The ‘Trials of the 1%’ have been scheduled to run at normal court hours between Thursday and Saturday, with the first date involving a pre-trial hearing focusing on alleged war crimes by the government of former Prime Minister Tony Blair in the Middle East – where the fallout of coalition military intervention is continuing to emerge, with recent footage showing U.S. troops appearing to desecrate the corpses of Taliban fighters.
The second date of court activity will involve hearings seeking to highlight the potential operation of UK courts under the proposed Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill. Hearings will attempt to explore the implications of the highly criticised bill for the likes of students and the homeless.
The week will close with with a trial calling in to question executives at Royal Bank of Scotland over allegations of fraud. This trial comes on the heels of news that the ailing bank is to axe 3,500 jobs – on top of the 30,000+ redundancies worldwide since the onset of the global financial crisis – whilst lining up global banking and markets CEO John Hourican to receive a potential £4.3m bonus package. The trial considers the ramifications of alleged fraud for RBS ‘shareholders’ – the taxpayers left with an 83pc stake in the bank after footing the bill of a £45bn bail-out.
Defendants have been invited to have their day in court with Occupy Justice, and trials have been orchestrated with input and proposed participation from established legal professionals and academics. It is hoped the trials will draw attention to the inability of the established court system to seek justice for these crimes.
By Mark Kauri
