Leading Lawyers Back Open Letter to Home Secretary Opposing Ban on Palestine Action
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Thousands of Brits, including leading barristers, have signed an open letter to Labour Home Secretary Yvette Cooper opposing the planned ban on Palestine Action.
The letter argues that in banning the non-violent civil disobedience group, the Government is dangerously "conflating peaceful protest with the real dangers of genuine terrorism". The move is set to become law by Saturday July 5.
The lawyers and signatories condemn the "double standards" of the Government, arguing they are "seeking to criminalise direct action whilst themselves at risk of breaching international law, given the International Court of Justice's findings of plausible genocide in Gaza." And they argue a ban would be a "drain on public resources" adding an "unjustified burden on the justice system" through criminalising potentially thousands of pro-Palestine activists who back the group.
"It is our hope that the Home Secretary will recognise both the moral arguments and the strength of feeling in civil society in this matter and resile from this proscription," the spokesperson added.
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Backers will be handing over the letter to the Home Secretary at Parliament on Wednesday July 2, before the vote in the House of Commons.
A spokesperson for the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, which coordinated the letter, said: "In a few days our letter to the Home Secretary has been endorsed by a coalition of thousands of diverse voices ranging from stonemasons to vicars, KCs, Peers, MPs, actors, teachers, trade unions and campaigners for peace and justice."
Two other groups will be banned this week, Russian neo-Nazi groups the Maniacs Murder Cult (MMC/MKU) and the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM).
It will make it a criminal offence to be a member of one of these groups or to "invite or recklessly express support" for them, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
The Government said in a statement today that the move to ban PA follows "its orchestration and enaction of aggressive and intimidatory attacks against businesses, institutions and the public, which has crossed the thresholds established in the Terrorism Act 2000," particularly following the break-in to the RAF Brize Norton base in Oxfordshire, allegedly by Palestine Action, earlier this month.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper added: "National security is the first duty of any
Packed with exclusive investigations, analysis, and features
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Thousands of Brits, including leading barristers, have signed an open letter to Labour Home Secretary Yvette Cooper opposing the planned ban on Palestine Action.
The letter argues that in banning the non-violent civil disobedience group, the Government is dangerously "conflating peaceful protest with the real dangers of genuine terrorism". The move is set to become law by Saturday July 5.
The lawyers and signatories condemn the "double standards" of the Government, arguing they are "seeking to criminalise direct action whilst themselves at risk of breaching international law, given the International Court of Justice's findings of plausible genocide in Gaza." And they argue a ban would be a "drain on public resources" adding an "unjustified burden on the justice system" through criminalising potentially thousands of pro-Palestine activists who back the group.
"It is our hope that the Home Secretary will recognise both the moral arguments and the strength of feeling in civil society in this matter and resile from this proscription," the spokesperson added.
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Receive the monthly Byline Times newspaper and help to support fearless, independent journalism that breaks stories, shapes the agenda and holds power to account.
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We're not funded by a billionaire oligarch or an offshore hedge-fund. We rely on our readers to fund our journalism. If you like what we do, please subscribe.
Backers will be handing over the letter to the Home Secretary at Parliament on Wednesday July 2, before the vote in the House of Commons.
A spokesperson for the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, which coordinated the letter, said: "In a few days our letter to the Home Secretary has been endorsed by a coalition of thousands of diverse voices ranging from stonemasons to vicars, KCs, Peers, MPs, actors, teachers, trade unions and campaigners for peace and justice."
Two other groups will be banned this week, Russian neo-Nazi groups the Maniacs Murder Cult (MMC/MKU) and the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM).
It will make it a criminal offence to be a member of one of these groups or to "invite or recklessly express support" for them, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
The Government said in a statement today that the move to ban PA follows "its orchestration and enaction of aggressive and intimidatory attacks against businesses, institutions and the public, which has crossed the thresholds established in the Terrorism Act 2000," particularly following the break-in to the RAF Brize Norton base in Oxfordshire, allegedly by Palestine Action, earlier this month.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper added: "National security is the first duty of any
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