Solidarity With The Jobstown Accused
Éirígí stands in full solidarity with the Jobstown accused. In particular we extend our support to the seventeen-year-old at the centre of the political show trial which began in the Children’s Court in Dublin today [19 Sept 2016]. Today’s ‘trial’ would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious.
The full apparatus of the state, including the Gardaí, the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the state’s legal teams, have spent millions of euros to prosecute a group of citizens including this young man who was fifteen at the time of the Jobstown protest.
The charge of ‘false imprisonment’, which is among the most serious on the statue books, was never envisioned to be used against schoolchildren taking part in peaceful protests. The charging of this young man and others with such a serious charge is a blatant abuse of power.
Shame on Joan Burton and the rest of the political establishment for their attempts to convict political protesters on spurious charges of kidnapping – convictions that will potentially impact on those protesters for the rest of their lives.
The picture above shows Brendan Ogle, Barry Williams and his daughter Alisha Rose at the Right2Water protest in Dublin on Saturday. Barry was one of the graduates at the ceremony that Burton was attending in Jobstown on the day of the water protest. In a commendable act of solidarity Barry chose to join the protest instead of his own graduation ceremony.