Civil liberties, justice, crime

Free the JSO prisoners!

Pressure is mounting over the sentences of Just Stop Oil (JSO) protestors Marcus Decker and Morgan Trowland. Both scaled the Queen Elizabeth II Suspension Bridge, stopping traffic for almost 40 hours in October 2022. Decker was imprisoned for two years and seven months, for “public nuisance”, and Trowland for three years. These are the longest sentences ever given to non-violent protestors in the UK. Ian Fry, the UN’s rapporteur for climate change, has said the sentences were “significantly more severe than previous sentences imposed for this type of offending in the past… I am gravely...

Six months jail for marching

Just Stop Oil activist Phoebe Plummer has been given six months in jail — on remand, until 16 May 2024 — without even being convicted. Plummer has already served a month on remand, late last year, after throwing soup at Van Gogh’s Sunflowers picture (no damage to it). Since then Plummer has had an ankle bracelet as part of bail conditions, confined to student accommodation except for 12 hours a day for classes. The new spell in jail is for breaking those bail conditions to go on a march. UN Special Rapporteur Ian Fry has written to the government protesting at the fierce sentences on JSO...

Manchester Ten appeal fails

A sentencing appeal on 10 November for three of the “Manchester Ten” failed. The next court date for the three will be an appeal against conviction in Spring 2024. In July 2022 the ten young men were sentenced to a total of 131 years in jail on charges of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm. The “evidence” conspiracy was a short Telegram group chat after a friend of theirs was killed and long before the actual harm-crime, which most of them were not involved in. Campaigners say that the young men are victims of police “gang culture” constructions, as was Osime...

Braverman's out. But her politics?

Suella Braverman’s sacking as Home Secretary on Monday 13 November shows much about the direction of, and tensions within, the Conservative Party. The immediate reason for Braverman’s dismissal was her refusal to expurgate the most egregious parts of her article in The Times of 8 November, but the underlying reasons are more political. Braverman has consciously and cynically shifted to a hard-right position. It would appear that some of this was licenced by Number 10, but tension between her and the core round Sunak has become more evident recently. She asserted in September that...

All the Rage 2023: A socialist feminist dayschool

Internationally the right's culture war is gaining ground, attacking LGBTQ people, in particular the trans community, rallying against immigration, and restricting reproductive freedoms. Working class women are at the sharp end of this assault and at the forefront of fighting back. Join us at for a day of workshops and talks to discuss where we stand and build a movement that can turn the tide. 10am-6pm + after-party until late. Pelican House, 144 Cambridge Heath Road London E1 5QJ Free childcare & London crash space on request SESSIONS (click on links for session details): • Opening Plenary...

Iranian workers protests spread

On 27 September 17 workers employed by the Iranian company, the National Steel Group, were sentenced to prison and flogging. The trial took place in the southern city of Ahvaz. The workers were charged with, “disrupting public order by inciting disturbance and controversy” and their “crime” was to demand wage increases, and that the company implements the very basic protections provided by Iran’s employment law. The workers can avoid three-month prison terms if they pay fines of 2.5 million tomans (about £40). The fine will be difficult to pay as the working-class has been the main victim of...

Campaign continues to free Sarah Jane Baker

Despite being acquitted in court on 31 August on Public Order Act 1986 charges about an outburst in her speech at Trans Pride on 4 July, Sarah Jane Baker remains in jail, and the campaign to free her continues. Indefinitely, with no hearing until maybe March 2024. In terrible conditions: she, a trans woman, was in Wandsworth (male) prison which the Chief Inspector of Prisons has said “really needs closing”. Since 15 Sep she is in Isle of Wight prison, which is chiefly for male sex offenders. In induction she faced inappropriate comments from other prisoners; staff have taken away her female...

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