Justice said the ban on the protest movement in the British capital, which it wanted to disrupt in mid-October, was "illegal".
The ecologist movement Extinction Rebellion won on Wednesday, November 6, a trial in the British High Court against the London police, which had banned any demonstration from 14 to 18 October because of disturbances caused by his "Autumn uprising".
The police had banned any London gathering of more than two people linked to the series of action-shocks, titled Autumn Uprising (autumn uprising), launched on October 7 by the environmental movement. XR intended, as part of this mobilization, to disrupt the functioning of the British capital and other major cities around the world to denounce the inaction of governments against the climate crisis. In London, the group targeted government services and London City Airport, successfully cordoning off areas of Parliament and the Bank of England.
London police "disappointed"
But two judges ruled that the ban on these demonstrations was "Illegal"under section 14 of the Public Order Act, on which the police relied. "These gatherings, geographically and temporally distinct, can not be considered as a single public event according to the law, even if they are under the aegis of the same entity", explained Judge Dingemans, recalling that Article 14 does not prohibit "Separate gatherings".
"Extinction Rebellion is pleased with the decision of the Court"said in a statement a lawyer who is a member of the environmental movement's legal team, Tobias Garnett, "It confirms that the general prohibition of our gatherings constituted an unprecedented and illegal attack on the right to demonstrate". However, the judges also felt that other articles of the law and order law could be used to "Control of future events deliberately designed to "bring police resources to breaking point" ", one of the stated goals of XR.
London police said to themselves "Disappointed" of that judgment, finding that his decision was "Reasonable and moderate" It front of "Serious disturbances" generated in the capital in early October and the fatigue of its agents due to "The huge, continuous effort". A total of 1,828 people linked to the London protest movement were arrested in 10 days, the police said, and 165 people have since been indicted.
