(a wee commentary)
“the biggest frame-up ever” Michael Mansfield QC
http://www.ipcc.gov.uk/en/Pages/default.aspx
The Battle of Orgreave is the name given to the violent showdown between police and striking miners at the Orgreave coking plant in the summer of 1984.
Nearly three decades later, many miners of the time are still steadfast in the belief that the police operation at Orgreave was a premeditated trap and ambush especially designed for the courts.
Currently, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is investigating allegations that the conflict was engineered by the police in addition to claims of assault, 'perjury, perverting the course of justice and misconduct in a public office'.
Neither the Tory government of the time, nor the police have conceded any liability since that pivotal day on June 18th.
Aired footage showed police assaulting miners with batons and charging horses was cashed out in terms of self defence amid allegations that the miners initiated the aggression.
Years later, the BBC admitted that televised footage was selectively edited to give the appearance that the miners were the instigators of the violence.
Did 'Auntie Beeb' act in concert with the police or was she following orders from a higher command? Perhaps the answer is both: the two need not be mutually exclusive.
In spite of the withdrawal of the prosecution of just over 90 miners and compensation payments of over £400,00 to miners who subsequently sued, no officially reviewed version of events has ever been given.
However, in the wake of a recent BBC documentary and a newspaper expose last year, parallels between Orgreave and the Hillsborough disaster surfaced: both cases had been policed by the same police force under the same chief constable.
Long standing issues of police cover ups, spying, corruption and malpractice resonant of Hillsborough put Orgreave back under the spotlight and gave impetus to renewed calls for accountability.
Interestingly, it is the present South Yorkshire police who have
referred themselves to the IPCC for investigation. Moreover,
politicians, miners and unionists have also called for a review into
events leading up to the 18th June.
Both the National Union of Miners and Michael Mansfied Q.C have also urged the Director of Public of Public Prosecutors to work alongside the IPCC as was the case for Hillsborough.
Mansfield currently represents the Hillsborough Family Support Group and has represented 3 Orgreave miners accused of riot.
Defending the miners in court, he successfully challenged the claim made by police that the miners had launched a sustained and unprovoked attack on police lines.
In court, Mansfield counter attacked by referring to film footage of the day taken by the police themselves.
The film showed miners at ease with many seated on the ground, thus undermining the story offered by the police.
Further concerns regarding police evidence emerged when it was revealed that many police officers' statements were almost identical and key phrases were frequently used to construct an overview which was unfavourable to the miners.
Some officers have said they did have statements dictated to them by detectives and that police often sat together whilst writing notes.
The chief constable of the time justified such activities by claiming that evidence needed to be 'collated'. The ways in which police evidence was both acquired and presented must be addressed, with regards to legitimacy and authenticity.
Moreover, policing methods and the decisions by policy makers involved should also be thoroughly looked at. The claim that the events of 18th were a co-ordinated trap has been given credence by the recent admission from South Yorkshire police that roughly 4,500 police officers from forces across the UK were drafted in to police Orgreave which was attended by approximately 8,000 miners.
Not only would the deployment of such large numbers of police officers require time and planning, it also begs the question that the magnitude of manpower would have been better spent elsewhere.
Additionally, many miners express how surprised they were to actually be permitted at Orgreave let alone be led to a nearby field flanked at 3 sides by police officers. It was common coin during
the year long miners' strike for police officers to turn striking
miners away from demonstrations.
Events that day at Orgreave, some might argue, bear the hallmarks of a military holding pattern. Some miners have further complained that some of those dressed as police were in actual fact soldiers. Others have went so far as to cite MI5 involvement in relation to intelligence gathering.
A full public inquiry has yet to be made. For the miners, this is long overdue after a hiatus of nigh on thirty years.
The ramifications of Orgreave affect us all. We should factor in the extreme lengths the state will go to quell what was primarily industrial action against pit closures and privatisation of the mines.
This issue is not confined to the history of public utilities but is applicable to other situations across the country.
It would be no surprise to learn in the future that instances evocative of Hillsborough and Orgreave prevail as the police and courts pursue anti fracking protestors.
Lessons from revisiting Orgreave will prove to be a well worn cliché. Attempts to criminalise the people when they exercise their basic right to protest are systematic.
Brute force, misrepresentation by the media, evidence falsification and evidence tampering are standard weapons in the war against protest.
Failure to let one frame-up slip through our fingers is one frame-up too many. By demanding truth about the Battle of Orgreave we challenge not only the institutionalised stonewalling of thirty years as well as our own political subjugation and that of the miners.
http://www.ipcc.gov.uk/en/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.writingonthewall.org.uk/michael-mansfield.html
http://www.contrast.org/hillsborough/history/supportgroup.shtm
http://www.leftfutures.org/2012/10/new-bbc-film-explores-doctored-police-statements-at-orgreave/
http://www.leftfutures.org/2012/10/new-bbc-film-explores-doctored-police-statements-at-orgreave/
http://www.defendtherighttoprotest.org/
Blog post by : Angie McNab aka https://twitter.com/angelamcguinne2
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