{"id":5650,"date":"2022-02-05T13:51:51","date_gmt":"2022-02-05T13:51:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanlodge.co.uk\/blog\/?p=5650"},"modified":"2022-02-05T13:51:51","modified_gmt":"2022-02-05T13:51:51","slug":"protest-is-the-lifeblood-of-our-democracy-and-its-under-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanlodge.co.uk\/blog\/archives\/5650","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Protest is the lifeblood of our democracy, and it\u2019s under threat\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thebristolcable.org\/category\/interviews\">INTERVIEWS<\/a><\/strong> 4th February, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Raj Chada, a defence lawyer who represented the Colston Four, says prosecuting demonstrators is becoming a \u2018reflex\u2019 in the UK.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/thebristolcable.org\/author\/sean\/\">Sean Morrison<\/a><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" height=\"120\" width=\"120\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static.thebristolcable.org\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Sean-Morrison-profile-120x120.jpg?resize=120%2C120&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Sean Morrison\"><\/li><li>&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:sean@thebristolcable.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sean@thebristolcable.org<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Direct-action protesters risking arrest have always played an important part in the democratic process. Throughout history, demonstrators have been instrumental in forcing social and political change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>The Bill is the largest attack on the right to free speech probably since the 1930s<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cProtest is the lifeblood of our democracy,\u201d says Raj Chada, a lawyer who has been defending demonstrators in the courtroom for more than a decade \u2013 most recently the Edward Colston statue topplers in Bristol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But it\u2019s a long-held tradition that\u2019s imperilled by threats of lengthy prison terms and hefty fines under the Conservative government\u2019s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, Chada tells the Cable.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To prosecute demonstrators is becoming somewhat of a \u201creflex\u201d in the UK, according to Chada. \u201cAnd it\u2019s being done,\u201d he argues, \u201cspecifically because [government ministers] don\u2019t like their political opponents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"police-and-crime-bill-an-attack-on-the-right-to-free-speech\"><strong>Police and Crime Bill: \u2018An attack on the right to free speech\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>He says it\u2019s the \u201cchilling effect\u201d of the Bill that\u2019s most dangerous, in that it seeks to stop people from protesting in the first place. Important demonstrations throughout history that affected parliamentary decisions might not have happened if this kind of legislation existed at the time, he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Take the Bristol Bus Boycott in the 1960s \u2013 a protest against the Bristol Omnibus Company over its racist employment policy. It was the first Black-led demonstration against racial discrimination in post-war Britain, and influenced the passing of the Race Relations Act 1965.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is a great example of radical history in Bristol and its ability to affect the national debate and national parliament,\u201d says Chada. \u201cAnd had some of these laws [proposed under the Bill] been in place then, would this protest have happened? Would these legislative changes have happened?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He adds: \u201cIf Priti Patel was the homeland secretary in 1960s America, then Martin Luther King would be whispering from a car park outside Washington DC rather than having a dream in front of the Lincoln Memorial.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s the gravity of what\u2019s being proposed.\u201d And the proposed laws only highlight the importance of jury trials, Chada says, when members of the public have the final say on the fate of protesters.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A recent example of this, he says, is the trial of those who tore down Colston\u2019s statue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"jury-trials-a-cornerstone-of-democracy\"><strong>Jury trials: \u2018A cornerstone of democracy\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sage Willoughby, Milo Ponsford and Rhian Graham used ropes to help pull down the slave trader\u2019s statue during a Black Lives Matter protest sparked by the death of George Floyd in the summer of 2020. Jake Skuse helped roll the monument to the floating harbour, where it was dumped in the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The defendants \u2013 known as the Colston Four \u2013 did not deny playing a part in the removal of the statue. But after being arrested and charged with criminal damage they all plead not guilty, feeling that their actions were proportionate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On 5 January this year a jury acquitted all four defendants, after hearing the horrors of Colston\u2019s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade and how Bristol City Council had failed to remove the statue despite years of campaigning. The statue itself was criminal, defence lawyers told jurors, and the protesters\u2019 actions were proportionate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The verdicts were hailed by many as an exemplar of the UK\u2019s jury system in action, but some Conservative MPs raised concerns that they set a \u201cdangerous\u201d precedent and undermine the rule of law. An online petition calling for a retrial has garnered tens of thousands of signatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chada, who represented Skuse during the trial at Bristol Crown Court, says it angers him that Tory politicians \u201cdeliberately\u201d tried to undermine a jury\u2019s decision. He says ministers recognise jury trials are a \u201ccornerstone of British democracy\u201d \u2013 but only when it suits them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s \u201cridiculous\u201d that politicians and some parts of the media have tried to present the verdicts as some kind of \u201cvandals\u2019 charter\u201d, Chada says. He says: \u201cIt would be like saying that because you have an acquittal in a murder case, that sudden homicide has become lawful in the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The case was about the Colston statue and those defendants\u2019 actions, he says. \u201cIt was nothing more, nothing less.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"colston-four-should-never-have-been-prosecuted\"><strong>Colston Four \u2018should never have been prosecuted\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Chada says that it was clear to him that the Colston Four should not have been put on trial in the first place. It was the council, he says, that should have been in the dock. \u201cThey are the ones who failed to take any action about this statue, which caused such offence and distress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chada, a former council leader of Camden council in London, says he finds it \u201cslightly disturbing\u201d that Rees and other political figures welcomed the statue\u2019s removal yet allowed the Colston Four to be prosecuted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThey welcome the removal of the statue, say it shouldn\u2019t have been there, say it brought a reckoning with slavery and highlights various issues, yet they were letting four people face trial, face that angst and possibly go to prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTo me that can\u2019t be right. What would have happened if they were convicted? If I was in their position I couldn\u2019t have lived with that: effectively saying, \u2018We\u2019ve got all the positives out of it but [the defendants] \u2013 they\u2019re collateral damage.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rees denied claims that the council supported the prosecution, saying the local authority had been \u201casked to give a factual account of what happened and we provided it\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"callous-and-calculating-prosecutions\"><strong>\u2018Callous and calculating prosecutions\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Chada says the case of the Stansted 15 being charged with terrorism offences was another example of a prosecution that should never have happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The protesters \u2013 one of whom is from Bristol \u2013 broke into Stansted Airport in 2017 to stop a plane deporting people to Africa. They cut through the perimeter fence and locked themselves to a Boeing 767 jet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They were convicted of a terrorism-related offence before the rulings were quashed in Court of Appeal. The Lord Chief Justice at the time said the defendants should not have been prosecuted for the \u201cextremely serious offence\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chada, who represented the defendants, says: \u201cThey suffered distress after hearing they were being charged with a terrorism-related offence, with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. And it was all done in error.\u201d<br>He says that public authorities need to consider how prosecutions in protest cases, particularly when the alleged offence is \u201cminor\u201d, will affect the individuals. They must be sure there is a strong public interest in the prosecution, Chada says, \u201cotherwise it just becomes too callous and too calculating\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>INTERVIEWS 4th February, 2022 Raj Chada, a defence lawyer who represented the Colston Four, says prosecuting demonstrators is becoming a \u2018reflex\u2019 in the UK. Sean Morrison &nbsp;sean@thebristolcable.org Direct-action protesters risking arrest have always played an important part in the democratic &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/alanlodge.co.uk\/blog\/archives\/5650\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[236,1089,303,1061,48,222],"class_list":["post-5650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1","tag-bristol","tag-coulston","tag-killthebill","tag-pcsc","tag-protest","tag-travellers-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanlodge.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanlodge.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanlodge.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanlodge.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanlodge.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5650"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alanlodge.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5651,"href":"https:\/\/alanlodge.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5650\/revisions\/5651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanlodge.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanlodge.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanlodge.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}