> Please fwd widely..
>
> Channel 4 and The Guardian are already running:
> http://www.channel4.com/news/edf-sues-activists-for-5m-an-attack-on-peaceful-protestand http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/feb/20/activists-police-edf-law-suit
>
> <http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/feb/20/activists-police-edf-law-suit>-
> We need to win this or we're* all fucked! x
> Press release: EDF suing climate activists for £5 million - protesters
> face losing homes<http://www.nodashforgas.org.uk/blog/press-release-edf-suing-climate-activists-for-5-million---protesters-face-losing-homes>
>
> Posted Wed 20th Feb 2013, 7:50pm
>
> CONTACT: press at nodashforgas.org.uk or phone 07447 027 112
>
> Following the week-long shut-down and occupation of EDF’s West Burton
> gas-fired power station last October by campaign group 'No Dash for Gas',
> EDF has launched a civil claim for damages against the group and associated
> activists for costs the company claims to have incurred – a figure it puts
> at £5 million [1].
>
> Should the claim succeed, several of the campaigners face losing their
> homes, and all could face bankruptcy or be forced to pay a percentage of
> their salaries to EDF for decades to come. The amount of the claim
> represents just 0.3% of EDF's annual UK profits, which rose by 7.5% this
> year to £1.7 billion.
>
> This is the first time an energy company has attempted such a claim, and
> campaigners say it represents the opening of a new front against peaceful
> direct action protesters. If successful, it could have a chilling effect on
> other groups – such as UK Uncut and Greenpeace – who use civil disobedience
> to challenge social and environmental problems.
>
> Aneaka Kelly, one of the No Dash for Gas defendants said: "This un-civil
> action by EDF is not about money – they've already admitted in court that
> they know we don't have this kind of cash. EDF just want to make sure that
> anyone who tries to stand up and challenge their profiteering price hikes,
> shady government lobbying and climate-trashing power plants is quickly
> silenced by the threat of legal action.”
>
> Sixteen campaigners occupied two chimneys at West Burton for a week in
> October 2012, stopping nearly 20,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions. The activists
> - 21 in total - were today convicted of aggravated trespass at Mansfield
> Magistrates Court. They will be sentenced at a later date.
>
> There is evidence that Nottinghamshire Police colluded with EDF against
> 'No Dash for Gas' by formally serving civil papers on the activists after
> their arrest, and by sharing their personal data with the power company.
>
> In one case officers served the papers on the activists’ lawyer, in
> another they chased an activist down the street outside the station and
> served the papers on him directly, commenting, “I’m doing this as a
> courtesy to EDF”. Last week, the Home Secretary was questioned in
> Parliament about whether this kind of practice is routine [2].
>
> The campaigners believe that Nottinghamshire Police's support for the
> civil claim is part of a larger strategy to crack down on environmental
> protest, as evidenced by the use of extremely onerous bail conditions on
> the activists after their arrest. They were not allowed to associate with
> each other and most were subject to home curfews from 9pm to 7am. Those
> conditions were only lifted once the company had ordered its own civil
> legal strategy against the activists.
>
> FOI documents obtained by No Dash for Gas show that a Special Advisor in
> the Department for Energy was liaising with the police about those bail
> conditions before most of the activists were even arrested.
>
> In another incident, Counter Terrorism Command officers visited an
> activist at her home to 'remind' her of her bail conditions and caution her
> against going within 50 metres of E.ON's Grain Island Power Station.
>
> Deeply concerned by police involvement in the unprecedented civil claim,
> the activists’ lawyer Mike Schwarz of Bindmans wrote to the police asking
> to view CCTV footage from inside the station, only to be told it had
> probably been deleted as footage was only kept for three months – despite
> the fact that this three-month deadline had not yet passed.
>
> Aneaka Kelly from No Dash For Gas said: “The police are meant to be
> working in the public interest, not acting as EDF's private police force.
> If I wanted to sue EDF over their pollution or their price hikes, would you
> expect the police to deliver the legal papers to EDF on my behalf, or hand
> over the names and addresses of their top executives? Somehow, I don't
> think so.”
>
> The protest itself aimed to challenge the Government's plan to build up to
> 40 new gas-fired power stations, which would see gas accounting for over
> 50% of the UK's power generation over the next three decades. The
> Government's own Committee on Climate Change have said that a new “dash for
> gas” would make it impossible for the Government to meet its
> legally-binding carbon reduction targets, and thus would push us ever
> closer to the brink of unstoppable climate change.
>
> The Committee also point out that a greater reliance on gas would increase
> household bills by up to six times more than a shift to renewable energy.
> These comments were echoed this week by the Chief Executive of Ofgem
> Alistair Buchanan, who warned that an increased reliance on gas will lead
> to higher prices in the near future. Campaigners blame the lobbying power
> of big energy companies like EDF for the Government's current pro-gas
> position.
>
> The case is reminiscent of the record-breaking “McLibel” case, when the
> fast food chain McDonalds sued two activists from North London from
> 1990-1997. Ewa Jasiewicz, another No Dash for Gas defendant said: 'This is
> starting to look just like McLibel. It's a David and Goliath battle between
> protesters with nothing but their bodies to put in the way, and
> out-of-control Big Energy which has a business plan that will drive up
> bills, push millions into fuel poverty and crash our climate targets. We
> will be resisting EDF's claim every step of the way'.
>
> ====================
> Notes for editors
>
> [1] Documents and FOI copies are available - please email us on
> press at nodashforgas.org.uk or phone 07447027112
>
> [2] The following question was tabled last week, the Home Secretary has
> not yet responded:
>
> Caroline Lucas (Brighton, Pavilion): To ask the Secretary of State for the
> Home Department, what her policy is on (a) the provision of information by
> the police to private companies that are planning or taking civil legal
> action against protesters, where those protesters may be subject to
> criminal proceedings, (b) the timing of the provision of such information
> and (c) provision of other practical assistance by the police to companies
> taking civil proceedings, including service or quasi-service of court
> papers; whether her Department has established any formal procedures or
> organisations to (i) facilitate the flow of any such information and (ii)
> establish compliance with or breach of any such procedures and policies;
> and if she will make a statement.(143122)
>
>
> http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmordbk2/130212o01.htm#13_
>
>
>
>
>
> -.-.- Climate Justice Action Network International Coordination List -.-.
> POST TO LIST: climate09-int at lists.riseup.net
> UNSUBSCRIBE: send a blank email to
> climate09-int-unsubscribe at lists.riseup.net
> LISTKEEPERS: climate09-int-editor at lists.riseup.net
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>