Metropolitan Police Sergeant Delroy Smellie was cleared of assaulting protestor Nicola Fisher at the memorial to Ian Tomlinson’s killing at last year’s G20 Demonstrations. District Judge Daphne Wickham ruled he acted lawfully despite video evidence posted on the internet showing Smellie thrashing a woman half his size with the back of his hand [...]
Am adding this here as a place of pride. Like many other polenta-eating hacks, I watched Sir Trevor McDonald lick David Cameron’s face for an hour interview David Cameron on ITV1.
Seems I’ve narked a few true blues by suggesting that Tories at CCHQ were melting at having to shake hands with a black man. I’m [...]
Crown Prosecution Service drops all charges against 11 Space Hijackers for impersonating police officers.
Elated. Over the moon. Downing a stiff gin to celebrate. But shaking with anger at the drama I and my friends have had to endure over the past ten months. Many of us have suffered throughout this ordeal, a farcical attempt by [...]
The Home Office is to appeal a European Court of Human Rights decision stating that the use of Section 44 (Terrorism Act 2000) to stop and search individuals violates the right to respect for a private life guaranteed by Article 8 of the Convention on Human Rights.
Section 44 has long drawn criticism from protestors who [...]
In the background, the Sheraton Hotel. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The poshest place in town…possibly in the country. Owned by the richest man in the country who’s half Ethiopian and half Yemeni. He’s also one of the richest men in Saudi Arabia…more wonga than the entire Bin Laden family. He reckons he can throw billions into [...]
Despite the fact that photographs from the first day of the G20 protests in April 2009 show me astride an armoured personnel carrier in black bra and blue boiler suit with another woman straddling me in red stockings and lipstick heels, the Crown Prosecution Service has charged me and 10 others with impersonating police officers. [...]
The height of post-Iranian Election fervour. As thousands of pro-reform demonstrators took to Iran’s streets asking where their votes went, one man went on a solitary journey along Tehran’s avenues pasting and painting hundreds of his own questions.
A1one, the street name for a Tehran-based street artist, erected over 400 pieces on the day the [...]
Received this video this morning. Not sure about dates, exact locations, times.
A rough translation:
“it is plastic bullet…he has shot three air shots…they give him
info who to shoot…yes..like Palestine…he is shooting to air…oh
bastard, bastard….Mohammad get away (from the window) they are
shooting…(when the soldiers flee) good for you, good for
you…(woman’s voice) bastards, someone help him, bastard…
(people) ya [...]
The other day I spoke with a former colleague based in Tehran. Someone with a knack for getting stupid foreign journalists out of Iran’s more logistical minefields. She’s had to switch phones regularly to avoid having his mobile connection blocked. It’s the first time I’ve spoken to her since election day.
“It’s going to be difficult [...]
As the rest of the world is discovering, Iran is a rather modern place. With nearly 70% of the population aged under 35, it would be. Men’s hairstyles may have a tad too much hair gel on the go and women may have a liking for bug-eyed sunglasses, but those are regional crimes of fashion [...]
