Tamils Blockade Parliament Again

User 'anonymous' did: report at Sat Aug 22 00:09:23 +0000 2009. User 'anonymous' did: report at Sun Oct 18 05:13:20 +0000 2009. User 'anonymous' did: report at Sun Oct 18 05:14:37 +0000 2009.

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true Updates and more photos added to this posting regularly - (timeline now most recent first) Thursday this evening, maria flew the flag again. police attended, threatened arrest, pleaded with her, radioed base, and withdrew. the flag flies tonight! Wednesday maria flies flag at parliament square. it was seized tonight by police claiming to use section 13 of the terrorism act. see full <a href="http://london.indymedia.org.uk/articles/1479">story</a> Tuesday maria (peacestrike.org.uk) challenges arrests over tamil flag by visiting new scotland yard and displaying flag there. she receives ruling from counter terrorism command that flag is lawful, but cops in the square still persist with threats and their lines of communication with command seem uncharacteristically confused and slow. <a href="http://london.indymedia.org.uk/articles/1479">more on this</a> and <a href="http://london.indymedia.org.uk/videos/1478">video</a> at london indymedia a few dozen tamils chanting loudly and all waving black flags today in mourning Sunday the grass has been carefully swept clean after yesterday's mass memorial. there have been a few hundred protestors around during the day. there was one altercation with an over-intrusive FIT team, and police helicopters have kept buzzing the square. when i was there around 6pm there were three low-flying copters with floodlights right over the square. the tamils are beginning two weeks of mourning for the thousands murdered in their homeland. Saturday thousands of tamils gathered this afternoon in the square, all dressed in black. they set up a memorial and placed flowers and candles to commemorate their dead and dying brothers and sisters. in a very moving ceremony, one by one, the thousands filed past a mock grave and a map of their tamil land fashioned out of flowers and candles. many cried as they placed their offerings after a two minute silence at 6pm this evening. the issue of <a href="http://london.indymedia.org.uk/articles/1452">tamil flags</a> rumbles on, with FIT photographing anyone who waves the red tamil homeland flag. in the US, in canada, and in australia, test cases have shown that the homeland flag is different from the tamil tiger emblem, and is not proscribed by law. here, the police are still intimidating those that wave it. even the ex-MP tony benn was photographed by forward intelligence teams as he sat with the tamil flag in his hand. he wasn't arrested though. meanwhile, a student told me his friends were held by police for six hours for flag-waving and then released after paying a fine! the legal plot thickens. i'm not aware of any fines for terrorism. more on this later. Friday superintendent wakely is quoted as saying that anyone seen waving the tamil flag will be arrested as they leave the square, and then banned "for ever". will someone please tell the colour-blind police what a tamil tigers flag looks like before they look silly in court. <a href="http://london.indymedia.org.uk/articles/1452">more on this story</a> today, there's been more protest theatre in the square, with a few hundred protestors around this afternoon. actors are recreating scenes from the war-zone, where currently more than a quarter of a million displaced tamil civilians are being held in so-called refugee camps, which more resemble concentration camps surrounded by soldiers and barbed wire and with very limited facilities. the sri lankan government has admitted that they are likely to be held in these conditions against their will for months if not years, and yet they do not allow any independent press or NGOs to see what is going on. there are many stories of children being separated from their families, and even abducted and dissappeared. in parliament square the FIT are still keeping an eye and trying to stop anyone waving the tamil flag, even though it is only the yellow tiger flag that is proscribed. news has emerged that yesterday a line of police with batons were used to intimidate flag-wavers, but the situation was defused by a group of tamil students.   Thursday 18:00 still small numbers of protestors this afternoon(maybe 150), but policing and harassment seems stepped up, with about a dozen forward intelligence (FIT) officers, and police photographers (despite today's <a href="http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/05/430745.html">ruling</a> against FIT). police were watching for people holding up the flag of the "proscribed" tamil tigers movement. some flags were held up near the front of the square, and later, as the students involved were leaving, they were arrested by police on suspicion of displaying the proscribed flags. in response, protestors moved towards the back of the square, and surrounded by a crowd, in defiance they displayed one, then another, then another and finally a fourth flag, while singing their natioanl anthem. a possible problem with the intimidation and arrests today, is that the flags held up were in fact the national tamil eelam (homeland) flag, which is similar to the tigers flag but has a red rather than yellow background, and so there is some doubt as to whether the arrests were lawful. under pressure from his supporters, and to focus media attention on tim martin, parameshwaran subramaniam has for the time being given up his hunger strike. tim martin continues to take water only. am tim martin (who was planning to spend a fourth day of his hunger strike outsdie the US embassy, has been told by police he is liable for arrest "for obstructing the highway, or for illegal protest". i think that's so much bullshit for a one-man hunger strike, but as he doesn't want to get side-tracked he has returned to parliament square to continue with his hunger strike there. today, there are a hundred or so tamils in attendance, and they are all weraing black. they have asked for three days of solidarity - please wear black for the 21st,22nd and 23rd in recognition of the tens of thousands dead and dying in sri lanka now. Wednesday 23:30 tonight there are a couple of hundred tamils in the square the international aid worker, tim martin (director of 'act now' lobbying group) has been on total hunger strike (no food no water) outside the US embassy since monday morning. act now are making four demands: <ol> <li>international monitors on the ground and satellite imaging effective immediately to verify the true number of casualties and the mop up process. (this is because reports are coming in of bulldozers digging holes for mass graves, and also bodies being burned)</li> <li>immediate free access to international media and international organisations throughout sri lanka</li> <li>emergency medical treatment for tens of thousands of civilians and POWs that are currently not in hospitals and are being held at checkpoints, schools and IDP camps.</li> <li>public investigation into vijay nambiar, the special envoy for the UN secretary general, as his brother satish nambiar is a paid consultant for the sri lankan government, which suggests a conflict of interest</li> </ol> tim martin has begun taking water tonight after learning from des brown, that david milliband will pass his demands on to president obama. meanwhile 27 year old student parameshwaran subramaniam, who completed 24 days of hunger strike last month, has begun a new hunger strike today too. 13:30 tamil numbers building up again with the square starting to fill up - sound system and protest theatre am police have now had huge sandbags brought in and sat them on wooden pallets resting on the stabilising legs of the barriers. they are keen to stop the tamils lifting the barriers and flooding the road en masse as they did on monday. meanwhile the hunger strike continues, and tamils are calling for international help, and the lifting of the ban on the tamil organisations. there are far fewer numbers in the square at the moment. Tuesday 23:55  calm tonight - jamcam back on - a hundred or so protestors - several in hunger strike tent on short solidarity fasts 16:00 - TSG police armed with batons have moved into place on the protestors' side of of the barriers. It is not clear if this unusual step is designed to provoke or just intimidate. 11:30 - Police snatch squad went into Tamil crowd and forcibly grabbed a couple of flags. The Tamils argued that if they were doing something wrong the police should arrest them, and they held up their hands for handcuffs. The police however simply seized the flags - saves on paperwork i suppose, but not entirely lawful. New reports in from last night too that an NUJ journalist was forcibly detained by police and prevented from filming their operation - link to <a href="http://jasonnparkinson.blogspot.com/2009/05/police-forcibly-detain-press.html">full story</a> 10:30 - It seems there were ten arrests last night, and reports of several casualties taken by ambulance to hospital - one with broken fingers, others have cuts and bruising. It also appears many of the injured simply went home, so full figures will probably never emerge. In a history-making moment, four portaloos have been delivered to the square - the first time that an on-going occupation has been given toilet facilities (normally reserved for workers, or dignitaries). 01:15 - Tamils are now contained back on the pavement areas of the Square. There are reports of several injuries - unclear how serious yet. No news on arrests either at this stage. Four lines of police all around protestors. Tamils very noisy chanting, but as always, peaceful. After the police action, many protestors left the area. Some wanting to go to the toilet, were not allowed back. others had simply had enough of the pushing and panic. 00:30 - Police have just launched an attack on the Tamils. Although they are not in riot gear (probably because the Tamils have shown over and over that they are peaceful and do not fight back!), large numbers of police are pushing the crowd from two sides, the Westminster bridge end and from Great George street. The crowd are panicking. People are getting crushed by the barriers. There is nowhere for them to go as police push from both sides. Reports of many injuries, and eye-witnesses say it is irresponsible action bound to lead to injury. Monday 23:15 - Area around Parliament still flooded with Tamil protestors. Massive numbers - biggest yet. Well over a thousand estimated. Despite this, the exit gates of Westminster are clear and there is no interference with MPs leaving the House. Tamils are noisy but peaceful. Police are fairly low-key considering. Most likely planning how to deal with such numbers overnight. Some street lamps are mysteriously off, so low light for cameras. Two bendy buses are stuck at the Westminster Bridge road by the big ben tower. In past actions, buses have been reversed out of the area. This time several Tamils have remained underneath the buses, and so they remain in place blocking the road further. 18:15 - Roads still fully occupied. Police not intervening yet. Flags being burnt outside Parliament. Police helicopter and large presence. Tamils calling out for people to bring them tents. No pictures from BBC jamcam - BBC have finally admitted that the camera gets used and switched off by police at certain times. 16:00 - Tamils were staging a mock funeral carrying stretcher boards with the 'dead' wrapped on them. Then suddenly, some used the boards to bridge the police barricades and hundreds of them spilt out onto the roads while police looked on helplessly. Some of the barricades were virtually lifted into the air and deposited like some weird modern art sculpture in the road. The protest has flooded the junction of Whitehall, the square, and Westminster Bridge road. At present, police are trying to assess the situation and things are calm. Photos courtesy <a href="http://peacestrike.org.uk">peacestrike.org</a> Other coverage: <ul> <li>report by <a href="http://jasonnparkinson.blogspot.com/2009/05/police-forcibly-detain-press.html">jason parkinson</a> on the NUJ photographer who was forcibly detained by police</li> <li>report and pics from mike wells at <a href="http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/05/430457.html">Indymedia UK </a></li> <li>pics from <a href="http://www.marcvallee.co.uk/blog/2009/05/tamil-protest-180509/">Marc Vallée</a></li> <li>video from the 15th, from <a href="http://current.com/items/90060244_london-tamil-protest-policing-questioned.htm">Jason Parkinson</a></li> <li>excellent pics from <a href="http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/05/430806.html">terence bunch</a> and more on the flags that aren't proscribed </li> <li>also from terence, an interview with aid worker hunger striker <a href="http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/05/430894.html">tim martin</a></li> </ul>

rikkiindymedia(At)gmail[dot]com

2009-05-18T15:27:12+00:00

1421

promoted

rikki

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At 16:00 this Monday afternoon (18th), Tamil protestors broke through the police barriers around Parliament Square and have once again blockaded Parliament. Traffic is being diverted away from the square. Although there were many police present, they were apparently taken off guard. See <a href="http://london.indymedia.org.uk/articles/1421">full article</a> for the timeline of events. Photos: [<a href="http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/05/430457.html">1</a>] Previous coverage: <a href="http://london.indymedia.org.uk/articles/1414">17 May</a> | <a href="http://london.indymedia.org.uk/articles/1407">15 May</a> |

Tamils Blockade Parliament Again

2009-10-18T05:14:37+00:00