Letter in the Guardian: Protest at shocking Tomlinson decision

Protest at shocking Tomlinson decision
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The Guardian, Friday 30 July 2010
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The shocking decision by the Crown Prosecution Service not to charge any officers over the death of Ian Tomlinson (Editorial, 23 July) exposes the root-and-branch corruption of the justice system. Rather than protecting the innocent, the police, CPS and Independent Police Complaints Commission have been shown to protect each other's backs. From the start, when the IPCC accepted the police line that no CCTV cameras witnessed the attack on Tomlinson, through Dr Freddy Patel's botched first postmortem, up to this latest scandal, the justice system has closed ranks to protect its own.

The fact that PC Simon Harwood, who struck Tomlinson before he died, had previously been investigated for alleged aggressive behaviour and yet was allowed to join the notoriously violent Territorial Support Group is an outrage. As revealed by the Guardian last November, 5,000 complaints were made about the activities of the TSG over four years, yet only nine were upheld.

Tomlinson's case is far from the first. Since 1969 over 1,000 people have died in police custody in Britain, yet not a single police officer has been charged with manslaughter or murder during this time. The Tomlinson family should be given public funding should they decide to continue the legal battle for justice for Ian – as should all families seeking justice for those who have died at the hands of the police. They should also have the right to see PC Harwood's disciplinary proceedings conducted in the open. We will be picketing the offices of the director of public prosectuions in London at midday today.

Patrick Ward United Campaign Against Police Violence, Samantha Rigg-David Sean Rigg Justice and Change Campaign, Janet Alder Sister of Christopher Alder, Saqib Deshmukh and Zia Ullah Justice for Habib "Paps" Ullah, Bob Crow General secretary, RMT, John O Miscarriages of Justice UK, Chris Knight and Camilla Power G20 Meltdown/Democracy Village, Andy Hewett and Teresa Delaney Co-conveners, Green Left, Martin Smith Socialist Workers party, Emily Apple Fitwatch, Anna Mazzola Hickman & Rose, Andy May Defend Peaceful Protest, Ian Bone, Jeff Parks Legal Defence & Monitoring Group

Justice for Ian Tomlinson: Picket against Office of Department of Public Prosecutionthis Friday

A protest has been called on Friday outside the Office of Department of Public Prosecution HQ. This is in response to the CPS decision to charge noone over the death of Ian Tomlinson, despite a mountain of evidence showing him being attacked by PC Simon Harwood at the G20 protests on 1 April last year.

Everyone knows who killed Ian Tomlinson - no more lies, whitewashes or cover-ups. Let's make our voices heard and continue the fight for justice for Ian and all those who have died at the hands of the police.

Friday 30 July, 12 noon

Office of Department of Public Prosecution, Rose Court, 2 Southwark Bridge, SE1 9HS

Launch of Ian Tomlinson Campaign Fighting Fund

This from the Ian Tomlinson Family Campaign website...

Many, many thanks for the hundreds of e-mails and messages of support sent to the campaign yesterday. We can't possibly respond to them individually but it is really important to Ian's family to know that they have so many people supporting them.

Many have asked if there is anything more they can do and today, we are launching aCampaign Fighting Fund. There is still long road ahead in the fight for justice and the Fund will help the Tomlinson family to make decisions about the direction of the campaign without always having to worry about the financial costs, especially when the emotional ones are tough enough already.

Donations by PayPal won't be up and running until next week, so check back then. But if you personally or your organisation (union branch, community or campaign group, for instance) can help by making a donation, please make cheques payable to 'Ian Tomlinson Family Campaign' and send to:

Ian Tomlinson Family Campaign

c/o Newham Monitoring Project

170 Harold Rd

London E13 0SE

No charges on officers over Ian Tomlinson's death. No justice, once again.

The CPS report into the death of newspaper vendor Ian Tomlinson has stated that no police officers face charges of any form over Ian's death, despite video and photo evidence clearly showing Ian being attacked by a police officer.

This is another example of the police and the whole justice system denying justice to those killed by police and protecting instead the perpetrators.

We will now assemble at 1pm at New Scotland Yard to let the police know this is fooling nobody.

We will continue to fight for justice for Ian Tomlinson.

For the latest, check the Guardian report.

TOMORROW: CROWN PROSECUTION SERVICE REPORT INTO DEATH OF IAN TOMLINSON

THURSDAY 22 JULY, 1PM @ NEW SCOTLAND YARD

Tomorrow, Thursday 22 July, on the fifth anniversary of the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell Tube station, we expect to hear the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) report into the death of Ian Tomlinson, the newspaper seller killed in the City of London as he tried to make his way home past the police during the G20 protests on 1 April 2009.

If a police officer is charged with manslaughter it will be the first time this has ever happened in Britain, despite over 1,000 people dying in police custody since the late 1960s. This should be seen as a step forward for those campaigning for justice.

But if it is a whitewash we don’t want them to get away with it. No matter how much they talk about a new era of policing and enshrining the right to protest, the establishment will once again have allowed police officers to kill an innocent man.

We want as many people to gather as possible to either celebrate a victory or step up our campaign for justice.

Gather at 1pm outside New Scotland Yard, 8-10 Broadway, Westminster, London SW1H 0BG.

This is short notice! Spread this message far and wide: phone, email, text, Tweet, Facebook, chalk on the pavements and bring your friends.

Goodbye Section 44!

After ten years of campaigning, Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 has been abandoned by the government – with immediate effect.

The act allowed police officers to stop and search members of the public without reasonable suspicion for terrorism – primarily against protesters and disproportionately on young black and Asian men.

The European court ruled Section 44 illegal, and the government did not appeal the ruling.

But we should not rest on our laurels just yet. While this law has been changed, Home Secretary Theresa May has also made it clear that she wants to remove “red tape” for policing, and allow police to do their job with “less paperwork”.

This should be a warning. Less paperwork means less accountability. It means more young people, usually from ethnic minorities, being harassed in the street without officers being held accountable.

In rejecting one draconian law, we need to make sure it is not simply replaced with another.

For more information, check out the Guardian’s report.