RTS Aftermath: campaign points

national | miscellaneous | news report Wednesday May 08, 2002 12:49 by colm

In the aftermath of RTS 2002, we should all identify which goals can be achieved in the short term. I have two suggestions. I believe that when addressing the media these points shud be repeated and repeated again. They do address the issue of violence which is also v. important obviously.

1: Like in the UK, all CCTV footage, both private and police owned, should be available to anyone who is filmed. This would democratise their usage to a large exent.

I wrote a letter to the Irish Times and Examiner yesterday on this point but of course they didn't publish it... All CCTV footage of Monday should be available for the public to view.

2: Given the evidence that the police sought to deny reporters and protesters the right to record the violence on Monday, a key campaign demand should be the right to film/photograph any protest whether it be on public or private land. This is clearly in the public interest. If the indymedia cameras and others were not there, the guards and the media would have spun the story. We were lucky then- lets not leave it to luck the next time- the right to film must be guaranteed- anything else must just be seen as protecting the guards.