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Another Fantastic Five!
Polina Aksamentova
In a ruling that surprised and
thrilled defendants and supporters, after a day-long trial on 14
September, a Horseferry Road
magistrate dismissed charges
against five protesters under the
Serious Organised Crime and
Police Act (SOCPA) arising from
the 2006 "No More Fallujahs" Parliament Square peace camp (see
PN 2480-81).
The charges against Genny
Bove, Rob Clohensy, Steve
Barnes and Brian Barlow were not
supported by the evidence, the
magistrate found. David King's
charges were dismissed earlier
because he had been summoned
for the wrong date.
CPS inefficiency
The Crown Prosecutor could not
demonstrate that the protest was
in fact unauthorised, nor that the
defendants were in the designate
area, taking part in the protest.
The magistrate rebuked the
prosecutor several times, saying:
"This is not the way the Crown
should conduct itself."
"It's nice to have these
moments of victory; it doesn't
often happen," said Gabriel Carlyle, one of the organisers of the
protest. "It was entertaining to
watch; it was gripping. I hope it
encourages more people out ther
to take part in nonviolent actions.
Steve Barnes said their case
would help erode SOCPA: "It's a
cumulative effect. Today was a
victory for common sense."
Meanwhile, in Scotland on 4
September, SOCPA was used to
arrest six Faslane 365 protesters
(three of them had entered the
nuclear submarine base on bicy-
cles) as SOCPA also "protects"
certain "national security sites".
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