Sarah Wilkinson has shared a video on Twitter, explaining that all but one of the draconian bail conditions imposed on her by Shrewsbury police have been dropped.
If you somehow missed the story, Sarah is a journalist who was raided by British counter-terrorism police because they didn’t like her tweets highlighting the genocidal actions of Israel, and they didn’t like her work with a charity that gets drinking water to Palestinians. The police raid was a disgraceful, and probably illegal, abuse of power. You can read more about Sarah’s story here and here.
The one bail condition that remains in place is that Sarah can never tweet about Palestinian resistance. Resistance can mean many things and certainly does not have to mean violence, but it seems that does not matter. Sarah is not allowed to use that word, however, she is now allowed to use a phone and access the internet, but she will never get her devices back.
Even though Sarah has broken no law and the case will almost certainly not go to court, police have stolen her possessions. Sarah’s house was trashed so badly she has only managed to clean one room out of seven. Thankfully, she has located her bank card which police had spitefully hidden in the attic. Sarah says she has found all sorts of items that were deliberately hidden in places you would never look.
Sarah explained the details on the warrant were incorrect with the time of the arrest and the time police left her home wrong by several hours. It seems police know the entire process was not handled correctly and that if the case went to court, it would be thrown out.
Remember how police stole Sarah’s passport and £200 cash, and then ordered her to hand her passport into the local police station in seven days or face a five-year prison sentence? Well, one day before Sarah was due to visit the police station, they confessed they had the passport all along and would “investigate” the missing £200. It really seems like they were playing with Sarah, trying to scare the life out of her and others.
Sarah has now been told she will get her passport back. If I was in her position, I would be tempted to leave the country because who wants to go through life, knowing police are spying on you for doing the right thing? Sarah has been told all of her tweets will be monitored going forwards. I suspect police do this with every pro-Palestinian influencer, but just think how Stasi-esque this is: the idea you’ve done nothing wrong but police are monitoring everything you post, just in case you do do something wrong.
You can guarantee police are not monitoring supporters of Israel’s genocide or intimidating them and their supporters. Let the history books note that when a genocide was taking place, British police tried to silence the people who were trying to stop the genocide.
It’s scary to think that if not for Sarah’s interview with Crispin Flintoff last week, and the ensuing public support, police might have jailed Sarah on Friday for not handing in her passport. She really might have received an automatic five-year prison sentence, due to entrapment.
While this is all very bleak, one heart-warming aspect of the story is that people have knocked on Sarah’s door and sent her letters to wish her well. If I lived in Sarah’s area, I would certainly be tempted to pay her a visit and let her know how much we care. Amazingly, Sarah said some of the letters she received had no address, just her name, and the postal service somehow figured out where she lives. (If anyone doesn’t know, the postal service will always try to deliver a letter, even with minimal information, and this is what they’ve done here.)
From the police’s point of view, this whole farce has been a PR disaster. It was not just a failed phishing exercise, it was an intimidation effort intended to have a chilling effect on Palestinian solidarity, but it has had the opposite effect. It has motivated people to rally together and refuse to be intimidated. It has motivated people to call out authoritarianism. The last working-class hero in England.
Clio the cat, ? July 1997 - 1 May 2016 Kira the cat, ? ? 2010 - 3 August 2018 Jasper the Ruffian cat ? ? ? - 4 November 2021
Great video on website. Reminds me of the raids in Derry during internment.
Good news, though a truly just outcome would require the dropping of the investigation and bail conditions, compensation, destruction of all records taken from her, returning of her property, public apologies, a change in anti-terror laws, proper scrutiny of abuses (including on everyday muslims who have been the main target since the laws were introduced, see https://www.cage.ngo/ ) and lasting career consequences for all those involved in this travesty.
Agree that it shows the power of public outrage, even when the msm have completely ignored the story and sought to monster everyone involved in pro-Palestine activism.Tell your story; Ask a question; Interpret generously http://storybythethroat.wordpress.com/tell-ask-listen/
on September 9, 2024, 8:52 am