So, what happens after you are arrested for peacefully protesting? Well, first you wait. And wait. And sometimes, if the Crown Prosecution Service deem it to be 'in the public interest', you will receive a letter from them outlining what charges you face, what the preliminary evidence is against you, and summoning you to appear in Court to enter a plea of either 'guilty' or 'not guilty'. Figures published by the Home Office show in the year ending September 2018 only 8.2 per cent of 5 million recorded crimes were prosecuted, down from 9.5 per cent the previous year. In the case of rape, this figure drops to only 1.9% (source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/crime-statistics-uk-justice-prosecution-rates-rape-victims-disclosure-police-funding-a8747191.html) However, in the case of the Extinction Rebellion protests in April - which remember were conducted in a spirit of non-violence and peace - Police have decided to pass 100% of those arrested to the CPS for prosecution. (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/extinction-rebellion-protests-arrest-prosecution-met-police-london-a8929671.html) Now if that isn't a political decision then I don't know what is. The Police have suffered savage cuts by the Tories since they came to power in 2010, with more than 21,000 officers being lost since then, but they are happy to prioritise their dwindling resources on files to prosecute 1,100 peaceful climate protestors rather than on serious violent crime or burglaries. Why is this? Could it be because XR's tactics worked, and they are terrified that we will be encouraged to repeat them?
So, I eventually received a charge letter from the CPS charging me with 'taking part in a public assembly and knowingly failed to comply with a condition imposed by a senior police officer under section 14 of the Public Order Act 1986, namely "Anyone assembling at the Extinction Rebellion Protest 'Beyond Politics' which is taking place at Parliament square, and wish to continue with their assembly must go to Marble Arch, the site of the Extinction Rebellion 'This is an emergency' protest site."
I think that anyone would agree that this is a heinous crime against the state, and deserves to be prosecuted in priority to violent crime. I am not saying that I shouldn't be charged; we entered into this with the full knowledge and expectation of arrest, and we are all fully prepared to own the consequences of our actions; but it cannot be denied that these prosecutions are politically motivated.
So anyway, my Wife and I traveled down to London on 2nd August to keep my appointment at Court, arriving early to scout out the area and grab some lunch. There were already XR volunteers outside the Court to provide support to arrestees, and they maintained a presence all day. Inside the Court it was incredibly hot and stuffy, and we found that I had been moved to a different court to the one listed. There were about thirty of us being processed on the day, some in the morning session, and some in the afternoon. There were about an equal number of XR supporters as arrestees, providing comfort, support and advice. In the afternoon session the couple of arrestees that intended to plead guilty were dealt with first. They were expected to pay their costs immediately and were allowed to make a short statement to the court. Both rebels were quite emotional and had obviously put a huge amount of work and feeling into their statements. Many tears were shed, not least by us.
Eventually it was our turn. There were rebels from Sheffield, Edinburgh, Peterborough, Milton Keynes (us!) and London. All of us pleaded 'Not Guilty', for all we had done was to exercise our democratic right to peacefully protest. Most of us (me included) had no legal representation, as we could not afford any. Proper representation is a privilege of the wealthy. We were all summoned to appear for trial at the end of October, over two days, where we would be tried all together, despite never having ever met before today's hearing.
I look forward to my day in court, and will, of course, blog about it here.