Magazine Issue 5&6: The Media / In defence of free speach

Magazine Issue 5&6 - Winter 1997

IN DEFENCE OF FREE SPEECH

Statement of Solidarity with the defendants in the “Gandalf” Trial.

We the undersigned are writing to express our solidarity with the five editors currently on trial in Portsmouth, England, on charges of “conspiracy to incite persons unknown to commit criminal damage”. We condemn this charge as a violation of journalistic freedom. Without a fearless and free press there can be no informed discussion and participation in public life.

On January 16th 1996 six people - four editors of Green Anarchist (GA) magazine, Animal Liberation Front (ALF) Support Group newsletter and the ALF press officer - were arrested and charged, on the basis of news and comment they had included in their respective publications and press releases. The charges carry a maximum prison sentence of ten years. The trial began at Portsmouth Crown Court on August 26th against five of the original six. “Public Interest Immunity” Certificates have been used to suppress evidence of secret service actions in the gathering of evidence.

On the weekend of September 5th-7th 1997 over seventy representatives of various radical publications met in Oxford, England for the first “Alternative Media Gathering.” The following statement was formulated in response to the “Gandalf Four” Trial currently taking place at Portsmouth Crown Court, involving editors from Green Anarchist (GA) magazine and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) Support Group newsletter. The title “Gandalf” comes from GAandALF.

Many publications include coverage of direct action. This case opens the way for similar attacks on any publication deemed to be in favour of such action. If the reporting of direct action can constitute incitement this has very worrying implications for freedom of speech.

Green Anarchist can be seen as an easy target, due to its outspoken and radical content. The police have been the prime movers behind this case - “Operation Washington”, as the lead-up was known, involved 55 police raids and, at its height, employed sixty officers. It is vital that the press - alternative, independent, radical, liberal and establishment - unite to defend the basic freedoms under attack in this case: freedom of speech and freedom of the press. It is not for the police to determine the limits of our discussions.

We call on all concerned to vigorously defend freedom of the press. We call on editors and journalists to fairly report the case and issues, and we call on the Crown Prosecution and Judge to drop the case. It is not the reporting of direct action which incites further direct action; environmental degradation, animal abuse, economic injustice, attacks on freedom, weapons exports, nuclear weapons, lack of democratic process - these, among many others, are the inciting factors.

Catch-all incitement and conspiracy charges threaten not only radical publications, but anyone making statements which could be interpreted as inflammatory. Any debate by any columnist potentially falls into this category. The attack on Green Anarchist and the Animal Liberation Front Support Group Newsletter is an attack on freedom and an attack on us all.

This initiative is separate to the “Gandalf Defendants’ Campaign” (who can be contacted: “Gandalf Defendants’ Campaign, PO Box 66, Stevenage, SG1 2TR ). Originally the trial began with five defendants, but one of them is now to undergo a separate trial in the spring of 1998.

A selection of the 300+ groups and individuals who have added their support to the Statement of Solidarity :
Corporate Watch, Reclaim the Streets, Genetix Update, Green World, Peace News, SchNews, Justice?, Ethical Consumer, Genetic Engineering Network, Green Events.The Green Party of England and Wales; Worthing FOE; Progressive Student Network (PSN) at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA; The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmanent; The Socialist Future; Friends of Wilderness; Youth for Social Justice; Public Interest Consultants; McSpotlight; Los Angeles Earth First!; Sustainable Economics; The Great Speckled Bird; Bottled Up political zine Pittsburgh Pa USA; Third Battle of Newbury; South Downs EF!; The entire Stockholms Anarchists “large meeting” of Saturday the 13th of September, 1997; Do or Die; The Brand Collective, Stockholm, Sweden; London Greenpeace; McLibel Support Campaign; Green Action, Sheffield; Anarchist Black Cross, Gent - Belgium; East Berks Animal Aid; Berkshire Earth Action; Berkshire Animal Concern; Basingstoke Wildlife Protection Society; Reading Roadbusters; Cookham 12 Defence Group; Centre for Alternative Technology Publications; Godhaven Ink; Abolish the Fur Trade; Forgotten Wildlife, USA; Chatham 3 Support Committee; SAEN - Stop Animal Exploitation NOW!; Animal Defense League in Syracuse, NY, USA; Animal LIberation Brigade Boston, NYC, USA; Dragon Environmental Network; Squall; Roger Moody, research journalist and author; Red Pepper; Professor John Whitelegg; Forest Action Network; Manchester Earth First!; The EF! Action Update; Sushila Dhall; UK Subs; Bluebell Wood defence campaign; Campaign Against Runway 2;