Animal rights

from email, 29 September 2008: UK police have offered £40,000 in compensation to animal rights campaigners, including supporters of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), after they were prevented from joining a protest against livestock exports. The London-based protesters, representing several animal rights groups, accused Kent police of heavy-handed tactics after their coach was stopped as it entered Dover in July 2006 en route to a demonstration against the shipping of sheep and cattle to the continent. more

from submission, by antispe, 24 September 2008: The October issue of the latest anti-speciesist, anti-capitalist, abolitionist direct action news is out now. more

from vgt.at, 16 September 2008: Its now been a week since I was released from prison. 104 days in a prison cell are over. It is seriously shocking to see how far police repression will go in order to stop legitimate and successful protest for animals in the name of a majority of the population, just because it runs contrary to the profit interests of a powerful minority. Many many thanks to each and everyone of you for all you have done for me. I am deeply humbled by the immense amount of solidarity and support we prisoners have received from the international animals rights community. more

from if, corporate media, 13 September 2008: Radical environmentalist Kevin Tucker took the stage at Mercyhurst College two years ago to sound his call for a world freed from civilization. Today, he is scheduled to take a seat before a different kind of Erie audience -- a federal grand jury. The 28-year-old former Pennsylvania resident said he has been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury that is investigating a series of arsons and other politically motivated acts of sabotage and vandalism in the Erie area in 2002 and 2003. more

from various sources, 8 September 2008: On Saturday 6th September two hundred activists made it to Ledbury, Herefordshire, for the Carnival Against Vivisection in solidarity with political prisoner Sean Kirtley. The day of action was called by various groups in resistance to the imprisoning of peaceful campaigners under SOCPA legislation, and as a stand for the animals suffering inside vivisection laboratories. more

from various sources, 3 September 2008: The news we've been waiting to hear for the last 3 months - Christof, Elmar, Felix, Jan, Jurgen, Kevin, Leo, Martin and Sabine - the remaining 9 Austrian activists - have today (September 02) finally been set free!  more

from imc-uk, 23 August 2008: "Please join the International Day of Solidarity and organize Demos in your City! Let's spread the word for the freedom of the 10 activists in Austria and demand an end to repression of social activism..." more

from ukwatch, 30 January 2008: The screws have been tightened on the animal rights (AR) movement yet again. In this country, and in the US, there has been a serious state attempt to deal with the strength of the animal rights movement by using an extra-legal form of internment. Currently the three most prominent activists from the SHAC - Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty campaign - Greg Avery, Natasha Avery and Heather Nicholson - are all on remand, after high profile arrests back on May 1st 2007. They are charged with ‘conspiracy to blackmail’. Now the same applies to the main spokesman for the SPEAK campaign, Mel Broughton. more

from email, 22 January 2008: In early December 2007 we reposted an article from 'Green Scare' defendant Daniel McGowan challenging one his co-defendants, Darren Thurston, on why he had decided to co-operate with the US government and prosecutors against McGowan and other Operation Backfire defendants. Thurston has now made a response (see link below). This article is a reply to Thurston from the Crimethinc.com web site. more

from email, 6 January 2008: NETCU Watch after a few hosting problems in now back and running again! Sorry about the downtime, we at NETCU Watch had some hosting issues and are now going to be running NW from Wordpress with a new domain so update your bookmarks… more

from email, 20 October 2007: SHAC 7 prisoner Darius Fullmer was released September 29th, after serving 85% of his one year, one day sentence. He was greeted by a big get together of friends and supporters on the day of his release and has already ran a marathon since he's been out! We're excited to have Dari back on the outside and can't wait until all of the SHAC 7 prisoners are free! more

Infoshop, August 1 2007: Eugene, OR – Judge Ann Aiken today will revisit the sentencing of Jonathan Paul, an animal liberationist whose 51-month sentence was disputed during his initial June 5 sentencing hearing. Paul was the last of ten grand jury-indictees within the District of Oregon who were sentenced as a part of the government’s “Operation Backfire” prosecution. Paul was one of only three defendants who did not receive a “terrorism” enhancement to their sentences. more

via Netcu Watch, 11.07.2007: On the 20th February 2007 dawn raids were executed at four addresses in Yorkshire involving over a hundred police officers from Humberside and West Yorkshire Police. The aim being to arrest four people for what the media and police agencies dubbed animal rights extremism. Four and a half months later, the charges were dropped and the accused are now pursuing legal action against Humberside Police. more

Reposts of two corporate articles: "Thirty people were today arrested on suspicion of involvement in animal rights extremism in a series of raids targeting 29 UK addresses and three in Europe.

Police said the operation - which is the culmination of two years of investigations and involved some 700 officers in early morning raids - was probably the largest ever conducted against animal rights extremists..." more

Anarchists, radical environmentalists and other activists from across the country are gearing up for a “massive week of resistance” in opposition to an international biotechnology conference in Boston next month that likely will mark the largest Hub protests since the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

While police resources are already stretched from a spike in street violence, the department is bracing for potentially large-scale protests of the BIO International Convention May 6-9 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. The city is in the midst of building a security plan reminiscent of the costly show of force at the DNC. more

A national Animal Rights gathering is to be held in Nottingham on Sunday 18th March at the Nottingham SUMAC Centre, to promote cooperation and to spread information between the various groups and individuals working throughout the UK to stop animal abuse. more

The news that Oxford University is now seeking to imprison two of the founders of SPEAK - Robert Cogswell and Mel Broughton – merely serves to illustrate what SPEAK have maintained all along. The University’s self-serving agenda has consistently proved that they are not the "bastion of free speech" they claim to be; they have ridden roughshod over the democratic principles for which this country was once known, and have made a mockery of civil liberties in the pursuit of furthering the immoral and fraudulent science they practise. more

FROM CRIMETHINC: 'The beast has been awakened-snarling-and wants to bite someone soon. We fear, not without reason, that it may be us. At this moment the Underground Armies of Barbarian Anarchists are getting scant attention. Still, we are on a very short list. We have recently been considered a genuine threat to national security. more

On December 7, 2005, six activists were arrested across the US in a series of coordinated raids by Federal Marshals, in relation to a string of actions which took place between 1998 and 2001, claimed by the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and Animal Liberation Front (ALF). more