Shop Every Cop!

After the social explosion across England in August the British state has sought to strengthen it’s already overwhelmingly militarised and well equipped police force. In the last week Glasgow Defence Campaign supporters have witnessed the British police in action. On Saturday 19 November police officers walked into the Unite the Union offices in Glasgow City Centre and warned electricians, facing vicious pay cuts, to restrict their march to the pavement or face the consequences. 

On Monday 21 November we watched as more than 40 officers were mobilised against a static protest of around 30 people opposing the recent dawn raids of two asylum-seeking families in Glasgow. The direct action taken by protestors to block the front gates to the Home office sign on centre at Brand Street in Ibrox was entirely peaceful (and a great success!).

If you see political policing in action send a report with a picture to our email glasgowdefence@yahoo.co.uk and we can publicise it. 

Defending democratic rights will be key to any struggle against austerity and racism.

We say: shop every cop!

FRFI Supporter Admonished!

The case against Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! activist and Glasgow Defence Campaign supporter Dominic O'Hara, who was found guilty of a framed up charge of police assault on 11 April 2011, was finally brought to an end on Thursday 10 November. After observing a six month 'good behaviour' report, during which he has been repeatedly harassed by officers and despite the sly attempt by the Procurator Fiscal to level illegitimate charges at him on 13 October, the comrade was admonished by the judge with no further sentence. He now faces another trial in December for police assault charges made up in January.

The previous case against Dominic relates to the 9 December 2010 student led anti-cuts protest in Glasgow City Centre in which FRFI supporters played a leading role. For this and their previous work challenging political policing in Govanhill they were targeted. Of the two FRFI and GDC supporters arrested that day, out of the hundreds of people who were present, the other Joey Simons is currently on trial. The Glasgow Defence Campaign will be holding courts protests on the dates below. We will continue to stand by the comrades and urge all progressive people to do so too.

This is not a fight for the future of individuals, it is one for the future of all those who will come up against political policing and courts as resistance to the cuts increases.

Stand Up! Speak Out! Attend the court protests!

Court protests – no to political policing!

Monday 5 and Tuesday 6 December, 9.45am gather outside court

Glasgow District Court

St.Andrews St  

Trongate (off Saltmarket)

Trial of FRFI supporter Joey Simons

Monday 19 December, 9.45am gather outside court

Glasgow District Court

(Same address as above)

Trial of FRFI supporter Dominic O'Hara

The vengeance of the state: Glasgow activist imprisoned in London

The Glasgow Defence Campaign would like to send its solidarity to Glasgow activist Omar Ibrahim, who was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment in HMP Wandsworth on Friday 4 November for his role in the massive demonstrations in London on 26 March. This is the true vengeance of the British state, determined to crush all those who dare dissent from the politics of austerity and obscene inequality. We salute Omar's political defence at his trial and his public statements calling for the struggle to continue. Any movement against the onslaught of the capitalist class will only be as strong as its defence of those criminalised and imprisoned in the course of the struggle.  We reproduce below a piece written by Omar which appeared on The Guardian website on Sunday. The GDC urges all its supporters to send letters and cards to the following address:

Omar Ibrahim

A0253CH

HMP Wandsworth

Heathfield Road

SW183HS

Is locking people up the way we want to deal with dissent?

Having just been imprisoned for 18 months after being arrested at the TUC march, I worry about the fate of future protesters

Omar Ibrahim

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/06/protest-prison-dissent-legal-system/print

By the time you read this, I'll be in jail. I have hurt no one, offended no one, threatened nobody, and yet I am in prison for 18 months.

I was charged – as so many protesters in recent months have been – with violent disorder, a serious offence that carries with it a likely prison sentence in English courts. My crime? Throwing a joke-shop smoke bomb that I found on the pavement in the direction of Top Shop during the TUC protest on 26 March. Silly? Yes. Serious? No, not least because my throwing shoulder has been dislocated more than 40 times as a result of epilepsy.

Nevertheless, despite my personal circumstances, I was convicted 11-1 of violent disorder by an all-white jury at Kingston crown court. The judge who heard my case, Nicholas Price QC, will also preside over many of the forthcoming trials of protesters in the forthcoming months.

We should all be worried: my heavy sentence, the first of protesters from recent marches to plead not guilty, is indicative of the way in which the English police, courts and government are heavily criminalising those who step out of line, however proximate that line has become.

A similar charge in Scotland, where I'm from, would usually carry with it community service or a fine. The English judiciary are clearly pursuing a highly specific, heavily politicised, notion of justice when it comes to protest.

The crown wishes my case to be seen as one of a mob of hooligans who broke off from the TUC demonstration against the cuts to charge around London, causing chaos and destruction.

I saw instead a carnival of protest, full of colour, noise and rebellion which wished to highlight those that are at fault in this economic crisis.

I went on the 26 March protest to challenge men like Philip Green. When I look at my case in context I see a system where the relations between the state and the individual have been twisted to such an extent that they have now passed breaking point.

Sending people to prison avoids any attempt at explanation for why people are angry with the current government, and solves nothing for those who are sent to jail. Judge Price dismissed the fact that I had recently been offered the chance to start a new job as irrelevant to my case – but if employment is hard to come by now, just imagine how much harder it will be once we get out for the hundreds of us – students, protesters, rioters – charged with serious public order offences.

One wonders if Judge Price has any idea how difficult it is to secure a firm contract of employment in this economic climate. Banks get bailouts, corporations avoid tax and parliamentarians fiddle expenses, while investment bankers pray for the recession to cut deeper for long-term rewards. For everyone else, there's unemployment, anxiety, prison.

My main concerns while I am in prison will be my parents, my elder brother and sisters, who will spend the time I am away sick with worry. I will worry too about my nephews and nieces. I am anxious about my inability to comfort my family beyond a phone call or prison visit, but I am also worried about what my sentence means for future protesters and anyone else who has the misfortune to come up against the police and the courts.

Following the student protests, the massive trade union marches, the alleged pre-arrests before the royal wedding and this summer's civil unrest, we are seeing a rapid and massive expansion of the category of those people the state deems fit to incarcerate. I am being sent to jail on the most spurious of charges, just as many others are too. I am not asking you to feel sorry for me – I am asking you to think seriously about the kind of government and legal system that believes the only way to deal with dissent is to put it behind bars.

Omar Ibrahim has not been paid for this article.

·                                 © 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

Crown resurrect charges against Glasgow antifascist

Fourteen moths after a BNP stall in Glasgow city centre was broken up by a mobilisation of dozens of anti-racists and passers-by, the Crown are eventually bringing to court charges against an anti-fascist who they are alleging was a ringleader on the day. Having initially been arrested on November 22 last year, a pretext for a city-centre banning order just two days before the first major student anti-fees demonstration in Glasgow, a court date in December was then dropped. However, just weeks before the charges would've expired this month, they were resurrected with a new court date set for Thursday 17 November.

Following the incident, on Saturday 18 September last year, the six BNP activists who had been manning the stall made a formal complaint to Strathclyde Police. An investigation by the Gangs Taskforce, operating from Baird Street Police Station, was then launched, resulting in the identification and arrest of one suspect. Meanwhile, the BNP launched an online campaign of intimidation and harassment, with the fascist blogosphere and messageboards such as Stormfront going to great lengths to identify anti-fascists who had been present, with details of family members, home addresses and so on being publicised, and retaliatory threats being made against left-wing meetings.

As it stands, the charges are of Breach of the Peace - inciting a 'disorderly crowd that swore, shouted, assaulted BNP members and overturned a table' - and of Theft. The latter charge relates to a BNP banner that was abandoned on Buchanan Street following the incident. Anti-fascists, ensuring that no BNP material was left lying on the street, put the stall's scattered remains inside a litter bin, including the 'Bring Our Troops Home' banner which had adorned the front of the table. This was removed from the bin later on and taken home by an anti-fascist -  the accused later featured in a photograph circulated on the internet, which has led to the 'theft' charge.

In choosing to resurrect these charges nearly fourteen months later, the state has made a political decision to side with the fascist thugs of the BNP. The charges rely purely on the testimony of the BNP witnesses, and a BNP-made video of the accused using a mobile phone, supposedly evidence of 'arranging' the later overturning of the stall. 

Ironically, little now remains of the Scottish BNP, which has suffered numerous splits over the past few years. Of the BNP witnesses, several have since joined the National Front, including Mike Coyle who contested May's Scottish elections under this banner. Former national organiser, Aberdeen-based Gary Raikes has left to join 'Britain First', while former Glasgow stalwart Charlie Baillie is contesting the Glasgow Hillhead council by-election as the 'Britannica Party' later this month. The BNP's Scottish website, including numerous articles posted about this case, is no longer online. With the far-right fractured and in disarray, in remains to be seen whether they can come together in the same witness stand in this case.

Solidarity from political prisoners to the GDC and FRFI!

The Glasgow Defence Campaign and Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! are privileged to have received messages of solidarity from some of the many political prisoners incarcerated for their struggle against injustice and the British state. 

We reproduce below a message from more than forty Irish republican political prisoners currently incarcerated in Portlaoise Gaol, Ireland for their continuing opposition to Britain's occupation of their country. The prisoners have been involved in ongoing protests against barbaric conditions in the gaols and against criminalisation. 

We also include a letter from Ravi Gill, an antifascist prisoner, framed-up and imprisoned on the ridiculous charge of 'Conspiracy to Commit Violent Disorder' earlier this year. This related to an incident in London in March 2009, which resulted in the politically-motivated arrest of 23 antifascists. More information here. Send letters to Ravi Gill, A5770CE, HMP Wayland, Norfolk, IP25 6RL.

We issue our full solidarity to all those imprisoned and their struggles, and are committed to forging further unity between all those opposing criminalisation. Venceremos!

Trial of FRFI supporter finally underway!

The trial of Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! supporter Joey Simons finally got underway today at Glasgow District Court, fully ten months after his targetted arrest on a student demonstration on 9 December alongside another FRFI supporter, Dominic O'Hara. The Glasgow Defence Campaign again provided support and bodies at the court, alongside friends and family members. The police and prosecution were left in doubt that their campaign of political intimidation, perjury and violence against socialists and anti-cuts activists will not be met with silence.

The trial of Joey Simons continues on 5 and 6 December. A full report of the day's events in court will follow shortly. Suffice to say that Constable David Hay (A80) - seen by over 33,000 people (unsuccessfully) harassing an FRFI supporter in May of this year - will not have enjoyed his day in court!

Fans Against Criminalisation protest in Glasgow

The Glasgow Defence Campaign will be supporting tomorrow's protest called by Fans Against Criminalisation (FAC) - assembling 12noon in George Square for a rally at 12.30pm. We welcome the growing opposition to the increasing criminalisation of football fans, political activists and people willing to stand up for their rights. In 2006, Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! (Glasgow) organised a successful campaign to oppose censorship and defend the right to distribute and display radical political literature and material at Celtic Park, including a ban on the image of Che Guevara. We urge our friends and supporters to join tomorrow's demonstration

We reproduce a statement from FAC below:

“Fans Against Criminalisation is a campaign group founded by five fan organisations (Green Brigade, Celtic Trust, Celtic Supporters Association, Affiliation of Celtic Supporters, Association of Irish Celtic Supporters Clubs). The campaign was formed on the back of the Green Brigade’s well-received protest at the Inverness game and after many previous discussions between the organisations about the Bill. We decided to come together to campaign against the Bill.

“Our objective is to ‘Kill the Bill’, the first part which deals with ‘offensive behaviour at football’ anyway. We have no problem with the government trying to tackle societal problems like sectarianism but these are not football’s problems alone and where sectarian crimes are committed then existing laws can be used to arrest and prosecute offenders. The new law goes far beyond sectarianism and captures anything that may offend or may cause disorder. This is only applied to football fans and it is ludicrous given that there is little or no disorder in Scottish football grounds and that routine aspects of football rivalry and tribalism will now be criminal offences. Government ministers have said fans who do anything from blessing yourself to singing a national anthem could fall foul of the proposes new law.

“The Government has shown little interest in fans’ views on the Bill. F.A.C. will be campaigning vigorously over the coming weeks and months and will be making our views heard. If the Bill passes then we will continue to protest against it, and challenge it legally and politically. The Celtic support is a very powerful potential constituency and the Scottish Government should be mindful of that.

“The rally is the starting point for the campaign. We need Celtic fans to get along and show their support for the campaign and add weight to our voice. We’ve asked people to assemble at 12.00 and the demo will start at 12.30 with speakers from the campaign. There’s no headline acts – Saturday is simply a time for ordinary Celtic fans to come together and unite against the Bill; a time to come together and send a message to the politicians that we will fight them all the way. Everyone should be doing their best to get along to George Square on Saturday and say no to the Bill.”