six months. This was the best the juries could ever do, since they had to be charged of something, in order to “justify” the six months they had spent in prison back in 2003.”

Thessaloniki 4 appeal decision imminent

Court decision likely on 31 January / Bristol fundraiser on Saturday 5 February

The appeal by the Thessaloniki 4 against their sentences is likely to conclude on Monday 31 January, in Greece. The 4 face sentences of at least 5 to 8 years in a Greek prison if the appeal fails. Their alleged crimes occurred during protests in Thessaloniki in June 2003 against an EU summit. Background info here and here.

Prisoner support newsletter and updates

January 2011 finds us enthused by recent events around the world that point to the coming year as being a potentially significant one in the struggle against capital and oppression. Events in Belarus, Algeria and a little more successfully in Tunisia, show that many ordinary people can only be pushed so far before fighting back. Despite 2 decades of dictatorship and tightly controlled police states, and despite the consequences of resisting, people in these 3 countries have shown amazing bravery and determination.

We remain enthused by the actions of students and youth in late 2010 across the UK, into Italy, and spreading across Europe, giving a small indication that the ongoing 2 year rebellion in Greece is slowly spreading an anti-capitalist virus that the state has no final antidote to. Encouraging in these struggles have been displays of solidarity with people arrested, and a very fast learning curve amongst protesters of the need for legal info & support.

Major political trials start in Greece

The 14 and 17 January sees the start of 3 major political trials in Greece, in one instance dating back to events over 7 years ago. In the face of widespread radical opposition and street protests, the right-wing Greek state appears determined to try and lock up as many radicals as it can, while it still can.