Sunday, July 03, 2005
Mind them terrorists! posted by Richard Seymour
The 120,000 strong protest in Edinburgh yesterday was somewhat occluded by the big Bono beanfeast in Hyde Park yesterday (well into this morning in fact - stragglers were cackling outside the pub opposite until about 5am). One thing that will not have been caught on camera is the fate of this group of protesters :Among them were three coach loads of people from Belfast who said they were held at Stranraer by police, photographed and had their bags searched.
Elsewhere, campaigners who took trains from Euston said they were not allowed to make the journey until officers had taken their pictures.
I can understand the suspicion about people who arrive from Euston station, but are the cops seriously worried that my fellow countrymen could turn out to be troublemakers? Why? What's the evidence? And who did they beat it out of?