TSN welcome High Court ruling against Essex police
The Traveller Solidarity Network welcomes the High Court ruling throwing out Essex police’s production order for footage of the Dale Farm eviction. The worrying upsurge in these ‘orders’, where police forces seize journalist’s footage of protests, has at least been checked by today’s ruling.
We in particular credit freelance journalist Jason Parkinson, who fought Essex police’s attempts to undermine his profession throughout the legal process. As Jason said on hearing the decision, “This ruling sends a very clear message to all police forces that these wide-ranging fishing trips will not be accepted by the UK courts and that we will not be forced into the role of unwilling agents of the state. We are not there as evidence gatherers to fill police intelligence databases with hours of material on activists or protestors. We are journalists and we are there to report the news and keep the public informed.”
The forced eviction at Dale Farm was brutal and made 83 families homeless. Footage of the everyday struggles of the families left homeless, on the roadside and with limited water and electricity by this violent eviction is readily available. This footage shows the real violence of the Dale Farm eviction.
