Fwd: Catholic Workers Arrested by "Sergeant at Arms" for"Contempt of Parliament"

[Gary MacLennan <g.maclennan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Comrades,

My good friend Ciaron continues on the Via Dolorosa.

regards

Gary

>Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2001 22:26:09 +0000
>From: "Ciaron O'Reilly" <ciaronx@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: Catholic Workers Arrested by "Sergeant at Arms" for
>  "Contempt of Parliament"
>To: plowshares@xxxxxxxxxxx
>X-Originating-IP: [62.64.161.62]
>X-OriginalArrivalTime: 16 Jan 2001 22:26:10.0948 (UTC)
>  FILETIME=[540C9440:01C0800B]
>X-UIDL: 095193788d93e97841ea6701d90de1bd
>
>Two members of the London Catholic Worker community were arrested on the
>tenth anniversary of the Gulf War for "contempt of British
>parliament".  Scott Albrecht and Ciaron O'Reilly found themselves in a
>legal feudal time warp after taking their resistance to the ongoing war on
>the children of Iraq into the grounds of British Parliament.  O'Reilly who
>served 13 months in U.S. prisons for his part in the disarmament of a B-52
>Bomber during the Gulf War, jumped 15 feet into the "moat" area
>surrounding parliament.  With his back to a statue of celebrated
>kid-killer Oliver Cromwell, O'Reilly held a photograph of a dying Iraqi
>child and knelt in prayer.  He spoke to a growing crowd of tourists,
>police and passers-by looking down on the scene from the street.  When
>approached by four policemen, O'Reilly refused to move and was carried
>into the parliament police station.
>
>Meanwhile, Scott Albrecht ran through the car park gates into the
>parliamentary grounds to protest the sanctions that have claimed the lives
>of over a million Iraqi children.  Albrecht, a school chaplain, is a
>former member of the US Air Force.  He was tackled to the ground and
>sustained injury to elbow,arm and wrist.  Before being taken by police to
>a nearby hospital, Albrecht along with O'Reilly was informed that they had
>been arrested by the "sergeant of arms" representing the Speaker of the
>House.  They would be held indefinitely and did not enjoy the usual rights
>afforded someone charged with an offence.
>
>Outside parliament a crowd of 200 people called together by the
>anti-sanctions "Voices in the Wilderness" marched on  parliament.  Fifteen
>people were arrested and charged with "obstruction of a highway" by an
>overwhelming number of police who coralled the demonstration.
>
>Sctt Albrecht and Ciaron O'Reilly were released without charge.  Further
>information contact Scott ph. 01727-844039
><mailto:mariascott2000@xxxxxxxxxxx>mailto:mariascott2000@xxxxxxxxxxx
>
>The fifteen Voices folks have their initial court appearance in London on
>Feb. 19th.  More info. ph. 01865-243232
><mailto:voices@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>voices@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
>----------
>Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at
><http://www.hotmail.com>http://www.hotmail.com.