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PRESS RELEASE
4 October 2002

JUDGE REFUSES TO EVICT PARLIAMENT SQUARE PEACE PROTESTER

In the High Court today, Justice Gray, refused to grant an injunction to Westminster Council who were seeking an injunction (1) against peace campaigner Brian Haw. Mr Haw has been protesting in Parliament Square for nearly 16 months against the economic sanctions and war on Iraq.

Mr Haw, 53, started his protest in June 2001

During his round-the-clock protest, Mr Haw, who comes from Worcestershire, has had numerous visitors from all over the world, many leaving placards with messages of peace, helping to create what is now a powerful display which challenges the government’s foreign policy. The international media have broadcast his message around the world.

Despite starting proceedings to obtain an order to remove Mr Haw’s placards, an order in which they claim the protest constitutes a ‘nuisance’ (2), the Council is now claiming that Mr Haw is causing obstruction of the highway and is in breach of advertising regulations. It is hoping that with an injunction they will be able to remove him without delay.

A number of parliamentarians and high profile public figures, including Tony Benn, Bruce Kent, Caroline Lucas MEP and Jeremy Corbyn MP are supporting Mr Haw’s right to protest, confirming the seriousness of his concerns and the fact that he represents many people’s views.

After nearly 500 days and nights of protesting with his powerful message opposite Parliament, Mr Haw is determined to stay as long as possible – ‘as long as it takes’ he says. “I am still here because innocents are still dying – babies and infants – for twelve years now because of sanctions. Iraq is already half dead and now the U.S., with British support, is threatening to complete the destruction of an entire people supposedly to save them from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein. I won’t let them murder quietly”.

“I’ve got a wife and seven children who are more precious to me than life itself. But there was an Iraqi girl called Azra who died aged 17 from cancer which we gave her. She cried and cried before she died, because she wanted to live, but because of sanctions she was unable to get all the medicines she needed.”

“I want to go back to my own kids and look them in the face again, knowing that I’ve done all I can to try and save the children of Iraq and other countries who are dying because of my government’s unjust, amoral, fear- and money- driven policies. These children and people of other countries are every bit as valuable and worthy of love as my precious wife and children.”

Notes
1. The injunction hearing will take place on Tuesday 1st October in the High Court (Royal Courts of Justice, The Strand). The hearing will be heard from 10.30am in court 37, case of Westminster City Council v Brian Haw (case no HQ02X03042).
2. The order to remove Brian Haw from Parliament Square is being brought under Section 149 of the Highways Act 1980. A date for the hearing of Westminster Council’s case against Mr Haw was set for 2nd and 3rd October at Marylebone Magistrates Court but has now been postponed.