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> Your Responsibilities as an Organiser
Your Responsibilities as an Organiser
Where people have been arrested at a protest event and charged with offences, they become defendants in the criminal process and face the possibility of a criminal record and sometimes the threat of prison. It is often very frightening for protesters to be torn from the solidarity of a demonstration to find themselves facing the music on their own. An important part of what organisers can do for defendants, as their cases progress over the months that may elapse before a trial, is to provide support.
Defendants may be helped by support and reassurance in many different ways - it will often be a question of adapting your resources to the calls that are made on them - but one of the most straightforward and practical measures is to ensure that there is always someone from your organisation at court with defendants for each appearance.
In the immediate aftermath of the event, however, there are some standard procedures to be performed, starting with the defendants' meeting. It is best to plan this two or three days after the event just in case it may be needed. Too soon, and defendants may still be in custody. Too late, and a lot of your resources, especially witnesses, will have dispersed, perhaps forever.
Defendants may be helped by support and reassurance in many different ways - it will often be a question of adapting your resources to the calls that are made on them - but one of the most straightforward and practical measures is to ensure that there is always someone from your organisation at court with defendants for each appearance.
In the immediate aftermath of the event, however, there are some standard procedures to be performed, starting with the defendants' meeting. It is best to plan this two or three days after the event just in case it may be needed. Too soon, and defendants may still be in custody. Too late, and a lot of your resources, especially witnesses, will have dispersed, perhaps forever.
