First victory for the defence campaign! More victories to be fought for and won.
In a significant victory, draconian bail conditions for two anti-racist activists were dropped on Friday 10 July, which means that they can take part in future protests. Northumbria police have lost in this first battle against political policing. The Anti-Racism Protest Defence Campaign will continue in this struggle until bail conditions and charges for all anti-racists are dropped.
One of the arrestees who was at the bail hearing said:
‘I’m delighted that we have won this today. It shows that the police have acted completely disproportionately in imposing these bail conditions and points clearly to the fact that they were out of line to arrest and charge people in the first place. It was great to have people from the defence campaign come to the court today to show their support. Now we need to keep fighting to get the bail conditions for the other anti-racists lifted, for no further action to be taken and all charges to be dropped. Onwards and upwards!’
To recap, five anti-racist activists, that we know of, have been arrested in Newcastle in relation to Black Lives Matter protests, some in relation to the 13 June when fascists showered a peaceful protest with glass bottles and racist abuse, some in relation to a scheduled community awareness event in the West End on 27 June. The police have targeted young Black and Asian men and socialist activists. One person was arrested without charge and no further action is being taken. Four of the five were given bail conditions which meant they had to sleep and reside at their home address; that they were not allowed to enter the city centre or west end of Newcastle on a Friday or Saturday; and that they were not allowed to be in any kind of public gathering of more than six people, anywhere, any time, any place – whether this was a protest gathering or not.
These bail conditions have been used to criminalise anti-racists and try to stop them from attending future protests. Two supporters of Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! have been charged and are due to appear in court on 6 October to enter pleas in relation to 27 June, with a trial potentially taking place in January. This means they would have been massively restricted from taking part in political activity and going about their daily lives for over 6 months. At the hearing on Friday it took two magistrates just five minutes to make the decision that the bail conditions imposed on 27 June were completely over the top and utterly unnecessary. They dropped every single bail condition!
While this is a major victory for the campaign, two arrestees still have bail conditions relating to 13 June, one imposed until at least the end of this month and another until at least the end of September when they have to appear at a police station. So far, they have not been charged. The defence campaign will be attending the police station with them and we encourage you to help us put pressure on the Crown Prosecution Service to get the bail conditions dropped and ensure no charges are brought.
Email the Crown Prosecution Service: [email protected]
And please remember to write a letter of support as an individual or on behalf of an organisation.
Send to: [email protected]
Defend the right to protest – end political policing!
Defence campaign 1, Northumbria Police 0
Newcastle arrests: Northumbria Police attack the right to protest
