Support the Stansted 15: When solidarity becomes a terrorist-related offence liberty and democracy die

Last March, 15 activists chained themselves around an aircraft that was being used by British authorities to deport asylum seekers from Stansted Airport, many of whom had legitimate reasons to fear for their lives if returned to countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan. While at first the Stansted 15 were charged with aggravated trespass, the charges were soon upgraded to terrorism-related offences. This is OUTRAGEOUS. It heralds a brutal turn in Western democracies as demonstrators, conscientious objectors to deportations, defenders of the right to life of the persecuted are treated as terrorists.

This is the moment for people of a genuinely liberal conscience to take a stand. As the court case unfolds in Chelmsford, Essex, it is imperative that the Stansted 15 receive maximal solidarity for those who understand that their prosecution is the harbinger of hideous attacks on what are meant to be open, democratic societies.

Eddy Thacker is one of the Stansted 15. Below you can read his recent letter to us all.

Dear friends and family,

This Monday at Chelmsford Crown Court the trial begins of 15 people, of which I am one, who in March 2017 blocked a secretive government night flight from Stansted airport, due to deport 57 people to Nigeria and Ghana.

The flight we stopped was one of a regular series of secretive night-time flights chartered by the government at great expense to send people to countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Pakistan and until recently Afghanistan. Thousands of people are deported on these specially chartered flights each year, often to countries where they have few, if any, links having lived in cities like Manchester, Birmingham and London for decades. Many face serious harm, even death – having fled persecution and sought asylum in the UK. Before taking action we read testimonies of individuals who would have been forced on the flight we stopped, who faced violence and potential death upon arrival.

A replacement flight took off from Stansted airport two nights after the flight we blocked with only 23 people on board meaning that 34 people have been able to continue appeals for the right to remain in the UK.

Represented by a team of lawyers including Dexter Dias QC, who led the inquiry into the death of Cherry Groce (who was shot and killed by the police sparking the Brixton Riots in 85), we 15 will plead not guilty to the charge of ‘endangering an airport’ under the 1990 Aviation and Maritime Security Act. This is the first time campaigners have been charged with this terror-related offence, passed in 1990 in response to the Lockerbie bombing. An unprecedented use of the legislation, if found guilty we could face a prison sentence. The maximum sentence is life imprisonment.

Anyone is welcome throughout the trial to sit in the public gallery – there’s an online rota here. The trial is scheduled to last 4-6 weeks, days will usually be 10am – 4pm. We will not be in court on Tuesday or Wednesday this coming week, but we will return on Thursday. We sit Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday of week commencing 26th March (ie 26.27,28 March) but not Thursday or Friday. The Trial is due to last 6 weeks – that means the end date is approximately the 11th May.

We’re renting a house for the entirety of the trial for supporters, so if you’d like to stay over night there’ll be space. Us defendants are being hosted by a lovely group of Chelmsford locals driven by faith, justice and love.

Eddy

AND HERE ARE SOME ARTICLES OFFERING DETAILS AND ANALYSIS:

A signed letter printed in the Guardian

Caroline Lucas in the Independent

Vice

Open Democracy, for an in depth exploration

Novara Media