G8 medics acquitted

Posted 18:22 26 October 2005: Reposted from indymedia uk: Two street medics arrested at the Carnival For Full Enjoyment during the anti-G8 protests last July were acquitted of Breach of the Peace in court on Friday. The trial took place in a Sheriff’s court in Edinburgh, and lasted for around 4 hours.

This article is partially reposted from IMC UK and IMC Scotland, relating to the ongoing farcical trials of some of the anti-G8 accused. See the link at the end of this page for the full article and related comments.

BEGINS >>> I was one of the medic pair who were violently arrested on the 4th July in Edinburgh. We were charged with a Breach of the Peace and released on bail conditions that forced us to return to our home towns, a journey which took over 11 hours, from 8pm to 7.30am, and cost almost £100 each. Personally, I was surprised to be charged, and couldn’t believe it when the court date was set. The trial took a long time to come around, but it’s great to have the not guilty verdict, vindicating our version of events.

The prosecution witnesses were two of the police officers who had arrested us. Their stories conflicted but there were some points worth noting. Firstly, we were followed and covertly videoed all day and marked out for arrest by ‘evidence gatherers’, despite being clearly marked medics, and doing nothing more than hand out water and treat people. We were called ‘instigators’ and ‘ring leaders’ by the police giving evidence, and they claimed that we were ‘egging on the violence’. Presumably the evidence gatherers had concrete proof of our role as ring leaders to justify sending in a snatch squad for us – so why was the only video evidence submitted footage of us standing around in a pen, giving someone some water and chatting? Could it be that the evidence gatherers had no proof of anything, except our role as organised medics? And still pointed us out to a snatch squad?

The police evidence was confusing, and I had trouble following it, even though I was the subject of the incident in question. Apparently, despite the overwhelming (but strangely absent) evidence against us, the snatch squad that surrounded us had no intention of arresting us – they’d broken through police lines to ask us to move (officer 1). Or maybe they moved into the pen to arrest us (officer 2). Or maybe they just didn’t know.

So we’ve established that there was a snatch squad sent in for us. A snatch squad of “a whole unit followed by two further units” (officer 1). No, it was two officers (officer 2). Let’s look at the video evidence. Here’s a clip, taken from the BBC and submitted by the prosecution. As well as showing my medic partner being hit across the face as her hands were held behind her back (Did you really mean to show that in court, officer?), you can see the two of us surrounded by at least 25 riot police. To be fair, two tired-out street medics with a backpack full of dried apricots and water are quite the threat, so it’s lucky all those extra coppers were there.

For the full article plus related comments on IMC UK, see http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/10/326478.html

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