UN warns of 'rapidly' deteriorating political, economic, security situation in Libya

'Youth do not see a future except to try to leave,' says deputy head of UN Support Mission in Libya, adding that it is 'not acceptable'

20/08/2024 Tuesday
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File photo

The deputy head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Stephanie Koury, on Tuesday issued a warning about the "rapidly" deteriorating situation in Libya over the past two months, saying "unilateral" actions have exacerbated tensions in the country.

Koury, who is currently acting UN envoy for Libya following Abdoulaye Bathily's resignation in April, briefed the UN Security Council on the situation in Libya.

"Over the past two months, the situation in Libya has deteriorated quite rapidly in terms of political, economic and security stability. Unilateral acts by Libyan political, military and security actors have increased tensions, further entrenched institutional and political divisions and complicated efforts for a negotiated solution," Koury told Security Council members.

She lauded the Libyan people's efforts to "move ahead" and said there is "a revived engagement of political parties, trade unions, civil society, independent figures, and others to coordinate and proactively advance constructive ideas for shaping the political process."

She also noted UNSMIL's efforts to help develop confidence-building measures to prevent unilateral actions and create a conducive environment for resuming the political process.

Emphasizing the Libyans' frustration with the status quo, expressing fear of war and clashes, Koury said: "Youth do not see a future except to try to leave."

"This is unacceptable," she stressed.

Libyan Ambassador to the UN Taher Al-Sunni criticized the UN Security Council for its lack of practical solutions and asked: "Who among us is responsible for protecting international peace and security?"

Emphasizing the need for free, transparent, and inclusive elections, as well as the establishment of a roadmap for the political process, the Libyan envoy said: "The international community has never allowed the Libyan people to take the reins of the process that actually will determine their fate."

He expressed Libya's determination to "cleanse" itself of foreign interference, saying, "The Libyan people want to be masters of their own destiny, and they refuse all foreign interference in Libyan affairs."

Iran rejects US allegations of election interference as 'unsubstantiated'

Iran's mission to UN calls on US administration to provide 'pertinent evidence' regarding their claims

 21/08/2024

 Wednesday
AA

File photo

Iran's permanent mission to the UN on Tuesday strongly denied recent allegations made by Washington accusing Tehran of interfering in the upcoming US presidential election.

"Such allegations are unsubstantiated and devoid of any standing," said the mission in a statement.

On Monday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in collaboration with other intelligence agencies, claimed that Iran was behind attempts to hack into the former US President Donald Trump and Joe Biden-Kamala Harris presidential campaigns.

The Iranian mission also challenged the US government to provide evidence to back up its accusations.

"Should the U.S. government genuinely believe in the validity of its claims, it should furnish us with the pertinent evidence—if any—to which we will respond accordingly," it said.

Emphasizing that it has no interest in meddling in US elections, Iran said: "As we have previously announced, the Islamic Republic of Iran harbors neither the intention nor the motive to interfere with the U.S. presidential election."

NYT:  New US nuclear strategy focuses on Chinese threat

 (DNC) in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. August 20, 2024. REUTERS/Craig Hudson© Thomson Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden approved in March a highly classified nuclear strategic plan that for the first time reoriented Washington's deterrent strategy on China's expansion of its nuclear arsenal, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.

The White House never announced that Biden had approved the revised strategy, titled the "Nuclear Employment Guidance," the newspaper reported. An unclassified notification to Congress of the revision is expected to be sent before Biden leaves office, the newspaper reported.

In recent speeches, two senior administration officials were allowed to allude to the strategy revision, the newspaper reported. The strategy is updated every four years or so, the newspaper added.

“This administration, like the four administrations before it, issued a Nuclear Posture Review and Nuclear Weapons Employment Planning Guidance,” said White House spokesperson Sean Savett.

“While the specific text of the Guidance is classified, its existence is in no way secret. The Guidance issued earlier this year is not a response to any single entity, country, nor threat.”

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Jasper Ward; editing by Rami Ayyub and David Gregorio)

Report: New US nuclear strategy focuses on Chinese threat

New York Times reports that Biden quietly approved a highly classified strategic nuclear plan for the US focusing more closely on China's rapid nuclear expansion.

Joe BidenREUTERS/Leah Millis

US President Joe Biden in March quietly approved a highly classified strategic nuclear plan for the United States, marking a significant shift in America's deterrent strategy by focusing more closely on China's rapid nuclear expansion, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.

According to the report, this adjustment comes as the Pentagon anticipates that China’s nuclear arsenal will match or even exceed the size and diversity of those held by the United States and Russia within the next decade.

The revised strategy, known as the "Nuclear Employment Guidance," was not publicly announced by the White House. This document, which is updated roughly every four years, also prepares the US for potential coordinated nuclear challenges from China, Russia, and North Korea, according to The New York Times.

The document is so classified that it exists only in a limited number of hard copies distributed among top national security officials and Pentagon commanders, with no electronic versions available, the report noted.

However, two senior administration officials have recently hinted at this strategic shift in carefully worded statements, ahead of a more detailed, unclassified briefing to Congress which is expected before Biden leaves office.

"The president recently issued updated nuclear-weapons employment guidance to account for multiple nuclear-armed adversaries," said Vipin Narang, an MIT nuclear strategist who served in the Pentagon, in a speech earlier this month, as quoted by The New York Times. He added that the guidance specifically addresses "the significant increase in the size and diversity" of China's nuclear arsenal.

Similarly, in June, Pranay Vaddi, the National Security Council’s senior director for arms control and nonproliferation, referenced the document. He highlighted that it is the first to thoroughly assess whether the US is prepared to handle nuclear crises that could erupt simultaneously or sequentially, using both nuclear and nonnuclear means.

The new strategy, Vaddi explained, underscores “the need to deter Russia, the PRC, and North Korea simultaneously,” using the acronym for the People's Republic of China.

So far, noted The Times, these new challenges to American nuclear strategy have not been a focal point in the presidential campaign. President Biden, who has spent much of his career advocating for nuclear nonproliferation, has not publicly discussed in detail how he is addressing the growing nuclear threats from China and North Korea. Nor has Vice President Kamala Harris, the current Democratic nominee.

In his last news conference in July, just days before announcing he would not seek the Democratic nomination for a second term, Biden acknowledged pursuing strategies to disrupt the broader China-Russia partnership.

"Yes, I do, but I’m not prepared to talk about the detail of it in public," he said. He did not reference, nor was he asked about, how this partnership is influencing American nuclear strategy.

UK journalist Richard Medhurst reportedly detained at Heathrow under 'Terrorism Act'

British journalist Richard Medhurst, known for his critical coverage of Israel's war on Gaza, was reportedly detained at Heathrow Airport.

The New Arab Staff
20 August, 2024


Medhurst's was reportedly arrested at London's Heathrow airport [Getty]


British independent journalist Richard Medhurst was detained last week at London's Heathrow Airport under the UK's Terrorism Act, allegedly over his journalism on the war on Gaza.

The Syria-born writer known for his critical coverage of Western foreign policy on the Middle East, said six officers apprehended him upon arriving to the airport in a video posted on X on Monday.

Medhurst said that he was interrogated for almost 24 hours, his phone was seized, and was prevented from contacting his family.

"I believe I'm the first journalist to be arrested under this provision of the Terrorism Act. I feel that this is a political persecution and hampers my ability to work as a journalist," he said in his post.

He said he was searched twice in ten minutes, during which his belongings, including journalism equipment, were held.


The New Arab cannot independently verify Medhurst's claims but has contacted the London Metropolitan Police for comment.

Medhurst, who is widely recognised for his work on issues related to Syria, Palestine, and US-UK military interventions, has been outspoken against Israel's brutal war 10-month-long in Gaza, which has killed over 40,000 people — mostly women and children.

"Those of us who, like myself, are speaking up and reporting on the situation in Palestine are being targeted," in reference to the fact that journalists covering sensitive issues, such as the ongoing Israeli genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, Medhurst said in the video.

Medhurst's alleged detention over his media work has sparked concerns over freedom of speech and the treatment of journalists in the UK.

Australian journalist Mary Kostakidis slammed the arrest, in a post on X, saying: "This is extraordinary. @richimedhurst arrested in his home country the UK for his work on Palestine. Terrorising .. with truth?"

S.L. Kanthan, a columnist and podcaster who over 140,000 followers on X, posted: "Brilliant and passionate journalist Richard Medhurst detained for 24 hours under the UK’s 'Terrorism Act'. All because he speaks on behalf of Palestinians in Gaza. Free-dumb of speech in the garden of Europe."

UK; Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) 

UN torture tsar calls on Starmer to review sentences of IPP prisoners trapped indefinitely behind bars


Dr Alice Jill Edwards says cases raised by The Independent highlight need for ‘urgent’ action to end ‘terrible indictment’ on UK justice system

Andy Gregory

20/08/24
IPP prisoner Yusuf Ali, now 50, has been driven to hunger strike as he loses hope of ever being freed (Jacqueline Ali )

The UN special rapporteur on torture has urged Sir Keir Starmer to review the cases of thousands of people trapped in prison indefinitely under Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences.

Dr Alice Jill Edwards appealed directly to the prime minister to end the injustice, criticising the scandal which has left thousands of people to “languish without hope” in prison as “a terrible indictment” of the UK’s justice system.

First introduced by Tony Blair’s government in 2005 to allow courts to hand offenders jail terms with a minimum length but no maximum time limit, IPP sentences were scrapped in 2012 over human rights concerns.

But some 2,734 people are still incarcerated under the abolished sentence as of June, down just 6 per cent on the previous year. An estimated 700 people have served at least 10 years longer than their minimum tariff.

This publication has highlighted numerous such cases, including those of Thomas White, who set himself alight after serving more than 12 years for stealing a mobile phone, and Abdullahi Suleman, who has spent nearly 20 years behind bars for a laptop robbery.

Shaun Lloyd recently expressed fears he could be hauled back to jail for the fourth time for stealing a phone almost 20 years ago, while Leighton Williams finally had his sentence quashed in May after serving more than 15 years in prison for a drunken fight at the age of 19.


Another tragic case highlighted by The Independent includes Yusuf Ali, who did not eat for 61 days as he lost hope of ever being freed. When he was handed the IPP sentence in 2008 for seriously injuring another prisoner, he was told he must serve a minimum of three years. But almost 16 years later, after five failed parole bids, he is still inside.

Abdullahi Suleman, 41, has been in custody for 15 of the last 19 years under an indefinite jail term as he battles mental health problems (Bernadette Emerson)

Dr Edwards said: “Many of the cases that The Independent has highlighted in recent months demonstrate why an urgent resentencing exercise must be undertaken for IPP prisoners without any further delay. At the least, a partial resentencing exercise that focuses on the least serious crimes should take place.

“Given the crimes many IPP prisoners were originally convicted for, it is beyond belief that more than 2,700 prisoners remain detained without a release date despite IPP sentences being abolished in 2012.

“The UK justice system is meant to be an exemplar of the rule of law – that so many individuals languish without hope is a terrible indictment of the system.”


Dr Edwards said Sir Keir’s past role as director of public prosecutions and justice secretary Shabana Mahmood’s career as a barrister make them “uniquely placed to understand and tackle this problem”, adding: “I hope that they will do this as a matter of urgency.”

With ministers bringing in desperate emergency measures to free up cells in full-to-bursting prisons, experts and rights groups have urged Sir Keir to set up a committee of experts to advise on resentencing all IPP prisoners, as first recommended by MPs on the Commons justice committee in 2022.

The previous government’s refusal to heed the cross-party committee’s calls on public safety grounds was criticised at the time as “misleading” by Dr Edwards, as official figures revealed that just 83 of the thousands of IPP prisoners released since 2012 had been convicted of a serious further offence.

Dr Alice Jill Edwards assumed the post of UN special rapporteur on torture in 2022 (UN Human Rights Council screengrab)

In remarks issued after the government initiated emergency “one in, one out” prison measures, codenamed Operation Early Dawn, Dr Edwards said she found it “extremely disappointing” that recent steps to ease overcrowding did not include IPP prisoners.

IPP sentences can cause severe distress, fear, depression and anxiety, including for inmates’ families, and may result in physical and psychological damage, including incidents of self-harm, suicide attempts and suicides, Dr Edwards said.

Pointing to the new Victims and Prisoners Act as providing measures which could help to start bringing IPP sentences to an end, Dr Edwards said: “I encourage the swift implementation of these measures and remain ready to support the authorities in any effort to finally end these sentences, while ensuring rehabilitation and access to adequate reparations for affected prisoners.”

But despite agreeing that the new act’s measures “should be implemented quickly in order to further reduce the risk of recalls to prison, which remain high”, former Tory justice secretary Sir Robert Buckland told The Independent: “The full re-sentencing of offenders, however, is not the right option.

“The vast majority of IPP prisoners were jailed for serious violent or sexual offences and a better option would be for more resources to be deployed on rehabilitation programmes that will lead to successful parole applications.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said Ms Mahmood “is committed to working with organisations and campaign groups to ensure the appropriate course of action is taken to support those still serving rightfully abolished IPP sentences”.

“We will carefully consider the points raised and respond in full in due course,” they added.

Osprey died of old age, post-mortem examination finds

Police Scotland confirmed on Tuesday that ‘no criminality had been established’ after the discovery of remains on May 3.

PA Media  Osprey LM12 who was found dead in May

PA Media
Posted inPerth and Kinross

An osprey found dead on a nature reserve died of old age, a post-mortem examination has confirmed.

Osprey LM12 was found dead in May, on the Loch of the Lowes Wildlife Reserve, near Dunkeld, Perth and Kinross, run by the Scottish Wildlife Trust.

Police Scotland confirmed on Tuesday that “no criminality had been established” after the discovery of the male bird’s remains on May 3.

A spokesperson said: “It is believed the protected species, which is thought to have been nesting at Loch of the Lowes, close to where it was found, died from natural causes.”

The bird was thought to be around 15 years old, and died of bleeding from stomach ulcers, with no traces of poison found.

It returned to the wildlife haven in March for his 13th breeding season, and raised 21 chicks.

For the past five years, it has bred with female osprey NC0, with whom it raised seven chicks. It had also found a new mate.

Sara Rasmussen, the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Perthshire ranger, said: “The post-mortem has revealed that the male osprey died of bleeding from stomach ulcers. There was no indication of lead or any other poisoning – evidently, old age played its part.

“We think he was at least 15 years old.

“This finding is a great relief to the Scottish Wildlife Trust, and I’m sure to our visitors, staff, volunteers and the thousands of people who tune into the Loch of the Lowes osprey webcam each week and have followed LM12 over the years.”

European Movement UK delivers 30,000+ signatures to new Prime Minister 

European Movement calls on the government to take concrete steps to reset the UK's relations with European leaders

byNorth East Bylines

 20-08-2024 17:07

in European News

Reading Time: 3 mins

European Movement presents petition

European Movement UK has presented the new Prime Minister with a petition signed by over 30,000 people, calling for immediate steps to rebuild the UK’s relationship with the European Union. 

This comes as recent polls show 59% of Britons now favour rejoining the EU, signalling a clear shift in public opinion on the UK’s relationship with the EU. 59% of Brits now support rejoining the EU 

The organisation is urging the new Prime Minister to capitalise on the momentum generated by the European Political Community Summit, calling on the new government to take concrete steps to reset the UK’s relations with European leaders. 

The petition, an open letter to Keir Starmer, outlines the key points of European Movement UK’s Manifesto on Europe, a blueprint for rebuilding UK-EU relations published during the general election campaign.  

European Movement’s manifesto

The four points of the Manifesto urge Starmer to: 

1. Promote a pragmatic foreign policy which has at its heart the UK working in much closer collaboration with all our European neighbours. 
2. Commission an independent ‘State of the Nation’ assessment of our future relations with Europe, with clear, objective analysis and recommendations to the Government as to how any improvements can be made, and proposing remedies for negative impacts Brexit is having on the UK economy and key cultural and societal sectors. 
3. Seek deeper agreements with the EU on shared issues from defence to food safety to fighting climate change, establishing a new working framework with the European Union. 
4. Put the rights of a generation hit hardest by Brexit first by opening negotiations with the European Union to restore the UK’s inclusion in Erasmus+ and accept the invitation to negotiate a bilateral youth mobility scheme. 

Handing-in the petition were representatives of European Movement UK, European Movement in Scotland, Wales for Europe and Young European Movement UK. 

A South London Council Is Firing Its Two Key Union Organisers, Before Making £25m of Cuts

Activists allege ‘union busting’ and ‘institutional racism’.

by Michael Chessum
20 August 2024

Justine Canady and Jay Kidd-Morton. Photo: Lewisham Unison

Lewisham, in south London, is a de-facto one-party state. Labour has won all but one of its 54 council seats for the past decade. The last time the party lost control, the Beatles had yet to release Abbey Road. The council is self-consciously progressive, emphasising co-production and community development. But despite cuts of £173m in the ten years to 2020, its main union branch, Unison, was notoriously placid and inactive.

Then, in the spring of 2023, a new generation of trade unionists took the helm. Justine Canady cut her teeth in the McStrike campaign and student activism. She had started working for the council in 2021, and brought together an alliance to rejuvenate the branch. “I think a lot of things came together at once,” she says. “It was the cost of living crisis and there was a national strike wave happening. Both because of that and because of their own personal situation, people were desperate to have an active union.”

At the age of 25, Canady became the youngest Unison branch secretary in the country. The new leadership quickly got results. Lewisham didn’t reach the 50% turnout threshold required to take part in strike action over pay (only two of Unison’s local government branches, Knowsley and Lambeth, did) but it did achieve one of the best ballot results in the country.

The branch turned its attention to organising low-paid migrant workers, especially cleaners and refuse workers, winning better in-house conditions and preventing cuts to overtime work. “It was slow progress,” Canady says, “but it was a start and we ended up with a team of activists and a branch committee that was much more representative of the diversity of the workforce”. In March this year, she was joined as joint-branch secretary by Jay Kidd-Morton, formerly the branch’s Black members’ officer.

A protest outside Lewisham council. Photo: Michael Chessum

Local government was once the cutting edge of progressive politics. Long before the Daily Mail complained of the “woke mob” and Tory “common sense minister” and GB News presenter Esther McVey banned civil servants from wearing rainbow lanyards, the Tory press marked out the Greater London Council as the home of the “loony left” over its support for gay rights and innovations in democratic community politics. The rate-capping rebellions of the late 1980s and the Poplar Rebellion of 1921 were the product of local administrations that were deeply rooted and, as a result, politically ambitious and antagonistic towards the status quo.

Since the 1980s, however, changes to the Labour party’s rules have meant a much tighter central grip on the councillor selection process. Meanwhile, the decline of the wider labour movement has pushed many once-powerful trade union branches into disrepair. Then came austerity. Between 2010 and 2024, council funding per capita fell by 18%, with many areas experiencing more than double that. Now, with a change of government at Westminster, a new generation of trade unionists should be capable of turning the tide – but not without a fight.

On 21 June, things started to get messy for Canady and Kidd-Morton. Lewisham council staff received an email from chief executive Jennifer Daothong informing them that, because of overspending, the council would be making £25m of cuts. Children’s services and adult social care are expected to be the hardest hit, though council leaders have yet to set out exactly where the axe will fall.

Shortly after the cuts were announced, the council moved against both of the union’s branch secretaries. In May, Canady had been summoned to a meeting and informed that her substantive post, a communications role in fostering recruitment, was being deleted. As she was on full-time release for union activities, Lewisham clarified that she could stay on as branch secretary, as had been the case with her predecessor. Managers also agreed to postpone the issuing of any redundancy notice until March 2025.

But in July, management suddenly u-turned, insisting that the deletion of her post would remove her from the council entirely. “It completely changed,” Canady says. “One minute they were reassuring me and then suddenly they’re asking how quickly Unison could hold a meeting to elect my replacement”. Lewisham served her formal notice of redundancy on 29 July. As things stand, she will be unemployed on 10 September.

At around the same time, Jay Kidd-Morton and her colleagues in the legal department were set to return to work. In an overwhelmingly white department, her team is predominantly Black and Asian. They are legally trained but do not have practising certificates, and so must have their work supervised by a ‘principal’ lawyer. In November 2023, they were put on special leave when it emerged that their work had gone unsupervised for around two years. An investigation, which ended in April 2024, concluded that the workers had done nothing wrong, effectively placing the blame for the situation with the council. But when the team of lawyers arrived at their ‘return to work arrangements’ meeting on 9 July, managers read them a script informing them that they would be dismissed.

A spokesperson for Lewisham council said: “As a council we have strong and valued relationships with our unions and work constructively with them to ensure our staff have access to union representation. We also have a responsibility to provide value for money for our residents and to ensure that our staff and structures are fit for purpose and delivering high-quality services.

“We cannot comment on specific employment issues but can confirm we are following our normal HR processes, as we would for any member of staff in similar circumstances. In the meantime, we are in active dialogue and discussions with Unison to ensure it can continue its important role in supporting our staff.”

When asked directly, Lewisham declined to comment on why, in contrast to previous precedent, it is insisting that union reps on full-time release cannot remain in post if their original jobs are deleted. It also declined to comment on why and when it had changed its position on the use of lawyers without practising certificates. Perhaps its decision to dismiss both Justine Canady and Jay Kidd-Morton is coincidental and unrelated to their trade union work, or to the £25m of cuts announced around the same time.

Either way, Lewisham’s roughly 3,000 employees could now be left without a functioning Unison branch just as a major round of cuts gets underway. For many of them, recent events have been a spur to action. Regular demonstrations have congregated outside Lewisham town hall for a number of weeks, and earlier this month Lewisham Unison voted to move towards a ballot for strike action. “You think you’re safe in a Labour council to have an open union membership and be an activist,” says Canady. “A lot of people have been shocked by what’s happening, and new people get involved or indicate their support pretty much every day.”

All bosses seem invincible until suddenly they aren’t. Many of them are tempted by the idea that active trade unionism is an anachronism, and that people like Canady and Kidd-Morton are ghosts from another era. But, like many of the self-professed modernisers in public life, they may soon find that it is they who are swimming against the historical tide.


Michael Chessum is a socialist activist and writer based in London.

Are the majority of British people ‘settled’ on leaving the ECHR?

20 August 2024

What was claimed

A majority of the British public are settled on leaving the ECHR.

Our verdict

It was reported last year that a poll found that a majority of people were in favour of leaving the ECHR, but the poll in question didn’t explicitly ask about the Convention. Recent polls which directly asked about the ECHR found a small majority of respondents said the UK should remain a member.

“She’s [Priti Patel MP] proud of her record of emboldening mass immigration between 2021 until now, and she won’t even leave the ECHR. These are things about which actually the majority of the British people, I think, are settled”.

Richard Tice MP, 18 August 2024.

During an interview on GB News on 18 August Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice MP suggested he thought “the majority of the British people” were “settled” on leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The ECHR is an international agreement that has been in force since 1953 and is overseen by the European Court of Human Rights. All European countries, with the exception of Belarus and Russia, are members of the Convention.

We’ve asked Mr Tice what his comments were based on. 

Last year it was reported that a poll found that a majority of people were in favour of leaving the ECHR.

However, it’s worth noting that the poll, which was conducted by Whitestone Insights on behalf of the New Conservatives (a parliamentary group of Conservative MPs), did not explicitly reference the ECHR.

Instead, respondents were asked to what extent they’d support a policy to “replace the current European system of human rights laws applied in Britain with new British laws that protect rights like free speech but enable the Government to promptly deport illegal migrants”.

30% of respondents answered “support strongly”, with a further 24% answering “tend to support”, for a combined 54% of respondents who expressed support for this policy.

But a number of polls conducted by YouGov which did directly ask about the ECHR found that a majority of respondents were not in favour of leaving the Convention.

In June this year, a poll found that 54% of respondents said the UK “should remain a member” of the ECHR, while a poll in November 2023 found 51% of respondents said the UK should remain a member.

We’ve written in the past about why the way survey questions are phrased can impact poll results.

• By Hannah Smith

UK
Pro-Palestinian activists jailed over weapons equipment factory protest
Getty Images
A group of activists set off smoke bombs during the protest

BBC

Five pro-Palestinian protesters who caused more than £1m of damage to a weapons equipment factory in Glasgow have been jailed.

The group scaled a roof, unfurled banners and set off pyrotechnics at the Thales UK building in Govan on 1 June 2022.

Two of them entered the building itself and a smoke bomb was thrown into an area where staff were being evacuated, Glasgow Sheriff Court was told.

Stuart Bretherton, 25, Eva Simmons, 25, Calum Lacy, 23, Erica Hygate, 23 received 12-month sentences, while Sumaya Javaid, 22, was jailed for 14 months.

Getty Images
Some protesters managed to scale the roof of the Thales building


There were shouts of "free Palestine" and "you are preventing genocide" by supporters in the public gallery as the five were led into custody.

The French firm Thales manufactures a wide range of military equipment including drone components.

It has often been targeted by activists because it has partnerships with Israeli companies, although it denies it supplies the Israeli military.

Sheriff John McCormick said the group had been spotted at the site early in the morning, dressed in red overalls, as they scaled the security fence.

They made it onto the roof of the main building where they unfurled banners and flags, as more protesters gathered outside.

"Miss Hygate and Miss Javaid entered the building through the roof and caused damage including to parts essential to submarines," the sheriff said.

"Fire alarms were activated which caused an evacuation and confusion as well as panic among staff.

"You set off pyrotechnics and smoke bombs - some thrown in the area where staff where evacuated. The smoke was dangerously close to the members of staff."

Some protesters remained on the roof overnight and glued their hands to the building to prevent police removing them.

The damage was estimated at £1,130,783 and the site was shut due to safety concerns.

The sheriff said the figure did not include the cost the public purse of the police operation which involved more than 20 officers.

He said everyone had a right to lawful protest but he disputed a claim in a background report that the group's actions were "non-violent".

"Throwing pyrotechnics at areas where people are being evacuated to cannot be described as non violent," he said.

Bretherton, of Kilmacolm, Simmons, of London, Lacy of Edinburgh, Hygate and Javaid - both from Birmingham - admitted conducting themselves in a disorderly manner.

Hygate and Javaid admitted malicious mischief charges, while Javaid also pled guilty to behaving in a threatening or abusive manner.

Pro-Palestinian protesters jailed for £1m damage at weapons factory

The five protesters scaled the Thales UK building in Govan and unfurled banners and erected flags in the incident in 2022.

Palestine Action ScotlandThe group have been jailed for five years and two months.

STV News
Glasgow City


A group of Pro-Palestinian protesters who caused over £1m of damages at a weapons factory have been jailed for a total of five years and two months.

Stuart Bretherton, 25, Eva Simmons, 25, Calum Lacy, 23, Erica Hygate, 23 and Sumaya Javaid, 22, scaled the Thales UK building in Govan on June 1, 2022.

The five protesters remained on the roof, unfurled banners and erected flags as well as ignited pyrotechnics.

The building had its fire alarm activated after Hygate and Javaid entered which prompted an evacuation.

Palestine Action Scotland

A smoke bomb was thrown into the area staff were being evacuated to which caused panic.

Two of the protesters remained at the building overnight and glued themselves to the roof after refusing to engage with police.

A total of £1,130,783 of damage was caused and the premises were shut due to safety concerns.

Bretherton, of Kilmacolm, Inverclyde, Simmons, of London, Lacy of Edinburgh as well as Hygate and Javaid of Birmingham, pled guilty to conducting themselves in a disorderly manner.

Hygate further admitted at Glasgow Sheriff Court to malicious mischief while Javaid separately pled to malicious mischief and behaving in a threatening or abusive manner.

Palestine Action Scotland

All bar Javaid received 12-month sentences while she was jailed for 14 months.

Sheriff John McCormick said: “At 6.25am, police saw you in the perimeter dressed in orange or red overalls, some had rucksacks and balaclavas.

“Police saw you quickly scale the fence using ladders which you discarded.

“You were confined to the roof of the main building, you attempted to climb on a derelict water tower and beckoned others.

“You unfurled banners and unveiled flags. Palestinian protesters gathered adjacent to the site and showed support for you.

“Multiple police resources arrived and were positioned around the building.

“Ms Hygate and Ms Javaid entered the building through the roof and caused damage including to parts essential to submarines.

“Fire alarms were activated which caused an evacuation and confusion as well as panic among staff.

“You set off pyrotechnics and smoke bombs – some thrown in the area where staff where evacuated.

“The smoke was dangerously close to the members of staff.

“Mr Bretheron, Ms Simmons and Mr Lacy were seen to move back and forth on the rooftop. They were seen to gather their belongings and stated their intention was to climb down a ladder.

“Ms Hygate and Ms Javaid of you refused to desist and remained overnight after refusing to engage with a police liaison.

“You glued your hands to the edge of the roof and remained there until officers were able to take your hands away.

“Ms Javaid was obstructive and required leg restraints.

“The court has to have regard to the major impact this had – the impact on employees as well as police and emergency services resources.

“A total of 20 constables, one inspector and two sergeants were there over two days or four shifts.

“The premises were shut due to safety concerns and disrupting business activities which included matters of nationwide security.

“The damage caused cost £1,130,783 which does not include the cost to the public purse, police or emergency service personnel.”

The sheriff stated that in one background report, one of the protesters claimed that their actions were non-violent.

He responded: “Throwing pyrotechnics at areas where people are being evacuated to cannot be described as non-violent.”

The sheriff told all five that they were “young and intelligent” and that everyone had the right to lawful protest.

However, Sheriff McCormick added: “You expressed a high level of regret to your actions and I give weight to that.

“Due to the gravity and the consequences, there is no suitable alternative to custody.”

Five Palestine Action activists jailed for occupying weapons factory

By

 5Pillars (RMS)

 -

20th August 2024

Five activists from Palestine Action Scotland have been jailed after they occupied a weapons factory owned by a French firm which has partnerships with Israeli weapons manufacturers.

Stuart Bretherton and Eva Simmons, both 25, Calum Lacy, 23, Erica Hygate, 23 and Sumaya Javaid, 22, scaled the Thales UK building in Govan, Glasgow, on June 1, 2022.

The five occupied the roof of the arms maker and dropped banners to disrupt production. Two of them also damaged weaponry inside the building. In total, they cost Thales’ over £1million in losses.

The activists pled guilty to conducting themselves in a disorderly manner.

Hygate further admitted at Glasgow Sheriff Court to malicious mischief while Javaid separately pled guilty to malicious mischief and behaving in a threatening or abusive manner.

Three who were convicted of breach of the peace were given 12 month custodial sentences, whereas two who were convicted of breach of the peace and malicious mischief were given 14 months and 16 months custodial sentences.

They are expected to serve half of their sentences in prison.

The judge stated the aim of the sentences was to deter further activism against weapons companies in Scotland.

Thales is one of the world’s largest arms companies – producing armoured vehicles, missile systems and military UAVs (drones). According to Palestine Action, Thales works in partnership with Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons company, to produce military drones in their joint owned factory in Leicester called UAV Tactical Systems.

Sheriff John McCormick said: “The court has to have regard to the major impact this had – the impact on employees as well as police and emergency services resources. A total of 20 constables, one inspector and two sergeants were there over two days or four shifts.

“The premises were shut due to safety concerns and disrupting business activities which included matters of nationwide security. The damage caused cost £1,130,783 which does not include the cost to the public purse, police or emergency service personnel.”

There are now 16 Palestine Action activists in prison, detained for what they say is “taking action against complicity with colonialism and genocide.”

A Palestine Action spokesperson said: “Imprisoning activists for taking action against Scotland’s arms trade with Israel only serves to protect companies enabling genocide. Such sentences will urge more people to acknowledge Scottish complicity with the ongoing Gaza genocide and motivate them to take action against it. It is those who arm the massacres of the Palestinian people who are guilty, not those who take action to stop them.”

Thales denies supporting the Israeli military.