Bristol Climate Justice Activist Stopped from leaving country under Terror Act

south west | protests | news report Friday October 16, 2009 15:33 by jack sheppard

annodated version of mainstream articles

Four People, including one from the South West, were interviewed under Terror act: Pre-emptive arrests about climate swoop.

Too tired to write seperate article but one additional quote from the coppers who interviewed us: "95% of people we stop under this legislation aren't terrorists". This shouldn't make people afraid of travellling to Copenhagen - or any other international mobilsiation - but any travel plans should take this into consideration.

UK border police (Kent Constabulary) used anti-terrorist legislation to prevent a British climate change activist from crossing over into mainland Europe where he planned to take part in events surrounding the forthcoming United Nations summit in Denmark.

Chris Kitchen, a 31-year-old office worker, said he feared his treatment by police could mark the start of a clampdown on protesters, hundreds of whom are planning to travel to Copenhagen for the climate change talks in December.

Tonight he will make a second attempt to reach Denmark, where he plans to take part in discussions organised by a network of protest groups coming together under the banner Climate Justice Action.

He said he was prevented from crossing the border yesterday at about 5pm, when the coach he was travelling on stopped at the Folkestone terminal of the Channel tunnel.

Jack Sheppard adds:

"On our second try to get to Copenhagen we we're reminded that we were relatively lucky, when 2 "Sans Papiers" were removed from our coach at 3.00am - probably to a German Detention Centre"

Kitchen said police officers boarded the coach and, after checking all passengers' passports, took him and another climate activist to be interviewed under schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000, a clause which enables border officials to stop and search individuals to determine if they are connected to terrorism.

The passports were not initially scanned, Kitchen said, suggesting the officials knew his name and had planned to remove him from the coach before they boarded. During his interview, he was asked questions about his family, work and past political activity. The police also asked him what he intended to do in Copenhagen.

When Kitchen said that anti-terrorist legislation does not apply to environmental activists, he said the officer replied that terrorism "could mean a lot of things". By the time his 30-minute interview had concluded, Kitchen's coach had gone.

Police are understood to be monitoring protesters on a number of databases, some of which highlight individuals when they pass through secure areas, such as ports.

Kitchen is a prominent activist who has taken place in a number of peaceful acts of civil disobedience, such as glueing himself to a statue in parliament, to call for more action to cut carbon emissions.

"The use of anti-terrorist legislation like this is another example of political policing, of the government harassing and intimidating people practising their hard earned democratic rights," he said. "We are going to Copenhagen to take part in Climate Justice Action because we want to protest against false solutions like carbon trading and to build a global movement for effective, socially just solutions.

"People who are practising civil disobedience on climate change in the face of ineffectual government action are certainly not terrorists, and I am sure that their actions will be vindicated by history."

Kitchen said police paid for a ticket for him to return to London after questioning and arranged for the coach company to give him a seat on another coach.

A Home Office spokesman said: "There has been no change in policy. Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 enables an examining officer to stop, search and examine a person at a port or in a border area to determine whether they are someone who is or has been concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.

"The exercise of the powers by the police is an operational matter for each force."

Jack Sheppard adds:" The fact that legislation allows people to be detained, delayed -and forced to answer questions (under the legislation "no comment" is an offence), have there mobile phones confiscated and presumably empited of all there numbers, texts etc without even reasonable grounds for suspicion that we were going commit terrorist offences - the interviewing police officers made it clear that we weren't suspected of being terrorists,or or were ever likely to commit them in the future is a piss take.

Swoop Arrests:

Climate activists including members of campaigning groups Climate Camp and Plane Stupid have pledged to shut down the Ratcliffe-on-Soar coal power station run by German energy giant E.ON. The arrests follow an injunction taken out by E.ON against protesters that will allow police to arrest anyone who enters the plant's grounds. A large police and private security presence is expected at the site, which has upped its security measures, including the erection of a new electric fence.

The campaigner charged yesterday has been released and bailed to return to a police station on Saturday, when the power station protests are due to take place. On Tuesday this week, 31-year-old office worker Chris Kitchen was prevented from travelling to Copenhagen to take part in events around the UN climate talks this December. Three other activists are now understood to have been detained and searched this week while attempting to travel to Copenhagen, though they have subsequently completed their journeys.

Activists for Plane Stupid also claimed they were phoned yesterday by Nottinghamshire police and told "they would be arrested" if they came to Ratcliffe-on-Soar. Tracy Singh from Plane Stupid said "the police are acting like hoodlums. We are absolutely disgusted." A press spokesperson for Nottinghamshire police said it would be facilitating lawful protest around the power station and denied activists would be arrested simply by coming to the site.

Richard Bernard, a spokesperson for Climate Camp, added: "They're threatening and arresting people for just thinking and talking about taking meaningful action. This is clear intimidation — they're just trying to scare us. But what's really scary is climate change, and that's why we're going to take control of Ratcliffe on Saturday."

E.ON has responded to the planned protest by placing a series of videos on its YouTube channel with comments from its press team, the power station manager and protestors.

A spokeswoman for E.ON, said: "We respect the right of people to have their say as long as it's peaceful and lawful. [The planned action] is incredibly dangerous and irresponsible. What I would say is by all means come, but don't try to break into the power station."

Activists have been sharing satellite maps and photos of the power station online, which they plan to travel to by train and bus. The Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station emits 12.8m tonnes of CO2 a year and is Britain's third largest source of direct greenhouse gas emissions. E.ON says it is one of the UK's most efficient coal power stations.

In April this year, 114 people were arrested at a Nottingham school on suspicion of planning a direct action on the power station. At least 25 of the activsts have been subsequently charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated trespass, a charge which places restrictions on communications with friends and family and potentially carries a sentence of six months.

E.ON has also been the subject of an ongoing campaign by climate activists for its plans to build a new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth in Kent. Last week the company said Kingsnorth had been postponed because of the global recession, an annoucement that campaigners viewed as a victory for the climate movement.