"On The Verge" Of A Police State?

It would appear that maybe the verge has been crossed. The Guardian today reports on attempts by the police to halt screenings of the low-budget film "On The Verge". The film itself tells the story of 'a small but committed group of activists, smashEDO, [who] are taking on the Brighton base of an international arms manufacturer and, in the process, their local constabulary'. Luckily although the force are keen to clamp down on screenings, they have actually acted as a highly successful marketing campaign for the film (hence the paper coverage and my sudden awareness). And, much as I hate to upset the establishment, I'm gonna do my bit to help. First of all, here's a trailer for the film:

And here are the 'tour' details if that taster whets your appetite:

March

17th Brighton First Showing of 'On the Verge' at the Duke of York's Cinema
6.30pm, Duke of York's Cinema - First Screening of 'On the Verge' - the Smash EDO Campaign film plus a selection of short films about occupation and resistance in Palestine. This showing was pulled by police - read more

19th Chichester New Park Centre 7-9pm
20th Southampton The Art House.7.30pm
24th Oxford East Oxford Community Centre, Cowley Rd, 7pm
25th Bath The Bell, 7.30pm
26th Hereford The Barrels, 69 St Owen St, Hereford, HR1 2JQ
27th Bristol Kebele, 14 Robertson Rd, Easton, Bristol. Ph 0117 939 9469 http://www.kebelecoop.org/
28th Cardiff PAD Cardiff Social Centre, 118 Clifton St, Adamsdown, Cardiff

April

1st, 6.30pm London Foundry, 86 Great Eastern St, London, EC2 3JL.
3rd Leicester TBA
9th Norwich The Workshop, 8pm
11th London Housmans Bookshop, 7pm
14th Liverpool TBA
15th Newcastle Star & Shadow Cinema, Battlefield, Cnr Stepney Bank & Crawhall Road, Newcastle. Ph 0191 261 0066
17th Edinburgh The Forest Cafe, 3 Bristo Pl, Edinburgh, EH1 1EY. Ph 0131 220 4538
18th Glasgow The Quakers Centre
19th Aberdeen Aberdeen Uni
23rd Nottingham Uni
24th Derby TBA
25th Sheffield Lecture theatre 3, Sheffield Uni Arts Tower, 4pm-6.30pm
27th Leeds Common Place, 23-25 Wharf St, Leeds, LS2 7EQ. Ph 0845 345 7334 http://www.thecommonplace.org.uk/
28th Manchester Manchester Uni
29th Lancaster Gregson Centre 7pm

May

1st Wrexham TBA
2nd Southampton Uni

If you want the tour to come to your neck of the woods, email on-the-verge(at)hotmail.co.uk, check tour dates here (and download flyers) and for any further information visit smashedo here. Also, it would appear that a DVD will be produced at some point in April, so be sure to get your copy!

March 6th Will Be Day For Osanloo Mansour

Taken from Scoop:

Events will be held in London, Brussels and worldwide on 6 March 2008 as hundreds of thousands of trade unionists dedicate the day to demanding the release of imprisoned Iranian union leader Mansour Osanloo.

A demonstration will be held outside the Iranian Embassy at 16 Prince's Gate, London SW7 1PTF from 12:30 to 13:30, while across the United Kingdom thousands of transport workers will be leafleting passengers in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Newcastle and other locations. In recognition that Osanloo is an ex-bus driver and heads a bus drivers' union, a red double decker routemaster bus will be visiting London protest sites throughout the day. It will be at the embassy demonstration and will host a photo opportunity outside Portcullis House, Bridge Street, London SW1A (this event not yet confirmed, but planned to take place from 10:30 to 11:00), where union leaders and MPs (TBC) can be photographed next to it with the Houses of Parliament in the background. The campaign is being supported by the TUC, the unions Aslef, GMB, RMT, TSSA, Unison and Unite, as well as Amnesty International, which has declared Osanloo a prisoner of conscience.

Solidarity actions, including demonstrations, will be held at Iranian embassies, in cities, railway stations and at border crossings in Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ethiopia, Cote d'Ivoire, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Korea, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mali, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Spain, South Africa and Thailand. Other countries are planning activities.

The ITF can provide photos of Mansour Osanloo and will be distributing pictures of the March 6th event. A JPEG of an English language leaflet prepared especially for the day can also be sent to you on request to Dawson_sam@itf.org.uk .

The free Osanloo day is receiving particular backing from railway workers and their unions who have voted to dedicate a planned rail action day - which traditionally gives them the chance to promote rail as a safe and environmentally positive way of traveling - to also campaigning on Osanloo's behalf.

David Cockroft, ITF General Secretary, commented: "The Iranian government's continuing mistreatment of Mansour is a running sore. He has asked only for his basic rights and has been answered with fists, truncheons and manacles - but he has not been forgotten. On March 6th we will once again prove that he has friends and supporters around the world."

Mansour Osanlou Abducted Again

The BBC has reported that the head of Tehran's transport workers' union, Mansour Osanlou, has been abducted inside Iran. According to his wife he was pulled from a bus by unidentified men on Tuesday evening. The Iranian government has so far refused to comment on the abduction.

This is not the first time that Osanlou has had a run-in with the authorities in Iran. Osanlou was first arrested by the authorities on 22 December 2005, alongside 11 other union officials, in connection with their peaceful trade union activities. On 25 December, members of the union staged a bus strike in solidarity with their colleagues and were promptly arrested. The following day, all those that had been detained by the authorities were released, except for Osanlou and six other members of the Union's executive board. Two days later, the six members were released, leaving Osanlou under Iranian custody. During this period of detention, Osanlou was refused access to a lawyer. He was then held in Evin Prison in Tehran, until his release on 9th August 2006 after payment of bail.

Just three months later, on 19 November, Osanlou was arrested outside his home by members of the security services. On 26 November, he appeared in court where no specific charges were outlined to him. Osanlou appeared without his lawyer present. After his arrest, he was once again detained in section 209 of Evin prison. During his detention, Osanlou was suffering from a serious eye complaint. Prior to his arrest by security services, he was wearing a bandage over his eye as the result of an operation to rectify the problem. It was believed that he had no access to any medical treatment during his detention, despite the seriousness of the condition. After meeting his lawyers on the 11 December, they claimed that:

....his understanding was that he had been arrested because of his trade union activities as well as his contacts with international organizations such as the ILO [International Labour Organization], UN and international labour organizations.

Osanlou was released in August last year and continued his trade union activities as normal. He was subject to continuous harassment by the authorities after his release as a result of his union work. On 8 November, Osanlou and nine other executive members of the union were detained in Tabriz whilst travelling to a conference 'Globalisation and Privatisation'. However, members of the state-run Islamic Labour Councils were free to travel unhindered.

Earlier this year, during the May Day demonstrations, numerous activists were detained and beaten by the authorities. During the demonstrations a small group broke away and started chanting anti-government slogans. Consequently, Intelligence Ministry officials attempted to detain Osanlou once more. On this occasion he managed to escape. Prior to these demonstrations he had been due to give a speech at the Islamic Society of Students about the problems faced by labour organisations. University officials cancelled the talk and it was given at the gates of the university instead.

Clearly, Osanlou is a target of the authorities in Iran. His continued detentions as a result of his trade union work is systematic of the way the Iranian authorities view the trade union movement. Their determination to undermine rights of assembly and the rights for works to organise exposes the true nature of the regime. One hopes that Osanlou is released promptly and that there is an end to his continued persecution. Furthermore, the Iranian regime should allow the work force to unionise and demonstrate freely and without hindrance. Until the regime reverses this trend, it will continue to be considered a state that refuses to acknowledge basic human rights.

Additional information courtesy of Amnesty International:

The Union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company is said to have been founded in 1979 and resumed activities in 2004 after a 25-year ban. It is still not legally recognised.

Iran is a State Party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 22 (1) of which states: Everyone shall have the right to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of his interests. Article 26 of Iran’s Constitution states: The formation of parties, societies, political or professional associations … is permitted provided they do not violate the principles of independence, freedom, national unity, the criteria of Islam, or the basis of the Islamic republic. No one may be prevented from participating in the aforementioned groups, or be compelled to participate in them.

Troops Out of Iraq Demonstration

There was a huge demonstration in London on Saturday (estimates suggest as many as 100,000), protesting against our continued involvement in Iraq and the renewel of Trident. Davide at Nether-World has images and more.