Share this post:
Major UK human rights and environmental organisations have told Attorney General Richard Hermer KC to stop prosecutions of Palestine Action supporters, saying the government is risking a full-scale miscarriage of justice.
Greenpeace, Human Rights Watch, Friends of the Earth, Global Witness, and the Quakers have all signed a letter demanding prosecutions be frozen until the High Court decides whether the government’s proscription of the group was even legal.
That judicial review is due in November – but more than 700 people have already been arrested and some have already been charged – for doing nothing more than expressing support.
Palestine Action was banned last month under the Terrorism Act – a move critics say stretches the definition of “terrorism” to the point of absurdity, targeting non-violent protest in defence of Palestinian rights.
Last weekend alone, police detained 522 protesters in Parliament Square – half of them over 60 – under Section 13 of the Act.
Their “terrorist” activity was sitting quietly with placards reading: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.”
At least 10 people have already been charged. If the group’s proscription is overturned in November, every one of those prosecutions will collapse, wasting court time and public money, and potentially wrecking lives in the process.
Mr Justice Chamberlain, who granted permission for the judicial review, warned that allowing prosecutions now could produce “a recipe for chaos” as criminal courts reach different conclusions on the ban’s legality.
Even the Liberal Democrats – hardly a radical protest movement – have called the arrests “a troubling precedent,” and want the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation to investigate.
And then there’s the secrecy.
The hearings that led to the ban were held in private.
Yvette Cooper is accused by some of lying about what they revealed.
She may not have – but the point is: we don’t know.
The public is simply told to take the government’s word for it.
That’s not democracy. That’s political proscription by decree.
If the government wants the public to accept that Palestine Action is a terrorist organisation, it needs to put its evidence on the table – not hide it behind closed doors.
Until then, these prosecutions are political show trials, punishing peaceful people for expressing an opinion the government doesn’t like.
If Palestine Action wins its judicial review, ministers will have to explain why they dragged so many through the criminal courts on a charge that should never have existed in the first place.
That’s not just a waste of time – it’s an abuse of power.
Share this post:
Prosecute now – justify later? Should Palestine Action trials halt until legality is proved?
Share this post:
Major UK human rights and environmental organisations have told Attorney General Richard Hermer KC to stop prosecutions of Palestine Action supporters, saying the government is risking a full-scale miscarriage of justice.
Greenpeace, Human Rights Watch, Friends of the Earth, Global Witness, and the Quakers have all signed a letter demanding prosecutions be frozen until the High Court decides whether the government’s proscription of the group was even legal.
That judicial review is due in November – but more than 700 people have already been arrested and some have already been charged – for doing nothing more than expressing support.
Palestine Action was banned last month under the Terrorism Act – a move critics say stretches the definition of “terrorism” to the point of absurdity, targeting non-violent protest in defence of Palestinian rights.
Last weekend alone, police detained 522 protesters in Parliament Square – half of them over 60 – under Section 13 of the Act.
Their “terrorist” activity was sitting quietly with placards reading: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.”
At least 10 people have already been charged. If the group’s proscription is overturned in November, every one of those prosecutions will collapse, wasting court time and public money, and potentially wrecking lives in the process.
Mr Justice Chamberlain, who granted permission for the judicial review, warned that allowing prosecutions now could produce “a recipe for chaos” as criminal courts reach different conclusions on the ban’s legality.
Even the Liberal Democrats – hardly a radical protest movement – have called the arrests “a troubling precedent,” and want the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation to investigate.
And then there’s the secrecy.
The hearings that led to the ban were held in private.
Yvette Cooper is accused by some of lying about what they revealed.
She may not have – but the point is: we don’t know.
The public is simply told to take the government’s word for it.
That’s not democracy. That’s political proscription by decree.
If the government wants the public to accept that Palestine Action is a terrorist organisation, it needs to put its evidence on the table – not hide it behind closed doors.
Until then, these prosecutions are political show trials, punishing peaceful people for expressing an opinion the government doesn’t like.
If Palestine Action wins its judicial review, ministers will have to explain why they dragged so many through the criminal courts on a charge that should never have existed in the first place.
That’s not just a waste of time – it’s an abuse of power.
Share this post:
you might also like
Let’s start the New Year with some hopeful news
The lies that smashed the unions and destroyed our coal industry
Police State Britain: Tories would arrest you for looking at them in a funny way