very quickly about the police and what happened to me last night. It wont make sense as i injured my head very badly I was at a protest. A peaceful demonstration about the cruelty of foie gras outside a hotel. I held a banner and handed out leaflets. I was always polite. We made very little noise 6 police cars turned up with their sirens on, and the policemen told us there had been a 999 call about us. We were all (only about 5 of us) arrested. I banged my head very badly on the top of the cop car. They were very rude to me and were making jokes about me losing my job as a nursery nurse because of this and MALE staff went through my belongings and searched me. They did not listen when i tried to inform them of my mild claustrophobia or that i have a heart murmur, which a doctor should know about in case of emergency. They mocked me for being vegan I was kept in the tiniest cell, a little corner one, from about 8.30pm until 5am. There were no blankets and they refused when i asked, even though it was extremely cold. The bench was too hard to sleep on. My fiancé was put in a cell very far away, and this was the first night we hadnt spent together in about a year and a half Eventually CCTV showed our complete innocence (which was blatant anyway) and we were set free, after a lot more taunts and with only half our belongings Im so, so disappointed It feels better now ive typed it. Thanx
Wow, I'm so sorry to hear that Maxi, I hope you're ok On what grounds did they arrest you? They need to have reasonable grounds for suspecting that you are guilty of an offence before they can arrest you. Perhaps worth following this up, maybe with the CAB?
Fucking hell, glad you're back home though dudette but sounds like you had it rough =/ possibly file a complaint or something like lithium said /\
well can you go back and continue the protest ,if you can do so and if you can get someone to film the police that isnt part of the protest where was the protest?
Just one hotel, like why exactly would you want to do that ? There must be plenty of other opportunities to pass out leaflets other than in a situation that begs confrontation. Sorry you got badly treated it couldn't of been nice for you. Try and save whales its safer. Am I being naieve or stupid here ?
You can debate the choice of location and efficacy of the protest but that's an entirely different issue from the way the police seem to have treated these protestors. Everyone has a lawful right to protest peacefully and not be arrested on the basis of a complaint. It sounds like there was no offence committed, no likelihood of offences being committed, and that this was obviously an entirely peaceful demonstration, in which case I would say there may even be grounds to file a complaint for wrongful arrest. A night in the cells for a peaceful demo? There's something very wrong with that.
Oh yes I agree they should investigate the possibility of wrongful arrest, I just try not to repeat what someone else has already said, just echos so you know. That aside it does also sound like they aren't the brightest bunch so I thought a bit of friendly advice was necessary, sorry to upset you Jon.
