Second and Final Eviction Order Against Dalkeith Protesters Approved!

Yesterday in court, the Scottish Ministers got a second order for IMMEDIATE eviction of the Dalkeith protesters approved, so everyone get ready to help! Eviction likely early this week!! In Sheriff's Court yesterday, a judge approved a second order for *immediate* eviction against the protesters in Dalkeith Park. The Ministers brought a large team to court, and read off web-pages from http://www.eco-action.org and even Indymedia, claiming that giving the protesters even more time would allow themselves to prepare to commit civil disobedience even further, so letting them stay under for reasons of "self-help" and "necessity" would be a "mask of anarchy." The protesters, without a solicitor since none could be found that would dare take on the Ministers, lodged the defense that their actions were necessary to defend the public interest against the illegal actions of the Scottish Executive, in particular their lack of a Environmental Impact Assessment (since the road is currently being built using over a decade-old data) and the possibly criminal destruction of bat habitat the road would create. While the judge acknowledged that the defense was "heartfelt and eloquent," and that while the protesters did put forward a good "political case," since the Ministers had the legal title to the property they could do whatever they fit there, and so an order for immediate eviction was granted.

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Police Intimidation at court hearing

One Dalkeith supporter reports about police intimidation at the Edinburgh Sheriff Court, Chambers Street, on Friday morning, at the court hearing about the second eviction notice against Dalkeith Park Bypass Treesitters.
police intimidation against Dalkeith Park Bypass Eviction hearing
One supporter (a well-informed source!) told indymedia: "An Eviction notice in court is a CIVIL case not a criminal one... However as we walked into court we were followed by 2 police officers in uniform, who proceeded to make notes at the back of the court room..... When the hearing was delayed I decided to leave[...]. On leaving the courtroom there were a further 6 policmen in uniform outside the court.......accompanied by plain clothed officers probably CID ?? As I left the building there was a van parked outside with yet more officers inside !!!!!!" The supporter assums that the filming was individually targetted and initiated by radio-ing ahead.

Re: Second and Final Eviction Order Against Dalkeith Protesters Approved!

Three of us left the court for lunch since the case was moved to the end of the day's cases. We faced the same row of police that the previous post describes. And than we spent thirty minutes trying to drop the tail of three police that was sent to follow us (two of them are the ones wearing the blue and yellow jackets in the photos). In a funny not, I finally asked one of them (he was one of the officers who had been in the court so people had already talked ot him) if he thought 'police harassment while we were trying to get some lunch was justification for filing for a cist and delaying the case'. He just replied 'Tell me about it' and laughed; he did not seem too amused by having to follow us around. But he than said 'Oh are you going for lunch, that's good because I want to be able to get my lunch too.' So I replied, 'Well we'd like to get lunch but we don't really want the cameras to show up while we are eating'. And the officer replied not to worry they wouldn't. That, seemed to be the end of it, and they stopped following us after he radioed in that we were just headed to lunch. What the hell did they think we were going to do on our lunch break?!?

Re: Second and Final Eviction Order Against Dalkeith Protesters Approved!

The blue jackets worn by the cops in the photos look just like the ones the Met wear. Can anyone say if they are new uniforms that Edinburgh cops wear or is this the first signs of bussed in cops to deal with this?!

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