NEWS RELEASE From the office of the Green MEPs
October 14th, 2004
RIGHT TO PROTEST 'ON TRIAL' AT COURT OF APPEAL
ANTI-WAR PROTESTORS CHALLENGE POLICE IN COACH-NAPPING CASE
PEACEFUL protestors whose coach was seized for several hours on their way to a legal anti-war demonstration at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire last year were unlawfully denied their freedom of assembly, the Court of appeal heard today.
The protestors are appealing against a High Court decision which found that though the police had unlawfully detained the 120 protestors by seizing the coach, they had not breached the Human Rights Act by preventing them attending the demonstration.
The hearing begun today and is expected to last two days. The protestors received the backing of the UK's Green Party Euro-MPs Caroline Lucas and Jean Lambert.
Dr Lucas, one of the speakers at the Fairford demonstration, herself brought a case to the European Court of Human Rights last year challenging a conviction for breach of the peace at a peaceful blockade of the trident nuclear submarine base at Faslane in Scotland. Her conviction was upheld, but in a separate case the European Court of Human Rights has ruled the 'right to peaceful assembly' should not be restricted 'in any way'.
The South East England MEP and CND National Council member said: "The invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq were illegal, as the UN Secretary General has now confirmed. "The right to peaceful protest, by contrast, remains a legal cornerstone of any civilised democracy. This detention of peaceful protestors against an illegal and immoral war is an outrageous abuse of power.
"The Court of Appeal must ensure that justice is done and that the right to peaceful protest is upheld".
Jean Lambert, London's Green Party MEP and a member of the European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee, added: "The right to peaceful protest is a cornerstone of democracy and has to be defended whether in
Beijing , Diyarbakir, Rangoon or Fairford. "Democracy should not have different standards for home and abroad."
The case has received the backing of Amnesty International, who declared that the second ruling would have a 'chilling effect on the rights to freedom of assembly, peaceful protest and expression', and Liberty. The Fairford protestors have vowed to take the case to the House of Lords - and if necessary the European Court of Human Rights - to uphold the right to peaceful protest.
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
1. The Human Rights Act 1998 came into force in October 2000. It requires the police to avoid breaching key European Convention Human Rights Articles.
Amongst the key rights are Article 5 (deprivation of liberty), Article 8 (interference with private life), Article 10 (freedom of speech and expression) and Article 11 (freedom of assembly).
2. The full ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (Ezelin para 53) states: "the freedom to take part in a peaceful assembly - in this instance a demonstration that had not been prohibited - is of such importance that it cannot be restricted in any way, so long as the person concerned does not himself commit any reprehensible act on such an occasion."
For more information please contact Ben on 01273 671946, 07973 823358 or at
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