Over 3500 people have now been arrested for holding the signs in support of Palestine Action. Including me.
We can now confirm that more than 3,500 people have been arrested since the unjust ban on Palestine Action came into effect last July. We will not back down over this. The rights and freedoms of all of us depend on overturning this unjust ban, and pressuring the government to end its complicity in Israel’s war crimes! Jury trials are being dismantled and democracy overridden so that the UK government can hide its complicity in crimes against humanity. We won’t stand for it.
The legal system hasn’t been able to cope with the numbers. On Friday the cops only had the resources to arrest less than half of the sitters. When they do manage to arrest you they have to keep on pushing back plea hearing dates; charges are filed after the cut off period (with the letters conveniently back dated) etc.
Thank you for sharing your experience! Are you willing and able to answer some questions about how that all goes down?
Sure, within reason. I’m not any kind of functionary for DOJ so I can only account for what my failing memory can hold on to.
I am sorry to hear that. Are you still arrested, or was this in the past?
They have a catch and release policy with us.
First time I was given street bail. Basically just details taken and told to appear at a police station at a given date to be charged.
This second time I was brought into a police station; put in a holding cell; fingerprinted, photoed, and DNA taken; then released and given a date to turn up at another police station.
I am really sorry to hear that.
I don’t think doing public acts of sabotage is a good idea. Publicly protesting in a mostly non-violent way is fine as being arrested for exercising your rights is an important part of any movement. But if you are going to actually affect Capital, you should be doing it secretly and do everything you can to not get caught (so that you can do it again).