The appeals of John Barker, Hilary Creek, Anna Mendelson, Jim Greenfield and Jake Prescott, the Stoke Newington 5' are about to begin. The five were convicted in the course of two trials, on charges connected with the 'Angry Brigade" bombings.
In the light of the impending appeals, we, the Stoke Newington 5 Solidarity Committee, army stunt!
An army propaganda exercise grandiosely with a band performance and a weaponry display in Reading on 23 June, organised by the First Battalion, the Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment (Berkshire and Wiltshire). The exercise is designed to boost public support for the Red Weeky 15 June 1973 Page 2 reaffirm our conviction that these prisoners are political prisoners and that their trials were political trials.
In both trials the prosecution found it necessary to use the conspiracy law which allows innuendo and political belief to count as significant evidence. The conspiracy charge was the only charge on which Jake Prescott was found guilty, and on this basis he was regiment before it embarks in July for an 18 month tour of duty in Ballykinier, 30 miles south of Belfast.
TROOPS WITHDRAWAL This could nut be more timely for the chaps, since the local press has in the past month been forced to devote a considerable amount of space to the debate around the petition for the dubbed 'Operation Friendship' reaches its climax withdrawal of the troops organised by the local mother of a serving soldier, Mrs Peggy Chaston. Although the sources of finance for this venture seem rather mysterious, and it is being carried out on an anti-trish basis, it has made Ireland a live issue for many Reading people. Anna Mendelson and Jim Greenfield, Jake was acquitted on all substantive charges, and nobody has yet been found guilty of actually causing an explosion, In the second trial the jury asked for leniency to be shown to John, Hilary, Anna and Jim. But they were, nevertheless, given ten years each.
The vicious sentences given to the 5 reffect the State's intention to victimise left wing activists at all costs, and to introduce a higher degree of repression into this country. This intensification of repression must be vigorously resisted.
Because of the large number of Army bases around Reading (Sandhurst, Akershot, etc.) and the move of the Belfest 10 trial to Winchester, the orgunisation in this area of propaganda in support of the Irish struggle (in particular for the withdrawal of troops) assumes an added importance. The Reading AntiInternment Leugue, in conjunction with other groups opposed to the presence of British. troops in Ireland, is co-ordinuting several meetings and a demonstration, taking the form of a mass picket, in the local shopping precinct on Saturday 23 June at 12 noon. The assemhly point for this will be in the Forbury Gardens (near Reading Station) at 11.30a.m.