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G8 case collapses two years on

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Published Date:
16 May 2007
CHARGES against five protesters arrested during Edinburgh's G8 demonstrations have been thrown out of court after two years.
The prosecution case collapsed amid claims police failed to provide video footage said to have been taken at the protest in July 2005.

The five defendants today hit out at the cost to the public purse, which is likely to be tens of thousands of pounds.

The case against the four men and one woman was brought up in court on 12 separate occasions, but eventually dropped on Monday. Solidarity campaigners John Wight and Kevin Connor were arrested on July 6, 2005, with three others, following an impromptu march along Princes Street.

The demonstration started after buses due to take protestors to the official G8 demonstration in Auchterarder were blocked from leaving Waterloo Place.

The march reached Edinburgh's West End, but was turned back by police.

The protesters headed back towards The Mound, where four now-released coaches were leaving the city. However, because the buses were full, the marchers were not allowed to board.

Police decided to invite a delegation from the demonstration to inspect the coaches to prove they were full.

Mr Wight, who had organised the transport, and Scottish Socialist Party's Nick Eardley were the first to be selected.

Mr Connor and his girlfriend Vanesa Fuertes were also picked to accompany police officers.

The four said they were separated from the crowd and once hidden from view, were "pounced on and arrested".

They were charged with public order offences.

Raphie De Santos, an SSP member, was also arrested and faced the same charges of taking part in a public demonstration without having given notice and failing to desist when ordered to do so.

Mr Wight, 39, said: "The police stopped us from taking part in a legal demonstration in Gleneagles, so we had no alternative but to protest here in Edinburgh.

"I had been organising the buses from the start, so the police saw me as a leader. They wanted to take me out, so they used the excuse of the buses to get me away from the crowd."

Mr Connor, 37, a taxi driver from Meadowbank, said: "It was the first time I had been arrested, and we were really scared.

"We were shocked at having been arrested simply for doing something that the police had asked us to do."

He added: "What happened since has been a complete farce and absolutely shocking.

"Two years and 12 court appearances later, after spending many tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money, the case concocted against the five of us was dropped.

"The two-year delay resulted from the reluctance of the police to supply relevant video footage."

Cameron Tait, Mr Connor's defence lawyer, said today: "There was an ongoing difficulty obtaining video footage allegedly taken by police on the day.

"The Crown discontinued the case by not calling it in court on Monday, May 14."

Police declined to comment on the video footage.

A police spokeswoman said: "As a result of demonstrations that took place on July 6, 2005 in Princes Street a number of individuals were arrested and reported to the Procurator Fiscal in respect of public order offences.

"The cases were thereafter progressed by the Procurator Fiscal service, which has responsibility for decisions around the prosecution of criminal cases."

The full article contains 562 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 16 May 2007 1:26 PM
  • Source: Edinburgh Evening News
  • Location: Edinburgh
  • Related Topics: The G8
 
1

hassan i sabbah,

leith 16/05/2007 11:28:10

Result!!

2

Cicoty,

East Calder 16/05/2007 11:40:33

Everyone that witnessed the march on Princes Street could clearly see that countless Police were videoing every moment and every movement. For them to deny this suggests a cover-up.

If the Police hadn't stopped people from getting off to the protest at Gleneagles, they wouldn't have had to deal with a protest in Edinburgh. Are they really so stupid that they expected people to just go home after the Police blocked their buses?

Will any Police ever be prosecuted for their actions on that day, or over withholding evidence since then?

I hope so, but I wouldn't hold my breath…

3

JT,

edinburgh 16/05/2007 11:56:01

why did it take two years to get this far?

4

alex paterson,

embra 16/05/2007 11:58:58

Fools protest at the drop of a hat,For anything,At anytime.

5

Mallory,

16/05/2007 12:17:23

So how much public money was wasted on all of this?

6

ImmutableName,

of Toll-X 16/05/2007 13:25:53

One would have hoped the police would have learned the lesson's of the 80s: not to allow themseleves to become tools of politicians. Alas in this case, the answer to that is "no: they still haven't learnt".

7

spiggot,

16/05/2007 14:20:36

#4 "Fools protest at the drop of a hat,For anything,At anytime."?????

For the protesters, "anything", means - a world economic system that happily lets millions die in poverty while a tiny number of rich individuals own more than the wealth of several countries put together
- a world where more is spent on weapons of mass destruction than medicines...

Some "drop of a hat" Alex and some "fool" you seem to be!

8

Ms G,

Old Town 16/05/2007 14:26:25

Thank goodness to that, the police videoed everything that morning, they were on the buses telling people anarchists had toppled over buses and scaffolding poles were put through bus windows. It was all videoed, the people on the bus after listeneing too the police voted to go to Gleneagles, incidently everything the police had said was untrue and fabricated. It is people's democractic right to march and protest, the police stopped people legitimately going to a democratic march in Gleneagles and when people protested about that the arrested those who were being spokespeople for the day. The police were in the wrong - what a waste of public money

9

Peter Cherbi,

Edinburgh 16/05/2007 14:55:12

No one did an FOI for the release of all the tapes & transcripts yet then ?

10

alex paterson,

embra 16/05/2007 17:13:27

#7 God do you talk crap,No doubt you protest at the drop of a hat,A big one.

11

Red Ted,

Edinburgh 16/05/2007 18:08:08

Congratulations to all of those involved and shame on the Police who made it very difficult, or impossible, for people to even join the peaceful and legal march against the warmongering policies of the G8 meeting at Gleneagles. I saw this myself throughout the G8 period, but particularly on that day, and how the Police were videoing everybody on the demonstrations, trying to block buses getting to a legal demonstration at Gleneagles, etc.
Well done all of those who quite rightly have now proved their innocence and shame on the Police for pushing this so far, and for so long, that thousands of pounds of OUR money has been wasted, not to mention the two years of people trying to clear their names. We could all think of so much better use of this money in Hospitals, Schools, Council Housing, social services etc.

12

Beachcomber,

Embra 16/05/2007 20:00:46

Well said Red Ted.
Thank goodness for people like
them, standing up for the less fortunate in the world.

13

Ms Horrible Cankers,

The Cyber Shebeen 16/05/2007 21:31:07

The police told the Glasgow buses that the protest had been cancelled...nice try but no cigar....

14

Julian,

17/05/2007 03:08:06

Alex Paterson # 10, "God do you talk crap". Oh well, that settles the argument. Ever thought of joining the debating society?

15

Sofiah,

Edinburgh 17/05/2007 10:18:45

The police knew exactly what they were doing that day and in the days and weeks leading up to the protests against the G8 summit. It is not a case of the police not allowing themselves to become tools of the politicians - as though the police are there for the benefit of the people - the police exists to protect the interests of the state. States, well before the 'war on terror', has sought to criminalise protestors and activists, whether they be anti-capitalist or trade unionist, and to label them 'terrorists'.

Congratulations to the five protestors from Edinburgh. These people took a leading role in the protests and attempted to negotiate and co-operate with the police to ensure they and others that day would go to Gleneagles to demonstrate their opposition to the policies and actions of the G8. Instead the police arrested them - they could not do this in public, the police had to trick the protestors. Then, until now, the police continues to be uncooperative by not allowing relevant video footage to be made available.

I think all of us who are interested in this case should support a case against the police for compensation and apologies to Nick Eardley, Vanesa Fuertes, Kevin Connor, Raphie De Santos and John Wight and to the public for wasting our money.

As for those with views of #4 - read our history, do you think your rights - to vote, to form associations etc - fell from the sky, or perhaps the government of the day just decided it is 'right' and 'moral' ---- we have them because people of previous generations - people like Nick, Vanesa, Kevin, Raphie and John - demanded them, fought for them, took them. Your grandchildren will not thank you for doing nothing, or cheering from the sidelines, as our government works to take these rights away from us.

16

Kevin Connor,

Meadowbank 17/05/2007 11:23:15

Another report in the same edition:
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=76...

G8 FAILING AFRICA, CLAIMS BONO
ANTI-POVERTY activist and rocker Bono said the world's industrial nations are badly off track on their promises to Africa's poor.

The U2 lead singer said the G8 faced "a crisis of credibility" two years after a summit at Gleneagles where leaders committed to deliver more aid, trade, debt relief, and health and education services to Africa.
……………………
This is standard. Every year, individuals/ groups ask the G8 to do good in the world. Every year the G8 promise to do so. Every year, they fail to deliver their promises, and in fact, do the opposite.

The 'Make Poverty History' march asked the G8 leaders to do good. It was well intentioned and promoted by Bono/ Geldof etc.

History demonstrates however that the G8 does not exist to make poverty history, but rather to make the rich richer. It is a club for the richest countries and the richest companies, and no doubt they all have a wee laugh to themselves when we seriously expect them to implement policies that go against their own greedy self-interest.

Continues below:

17

Kevin Connor,

Meadowbank 17/05/2007 11:28:55

Because the MPH march didn’t go against the received wisdom that these ‘leaders’ just need to be better informed and they will be moved to positive action to help the poor, it was even ostensibly supported by the Blair’s and Brown’s of the world. In other words, it was not a threat to the elite of the world, did not have to be suppressed, and in fact could be spun round to highlight how caring the G8 actually is.

(My own opinion is that Bono is a well-intentioned tool of the establishment who is now starting to question his own naivety; Geldof has become a fully paid-up member of the establishment who is critical even of Oxfam, Save the Children etc who expose the G8 decisions for the farce that they are.)

The G8-Alternatives protest at Gleneagles did not ask the G8 to go against its inherent purpose. Its aim was to highlight the reality of the G8 as noted above. As such, it went against the received wisdom, and therefore had to be suppressed at all costs.

As one of those arrested on that day, I know from personal experience that charges were fabricated. I know that the founding function of the Police was never to protect the people, but to protect the state, but I was never so skeptical as to believe that their principal role is unchanged. When I told family members of my arrest, they were shocked and angry. One, however, reacted by saying “well you must have done something, otherwise the Police wouldn’t have arrested you!”

He had seen news reports on the TV, which were unsurprisingly entirely skewed to the establishment line. Anyone present, however, saw the reality and from now on will always question the role and integrity of the Police and the media. This includes thousands of onlookers, hundreds of whom joined the march in Solidarity against the Police overreaction to an entirely peaceful march.

As far as the Police spokeswoman’s pass-the-buck comment that “the Procurator Fiscal service… has responsibility for decisions arou

18

mjandy,

East Calder 17/05/2007 23:21:50

The Police's treatment of these guys on the day was shocking and to take it as far as they did was despicable. How do they get away with the lies and false allegations made against peaceful protesters who are actively trying to make poverty history. Are they going to be held accountable for their actions. I think not. What a sham.
Thank God for Kev, Vanesa, Nick, Raphie, John and their friends. How we need people like them in this world.

19

mjandy,

East Calder 17/05/2007 23:26:14

The Police's treatment of these guys on the day was shocking and to take it as far as they did was despicable. How do they get away with the lies and false allegations made against peaceful protesters who are actively trying to make poverty history. Are they going to be held accountable for their actions. I think not. What a sham.
Thank God for Kev, Vanesa, Nick, Raphie, John and their friends. How we need people like them in this world.


 

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