STOP PRESS! Roger Waters Flies into London to Support Monday Launch of We Stand With Shaker Campaign

Music legend Roger Waters, Pink Floyd’s chief songwriter, flew into London this evening for the Monday lunchtime launch of We Stand With Shaker, a new campaign aimed at securing the release from Guantánamo of Shaker Aamer, the last British resident in the prison.

The launch is at 12.30 today (Monday November 24) in Old Palace Yard, opposite the Houses of Parliament, by the statue of King George V. Roger will be there at 12.15 to answer questions and to stand for photos with the giant inflatable figure of Shaker Aamer that is a key part of the campaign.

Below is a powerful and moving video of Roger reading out a letter from Shaker this summer, provided to him by Clive Stafford Smith, the director of Reprieve. Clive is also attending the launch, as well as John McDonnell MP (Labour, Hayes and Harlington), Caroline Lucas MP (Green, Brighton Pavilion), comedian Jeremy Hardy, myself, and others tbc.

Shaker Aamer from Roger Waters on Vimeo.

For further information about the launch, please see my recent article, “We Stand With Shaker: Come to the Launch in London on Monday Nov. 24 Calling for the Release of Shaker Aamer from Guantánamo.” Please also like and share us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter.

And please be ready to visit the We Stand With Shaker website, launching very soon, featuring a promo video for the campaign — of me and my band The Four Fathers performing ‘Song for Shaker Aamer’, the campaign song I wrote, as well as photos of celebrities standing with the giant inflatable figure of Shaker Aamer, and photos of supporters from around the world holding up signs that read, ‘I Stand With Shaker.’

Let’s Stand With Shaker, and bring his long and unjust imprisonment to an end. He was first told that the US no longer wanted to hold him seven years ago — and seven years ago the British government began asking for his return, and yet he is still held.

There must be more excuses. Free Shaker Aamer now, and bring him home to his family in London!

Contacts:

Joanne MacInnes, campaign co-ordinator, on 07867 553580.

Andy Worthington, campaign director, on 07985 695338.

Please send photos to the campaign email address.

Andy Worthington is a freelance investigative journalist, activist, author, photographer and film-maker. He is the co-founder of the “Close Guantánamo” campaign, and the author of The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison (published by Pluto Press, distributed by Macmillan in the US, and available from Amazon — click on the following for the US and the UK) and of two other books: Stonehenge: Celebration and Subversion and The Battle of the Beanfield. He is also the co-director (with Polly Nash) of the documentary film, “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo” (available on DVD here — or here for the US).

To receive new articles in your inbox, please subscribe to Andy’s RSS feed — and he can also be found on Facebook (and here), Twitter, Flickr and YouTube. Also see the six-part definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, and “The Complete Guantánamo Files,” an ongoing, 70-part, million-word series drawing on files released by WikiLeaks in April 2011. Also see the definitive Guantánamo habeas list, the full military commissions list, and the chronological list of all Andy’s articles.

Please also consider joining the “Close Guantánamo” campaign, and, if you appreciate Andy’s work, feel free to make a donation.