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And Justice For… All?

This week, following the 3-month anniversary of the emergence of Occupy London, the former Old Street Magistrates Court in Hackney is playing host to a series of hearings and trials of corporate bodies, proposed legislation and individuals alleged to be behind some of the most heinous and unobserved crimes of our time. The Occupy Justice team launched three days of proceedings in this ‘court of public opinion’ with an exhibition at the courthouse featuring audio-visual media drawn from witness statements, commentary and other items of evidence relating to the alleged crimes – which have, to date, escaped investigation in any other court. The exhibition focuses on the links between justice, politics and protest, and will remain open to the public whilst the trials are underway.

 

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

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