Photo not by us. Taken from gypsyofthesky on Flickr.
The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) recently released their annual report for HMP Norwich, which looks at the state of the prison and areas that need improving for the welfare of prisoners and prison staff.
Yesterday a group of us headed to Britannia Cafe – described as a “social enterprise staffed by low risk prisoners”. With both a view of the prison and a view over Norwich, we did a banner drop from the tour bus: SMASH IPP, SET THEM FREE.
Following the statement to the press from Sgt Mark Shepherd regarding a ‘weekend blitz’ on aggressive begging, we sadly witnessed Norfolk Constabulary’s tactics in regards to this in full force last night. We arrived at the Haymarket area which was already under direct surveillance, with a line of posturing PCSOs overlooking our proceedings – they had been present for over an hour before our volunteers arrived.
Click here to read more from The People’s Picnic.
Police doing what they do best: intimidating and roughing up the most vulnerable sectors of society.
In Norfolk PCC Lorne Green’s recent Police and Crime Plan he states that he has laid out seven core principles for policing in the county that include “support victims and reduce vulnerability” and “good stewardship of taxpayers’ money”. That was in March. Last night we see over a dozen police officers attempting to intimidate a project that works with some of the most vulnerable people in the city, a project that has no previous instances of criminal behaviour or activity.
Is Lorne Green so shit at his job that is took just four months for him to forget about helping the vulnerable and not wasting taxpayers’ money? Or are the local coppers just slow readers and haven’t reached page seven yet?
Or… was it all a load of guff in the first place?
ACAB
We will be undertaking a number of actions between 9th and 23rd July in response to Smash IPP’s callout for action for and solidarity with IPP prisoners. This will include things such as letter writing and flyering as well as participating in a prison noise demo. More details will be confirmed over the coming weeks. For ease of reference, we’ll be using the hashtag #smashippnorfolk for everything related to this fortnight.
Smash IPP have called for a fortnight of action in July. We’ll be doing our part to support this in Norwich and Norfolk.
If you’d like to join us in our plans, or if you’d like support with your own plans, then please contact us. We’d recommend sending an email using PGP encryption (our key can be found here).
Stay tuned for more updates.
A friend of ours was part of the 14 arrested and charged for grounding the mass deportation flight on March 29th at Stanstead. Solidarity to the lot of them!
No support fund has been started yet but that may change depending on the outcome of their court appearance. We will remain updated.
For more information please visit Stop Charter Flights.
Today alongside Anti-Capitalist Cambridge we supported Smash IPP and Shirley, mother of an IPP prisoner, in heckling Lizz Truss outside the MP’s constituency surgery at Breckland Leisure & Waterworld, Thetford.
There are a bunch of upcoming events that anarchists and other radicals around Norfolk may be interested in attending. Here are some of the ones that have caught our eye…
November
December
DIT Collective is proud to be participating in the newly formed EA-AFN. This is a network of individuals, groups, and organisations working to broaden communication about anti-fascism across the region. While Norfolk isn’t a hotbed of activity as some other parts of the region are, there is nonetheless an undercurrent that we must remain vigilant about.
If you have any questions or concerns relating to fascist, neo-nazi, traditionalist, or other far right activity and feel comfortable talking to us about it then please send us an email or message us on FB. All information will be treated with sensitivity and security.
