On June 18th, there were 16 arrests made before 9pm, 11 of which were reported to the Legal Defence and Monitoring Group (See http://www.blagged.freeserve.co.uk/j18law/). The first arrests were made at 8am in the morning for allegedly "damaging cars on London Bridge" (from The Sunday Times, 19th June 1999). Interestingly, the Times reported that only 6 people had been arrested on June 18th, with three people being kept in custody overnight. The most likely explanation for discrepancies in different media reports is dodgy sources, sloppy reporting, or the fact that different newspapers "go to press" at different times during the night.

Last Tuesday (10th August) The Guardian reported that a total of 43 people have now been arrested. So far, 23 of these people have been charged with violent disorder or criminal damage offences. Press reports do not detail individual cases, whether or not they have been heard yet, or any sentences resulting from them.

It is not known how many people are being kept in custody, but I would hazard a guess that people are unlikely to be remanded in custody for these type of offences.

I have heard (probably) fourth or fifth hand reports of some of these arrests, where activists have had computer equipment seized and been threatened with bullshit charges like conspiracy or whatever. It is difficult to get hold of specific information related to the police operation from our side. Many of those arrested have chosen to make no comment on their arrests at this time, which is rightly the most sensible thing to do. However, there is a need for "anonymised" information about the line that police questioning has taken, the tactics that the police have used, and the sort of things that people have been charged with.

It is also evident that the police have questioned several other people who have not yet been charged. It is likely that the police (especially the Forward Intelligence Unit and ARNIE - specialist animal rights + eco warrior unit) will be using the J18 police operation as an excuse to question as many "activists" as they can, seize computer equipment, address books, etc. Whether or not people are charged, all of this info. will be put in their databases for future use.

More than 50 police (according to the Evening Standard of 28/7/99 it was "more than sixty officers" - whether this means dodgy sources, sloppy reporting, or that the police operation is being run-down a bit, I wouldn't like to say) are analysing more than 5,000 hours of CCTV footage from June 18th, and (apparently) they are now involved in a national hunt to trace "150" people who they believe are linked to "alleged criminal activity". They want to charge people with violent disorder or criminal damage, and are also trying to "Identify the ringleaders who were dressed in suits to resemble City workers" (Again from The Guardian, Tuesday August 10, 1999).

The police are absolutely obsessed about the idea of "ringleaders" and I would expect that they will attempt to charge some people with "inciting a riot", although whether or not such charges would stick in court is another matter entirely. Interestingly, a different article in The Guardian (I don't have the reference, it was late July) written from the perspective of City types, suggested that some City Workers behaved in an "inflammatory manner" themselves, although I doubt that the police will press incitement charges in these cases!!

I also doubt that any police officers will themselves be charged with "inciting a riot", even though - on their own admission - they were incompetent on the day, and probably worsened the situation themselves in several instances (see all those articles in the Evening Standard that are referenced from the main J18 reporting site).

Some cop (again reported in The Guardian of 10/8/99) said:

"It's a massive operation, DCI Sharp said. "The difficulty is we can't lump the organisers and the rioters together but everything I have seen on the day and from watching video footage since suggests that the violence was planned in advance.

"It wasn't a spontaneous outburst caused by a hot day and fuelled by drink and drugs. There were plenty of people who were quite happy to stand and watch and plenty of others who were happy to join in."

Some sources:
http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,3891255,00.html
(you have to use cookies to access this site)

http://www.blagged.freeserve.co.uk/j18law/

If anybody has any legal news for public consumption, please pass it to me for circulation to this list. If you don't have the good sense to make sure that any information is "anonymous", then I certainly will "anonymize" it prior to circulation. Unlike the capitalist press, I am not interested in "naming names" or in printing detailed biographies of J18ers.

Please note that I am not experienced, qualified or capable of providing any form of legal support, and people who need such support should contact LDMG or a good solicitor.

Cop Watch (UK)