RTS Legal update

national | miscellaneous | news report Tuesday May 21, 2002 14:22 by RTS defence - RTS rts-dublin-legal at yahoogroups dot com

The cases of at least 7 of those arrested on the recent Reclaim the streets protest were heard on Monday morning in the Bridewell court in Dublin. In addition at least 2 cases were heard last Friday. All of the cases were adjourned for the following dates. 5 cases will be heard on Monday July 1st, 1 case will be heard on Tuesday July 2nd and 2 cases will be heard on Friday July 5th. About 10 supporters showed up to show solidarity with those arrested. In all of the cases except one the police sought the adjournement in order to investigate bringing extra charges against the protestors. All of the hearings were dealt with perfunctorily by the judge who seemed somewhat amused by the cases. The only hitch was when the police lost the charge sheet of one of the defendants, but eventually they found it (although since the original

The cases of at least 7 of those arrested on the recent Reclaim the streets protest were heard on Monday morning in the Bridewell court in Dublin. In addition at least 2 cases were heard last Friday. All of the cases were adjourned for the following dates. 5 cases will be heard on Monday July 1st, 1 case will be heard on Tuesday July 2nd and 2 cases will be heard on Friday July 5th. About 10 supporters showed up to show solidarity with those arrested. In all of the cases except one the police sought the adjournement in order to investigate bringing extra charges against the protestors. All of the hearings were dealt with perfunctorily by the judge who seemed somewhat amused by the cases. The only hitch was when the police lost the charge sheet of one of the defendants, but eventually they found it (although since the original was a work of pure fiction, maybe they just made it up again).

During discussions among the supporters present, further evidence emerged that the police have been paying house calls to people associated with the demonstration in order to 'investigate' the events of May 6th. It appears that these officers are not connected with the police complaints board and seem to be gathering information about protestors under false pretences. In some cases it seems that these officers have accessed the complaints book to gather contact information about people. This emphasises why people who are facing charges should not make complaints to the police. When cops make house calls to investigate this stuff, people should not speak to them without the presence of a lawyer.

The protestors are charged with various offences. Most people have been charged with being drunk and disorderly and/or with section 6 of the Public Order act but in several cases they are also charged with assaulting a police officer, a relatively serious offence. It is vital that all those interested in civil liberties do whatever they can to support those who were unfortunate enough to be arrested, and in most cases also beaten, by the police.

To that end, RTS are requesting donations for the RTS defendants legal defence, to cover any fines and legal fees that may come out of the cases. Please contact us to pledge any money.

RTS are also organising a meeting on the evening of Wednsday May 29th to coordinate the legal issues arising out of the May 6th demo. Among other things this meeting will aim to:
*Provide legal advice to those facing charges and develop a common strategy for the legal battle ahead
*Investigate the possibilities of taking cases against the brutality of the police.
*Inform defendants (and those wanting to sue the police) how to access video evidence.
*Develop strategies for counteracting the cops' propaganda through political and media action.

2 legal people have agreed to be present, Dara Robinson (who represented most of Monday's defendants in court) and Peter Sweetman. One other legal person, Yvonne Banbury, who is representing other defendants will hopefully also attend. So anybody who is facing charges, or who believes that they have a case against the police for brutality should try to make this meeting so that we can coordinate the gathering of evidence and so forth. We have contact information for all of the defendants whose cases were heard this morning and for the 2 people whose cases were heard on Friday. Apparently 18 people were charged for offences arising out of the events of May 6th, so this leaves at least 9 people who we have not yet contacted. So if you are facing charges and have not yet been contacted about this meeting by RTS people, please get in touch.

To contact RTS:
by email: rtsmayday@yahoo.co.uk
by phone: 087-9425422

Reclaim the Streets! Stand up to the police!