Fri, 05 Feb 2010

Fight 'The Man' and win on Dissident Island Radio

On a cold evening last week I went to the London Action Resource Centre to be interviewed by Chickpea for Dissident Island Radio. We talked for an hour about my arrest, how to get off the national DNA database, stop and search and other aspects of policing in London. The hour went by very fast and we only covered a few of Chickpea's very good questions and part of what I had prepared. This interview has been edited down to about 20 minutes and will be streamed tonight as part of the 52nd live edition of the programme. Chickpea was also going to interview Pennie Quinton, the film maker who was stopped and searched, under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, in 2003 close to the Defence Systems and Equipment International Exhibition and eventually won a European Court of Human Rights judgment (though the Home Office has indicated it will likely appeal). Here's what's scheduled for tonight:

Dissident Island Radio

On the show this week we have with us a motley crew of dissidents. Two people who've fought 'The Man' and won respect for their rights talk to us about stop and search and DNA retention as well as the broader assault on our civil and human rights.

Our Northern correspondent has swung into action and grabbed us some words from SAEAB about all things animal rights in Bradford including their upcoming days of action. We'll also have words about the Stop the Traffic campaign and their plans for the UK's biggest traffic jam and how you can help.

With us live in studio we will have some spoken word madness from Pete the Temp and another in our series of DJ sets from Sasquatch and his friends at Senseless Records.

Tune in live tonight from 9pm till late or subscribe to the podcast. Live shows are on the first and third Fridays of every month.

Update: The 'Fighting the law, and winning' audio is now available on Dissident Island Radio and my full interview is available on London Indymedia.

Note that there are more DNA profiles on the database than was mentioned in the live programme. From the NDNAD annual report: 'At 31 March 2009, 5,617,604 subject profiles were retained on the NDNAD [...] it was estimated that approximately 13.5% of subject profiles held on the NDNAD were replicates. The number of different individuals represented on the NDNAD [...] was approximately 4,859,934 (for all UK forces).'

One issue we didn't have the time go into much detail is the racial bias of the NDNAD. As it happens, Black Mental Health has just launched a petition to raise awareness of this very issue on the Number 10 website.

First published on 2010-02-05; last updated on 2010-02-08.

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