Jobstown - A Protest on Trial

A total of 19 people will face trial for protesting in Jobstown, Tallaght, on November 15 2014.
A 17 year old was already convicted of false imprisonment of Joan Burton. His appeal for justice is ongoing.  The first adult trial will begin on April 24 2017 when 7 defendants face false imprisonment charges.  If convicted for 6 months or more Paul Murphy TD will be removed from Dáil Éireann.  More will face charges of false imprisonment and violent disorder on October 2017 and early in 2018.

A 20 min film

Irish State's political case against Jobstown Protesters restarts with jury selection Jan 26 2017

On Jan 26 2017 the Prosecution will outline their position on who should be excluded from jury selection this April.

According to the campaign's facebook page 'Jobstown Not Guilty. Who Judges?'  it states"In the Seanie Fitz case we saw the exclusion of'Juror 791'  because she was an anti- austerity campaigner, an attempt to create a jury of the 1% for the 1%.  The Jobstown judge has already noted the divide in society over this case.  With 73% of people boycotting the last water bill it is clear that there could be a serious attempt by the state to undermine the jury selection process or to further try and isolate the accused group.

With one of us already found guilty of false imprisonment a precedent has been set.  We need your help to build a major campaign of public information and protest between now and April to help us win the public debate against the media and the political establishment.

Paul Murphy TD

Paul Murphy TD AAA, says"please come to support us on Thursday. All the indications are that the prosecution are going to try to rig the jury in such a way to exclude people more likely to be against water charges!  Don't let them get away with it.  Join the protest at the courts at 9.30am."

If you want to be part of the campaign to prevent another miscarriage of justice message us on Facebook or sign up here https://sites.google.com/view/jobstownnotguilty/join-the-campaign?authuser=0

 

More on Jobstown case: http://buncranatogether.com/home/2017/1/20/protesting-is-not-a-crime-jobstown-protesters-courtcase-looming

Protesting is not a crime - Jobstown protesters' court case looming

 

Below is an extract from the Jobstown Not Guilty pamphlet ‘Protesting Is Not a Crime’.   Download full document here #jobstownnotguilty 

On October 21 2016 a 17 year oldwas found guilty of false imprisonment in the Children's Court, Dublin.  Now seven adult protesters will face trial on April 24 2017 for false imprisonment in the Central Criminal Court of Justice.

 

 

 

Judge John King found a 17 year old student guilty of false imprisonment – a verdict a barrister described as “a recipe for totalitarianism”.

This related to an anti water charges protest in Jobstown, Tallaght in Dublin on 15 November 2014, where then Tánaiste Joan Burton’s car was delayed for 2 ½ hours by a spontaneous community protest.

The 18 adults now awaiting trial from April 2017 face sentences up to life imprisonment. The trials, which will be six to eight weeks long, themselves will place enormous stress and strain on the defendants. If jailed, families would be left in very difficult situations, with jobs lost and parents in prison. If TD Paul Murphy is jailed for more than six months, he will be removed as a TD, denying the democratic choice of people of Dublin South West.

 

 

The political establishment and the supportive media are desperate to tarnish the anti water charges movement as a violent, anti-democratic mob.  By grossly misrepresenting and using what happened in Jobstown they want to weaken our democratic rights and so make it easier to impose economic inequality.

The laws used to directly seize the Property Tax from wages or benefits as well as the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (RDMPI) legislation used to rob the wages of public servants, show that this attack is real.

The definition of ‘false imprisonment’ is being changed and this affects you. Any temporary delay or obstruction at a protest or picket, which for example inconveniences a politician, could be deemed false imprisonment. This is about intimidating people and criminalising protest.

Please read this information booklet. If you agree that a miscarriage of justice is being prepared, help us because together we can stop this attack on democratic right and change Ireland for the better.

 

 

Source: #jobstownnotguilty