GR activist fined for part in anti-globalisation protest

by rte watch - The Price of Democracy= e800 and a criminal conviction Fri Sep 20, 2002 15:48

September 20, 2002

(14:59) A 24-year-old man has been found guilty of public order offences in relation to his involvement in an anti-globalisation protest in Dublin city last October.

Thomas Kador, who is originally from Austria, was charged under Section 6 of the Public Order Act.

He was also charged with the larceny of a Garda radio and of obstructing a Garda in the course of his duty.

Mr Kador denied all charges which related to a protest outside the Burlington Hotel in Dublin. He was fine a total of €800.

by No Justice - Ce deanamh an dli? Daoine ramhair Fri Sep 20, 2002 15:56

and accounts from witnesses

by Eternal Vigilance - The Price of Democracy Fri Sep 20, 2002 16:02

Rory Hearne was arrested and charged with breach of the peace under Section 6 and Section 8 of the Public Order Act at the Burlington Hotel on October 10th. He always claimed that he was innocent and that this was a politically conspired arrest. The dismissal of his case in the District Court by Judge Gerard Haughton clearly demonstrates this point.

· The arrest took place outside the gates of the hotel when people were leaving the protest.

The arresting officer Garda Brendan O Halloran alleged that he arrested Rory Hearne for interfering with the arrest of another man. He alleged, “the defendant (Rory Hearne), was pulling at a Detective Garda that had one prisoner arrested. I asked the defendant to stop but he became more violent “. He was then arrested under Section 6 of the Public Order Act.”

· Four months later at the initial hearing of the cases the arresting Garda placed a new charge, Section 8 against Rory Hearne.

Section 8 gives the police virtually unlimited powers to move people on who are ‘loitering’ or who use ‘threatening, abusive or insulting words’. By placing this charge the State was attempting to make a more general case against Mr Hearne by accusing him of being ‘in control of the entire protest from start to finish’ (Sergeant Liam Landers, Donnybrook Garda Station) and that he was directed to ‘leave the grounds of the hotel and bring his mob with him’ (Sergeant Liam Landers).

· However at the start of the Trial on the 13th the Gardai tried to change the name of the Garda who gave the warning in respect to Section 8 to that of the inspector on duty that day. The intention was clear. The Judge refused to allow the State to make a change to the charge. "I’m of the view that this is a material amendment being sought at the last minute," said the Judge in refusing to allow it.

· Sergeant Liam Landers (Donnybrook Garda Station) was also involved in the arrest of Kieran Allen who was convicted for stewarding a peaceful anti-war demonstration and using the words ‘militant resistance’. In his evidence at the trial of Mr Hearne Sergeant Landers contradicted the evidence of Inspector Pat Comisky. The Inspector stated in evidence that he told Mr Hearne ‘that he had protested enough and asked him to leave’. However Sergeant Landers stated in his evidence that the Inspector directed Mr Hearne to leave and quoted Section 8 of the Public Order Act to him. This contradicted the evidence of the Inspector

· SIMILARITY IN GARDA EVIDENCE

The State called on 7 Garda (including 2 members of the Special Branch) to present their evidence. They attempted to construct a case that Mr Hearne had called for and lead a charge at the hotel and that he called for an " angry and militant protest ". The defendant’s solicitor Pat Daly, however, put it to each garda that they had read the statements of their colleagues before compiling their own statement. He pointed to several repeated errors in the statements that would go beyond the realm of coincidence.

A number of Gardai made the following mistakes in their statements of evidence.

1. They claimed protesters chanted, "water is a public resort" instead of "resource”.

2. They all stated clearly Joe Higgins was a member of the Socialist Workers Party, even though he was introduced at the demonstration clearly as a member of the Socialist Party.

· ORDERS FROM THE TOP

Garda Inspector Pat Comisky on questioning at the trial said that there had been no central decision made on the night of October 10th to hold all the 14 defendants over night. He claimed it was a 'coincidence' that the Sergeant in each station (the 14 were held in different stations) decided to hold them over night. Normally in minor public order offences those charged are released straight away. However, a junior garda, Garda Brendan O Halloran when asked why Rory Hearne was held over night he replied-'the sergeant said so'. The solicitor then asked did you ask the sergeant why? The garda responded-‘the sergeant told me he had been ordered to keep them all over night’. This contradicted the evidence of the Inspector.

· POLICE VIOLENCE

There is video evidence to show the police baton charge and arrests were completely unprovoked. The Solicitor for the defendant put the following question to all the garda witnesses, ‘do you think the reaction of the gardai on the night was over the top’. The gardai responded by saying the baton charge was appropriate. He presented to the gardai digital photos taken of the Guards with sticks from torn off placards (several of these pictures are at www.indymedia.ie).

· POLITICAL ARREST

Arresting Guard O Halloran admitted in his evidence that the “Garda Inspector gave the command to draw batons and pointed out to other Gardai the main ringleaders of the group”.

After the prosecution case was presented the solicitor for the defendant pointed out that, in fact, there was only one statement relating to the arrest of Mr Hearne and that this had happened outside the hotel when protesters were leaving the area.

The arresting guard (Garda Brendan O Halloran) said that the defendant (Rory Hearne) was pulling at a Detective Garda. However when questioned the arresting guard did not even know whom THAT guard was. Furthermore the detective in question was not present as a prosecution witness.

The defence called two witnesses who concurred with the evidence of the defendant that he was arrested while leaving the demonstration in a peaceful manner. After hearing the evidence Judge Haughton also dismissed the charge brought under Section 6 of the Act. In dismissing the case, Judge Haughton said most of the evidence he had heard from the prosecution had been "totally and utterly unconnected to that arrest". He said effectively the only evidence the State had brought in relation to the charge was that of a single garda, Garda Brendan O’Halloran. The Judge said it should have been possible to find the garda who had allegedly arrested the person whose arrest Mr Hearne had been charged with seeking to prevent.

CONLCUSION

It is clear from the above evidence that these arrests were a co-ordinated attempt through the use of the Public Order Act to criminalise and intimidate people exercising their democratic right to protest. The fact that the 14 were held over night, the similarity in garda evidence, the targeting of protesters and the extreme violence of the gardai on the protest itself and the conviction and fining of an Anti-War demonstrator indicates that the Irish state is using the repressive force of the police and courts in an attempt to quash the rising tide of anti establishment opposition.

Mr Hearne said "The arrests at the demonstration are part of a general clamp down on civil liberties since September 11th. Governments are using the pre-text of fighting terrorism to clamp down on opposition movements...

"I was arrested while leaving the demonstration and was singled out simply because I am a prominent spokesperson for Globalise Resistance," he said.

POLITICAL CONTEXT

This attack can be explained if one analyses the current political climate.

Since Seattle in November 1999 there has been a widespread and intensifying international movement against the process that has been termed as ‘globalisation’. This movement has been manifest in hundreds of thousands of generally young workers and students taking to the streets to protest at international summits of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the EU, the G8 and so on. It is a movement in opposition to the savage attacks on ordinary people’s working and living caused by decades of neo-liberal pro-market policies and the failure of any mainstream political party to represent that sentiment. This movement spans from Buenos Aires in the developing world to the streets of Genoa in the developed world.

Here in Ireland the aims and actions of this anti-capitalist globalisation movement have found deep resonance amongst a wide layer of ordinary people disenfranchised with years of cut backs in public services imposed by a right wing establishment based around the main political parties and the church.

This ‘anti-establishment’ mood materialised most dramatically during the Nice Treaty. The Irish Government openly stated it was embarrassed by the result. After September 11th the Irish Government in the most obsequious fashion cowered to the United States. Unconditional support was offered for George Bush’s ‘war on terror’. A day of mourning was declared. The Celtic Tiger, subservient to US multinational capital was proudly taking its place in the international coalition against terror. However the anti-globalisation mood made an instant connection with opposition to Bush’s new war in Afghanistan.

Globalise Resistance called a demonstration against the war and over 1500 people attended. An anti-war movement was set up that immediately tapped into the huge pro-neutrality and anti-militarism sentiment that was manifest in the Nice Treaty. A rising tide of opposition to war and privatisation was becoming increasingly obvious on the streets in Ireland. Internationally the response to this antiestablishment mood has been repressive. In recent months there has been an international clampdown on civil rights. In the United States over 2000 people have been held without charge since September 11th. The EU has brought in a definition of terrorism that includes ‘any organisation or person attempting to fundamentally alter the economic or political make-up of institutions or states’. An anti-globalisation protestor was shot dead by the police in Genoa last summer. In Barcelona this weekend those protesters that are arrested at the demonstrations will be charged not with pubic order offences but under charges of terrorism.

In Ireland the extremely draconian piece of legislation that is the Public Order Act is being used in a similar fashion. Since September 11th those charged under this act include: 2 members of the Irish Anti-War Movement; 14 activists from Globalise Resistance at the Burlington Hotel; 8 people arrested on a Critical Mass bike day; 2 anti-war campaigners who protested in Shannon; 1 Globalise Resistance member who was lobbying support for Irish activists detained in Genoa.

It is clear that in all these cases the State, in the context of international repression of antiwar and anti-globalisation movements, is using the Public Order Act to eliminate the democratic right of people to assemble in public spaces to express their views.

by Galway student's account - NUI Galway Fri Sep 20, 2002 16:06

Date: Friday, October 12 @ 11:48:40 EDT
Topic: News

Things got nasty at the PPP global conference Wednesday night in Dublin. Gardaí used batons to disperse a peacefull demo and many were injured. One was taken to hospital. In all 14 people were arrested (including one NUI Galway student) and detained over night in Pearse street, Irishtown and Donnybrook Garda stations. They appeared before Brideswell court at 10.30AM Thursday morning and were granted bail to appear again next Thursday.

by eternal vigilance - Price of Democracy Fri Sep 20, 2002 16:27

Baton chargin Pigs - Wreck Demo
Dermot Sreenan dermot.sreenan@iona.com
Thu, 11 Oct 2001 11:26:52 +0100

Yesterday after work me and Ross went over
to the Burlington to a demonstration called
by Globalise Resistance - and supported
by many others on the left including WSM +
Socialist Party + Socialist Workers PArty +
endorsed by Green Party and Anti-Bin Tax Campaign
+ Bus Workers + Water Workers.

The reason for the demo was because there was a
Public & Private Partnership Summit. It's where
bankers and investors get to run the slide rule over
our public services to determine which ones they may be
able to privatise and squeeze profits out off. (Railtrack
anyone!)

There was a crowd of about 150 - 200 people
there and the demo was carrying on outside on the
pavement beside the road. Then someone decided to
go into the hotel. A Stand off developed as
people pushed and shoved in at the doors between
the front of the hotel and the lobby. A paint
bomb was thrown plus some flour and the whole
thing looked like rag week had broke out.

Then the cops radioed for reinforcements and a few cars
with plain clothes men arrived - plus cops in uniform
and then they back up a van - opened the back of
it.

I saw the cops lead a guy out of the carpark who had a video
camera. They didn't want any witnesses. I turned to Joe and said
"they'll start the arrests now". Sure enough batons were drawn
and they started swedging into the crowd. They were after a few
of the kids that had been involved in the flour fight. Then they
just battered anyone who wasn't moving backwards fast enough. They
were helped by plain clothes men plus a few of the hotel security
(some of whom we're reported to have drink taken ).
I saw Krossie being draged by some pig - and was thinking of
steaming in - but then there was 3 more pigs around him and into
the back of the van he went.

People assembled and regrouped on the street - at that stage the
smart idea was to get the fuck out of there. The pigs had the
blood lust up and when they spotted people they thouhgt were
ring leaders they came sprinting out of the hotel grounds and
went for them. One young guy I know called Rory was arrested
when 3 of them swooped on him. He was on the ground getting
a few digs when some other Cop - who still had flour all around
the side of his head - stamped on his head a couple of
times - smashing it against he pavement.

I was screaming at people to move out. The cops were particularly
interested in going for anyone who had a carmera and had taken
pictures of the incident. I was raoring at people to move
out quickly - and eventually they all moved. More people
were arrested in Kildare street as they made their way into
Pearse Street for a protest where 9 of them were being held.

Finally results - some cops had flour on them and there was
some torn papers in the hotel lobby and a bit of paint in
a real ugly violet colour dripping from the sign over the
Burlington. 15 protesters arrested - 1 hospitalised - a doctor
called to see three more in Pearse Street. 1 was released.
14 up in front of a Judge on Public order offences this morning
in the District Court.

Pictures that they didn't want you to see are at

http://uk.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=13630&group=webcast

Don't just hate the media - become the media

Dermo