On 1 August 2005 Section 132 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA) came into force, making any protest in the 'designated area' - up to 1km around Parliament - illegal unless police permission has first been received.On 1 May 2006 we will be BEATING THE BOUNDS of this massive protest exclusion zone against our loss of freedoms of association and expression.
We will assemble at 12 noon in Trafalgar Square on 1 May 2006
ON THIS TRADITIONAL DAY OF COMING TOGETHER TO CELEBRATE AND UPHOLD OUR RIGHTS, LETS DEFEND OUR FREEDOM TO PROTEST WITHOUT POLICE PERMISSION
COME AND TAKE PART IN THIS FUN, NOISY, CREATIVE AND PEACEFUL CHALLENGE TO AN AUTHORITARIAN GOVERNMENT
MORE DETAILS TO FOLLOW SHORTLY
See here for a reports/photos from a previous Beating the Bounds demo:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/12/329275.html
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/london/2005/12/329150.html
Lets make this next one really big and really noisy!A map of the exclusion zone can be seen here:
http://www.met.police.uk/publicorder/images/Section_132_7_boundary.jpgA detailed description of the boundary of the 'designated area' can be seen here:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2005/20051537.htmFor more details on SOCPA and the protests against it see:
http://www.peopleincommon.org
http://www.parliamentprotest.org.uk
http://www.pledgebank.com/protest
Also see Is the SOCPA Designated Area actually bigger than we have assumed ?
Hello,
I am trying to contact different people involved in the human chain protest against SOCPA on May 1st. The reason?
I am a post-grad student journalist building a website on free speech and writing an article on the protest.
Unfortunately I cannot attend as I am up in Preston, Lancashire. So I would really like to hear about the event from people who attended.
Were there any clashes with police?
How far inside the exclusion zone did protesters go?
How many arrests were there?
How many people attended? (actual figures, not BBC ones)
etc.
Alos - if any of you have any fab photos you are willing to let me use for the project (for assessment purposes only)
please pass them on.
Thanks,
Josie