Civil Liberties Under Attack

The scan: The Week v8 no7.pdf (PDF, Marxists Internet Archive, opens at this page)

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Our editorial last week was most timely - scarcely had people opened their Week envelopes when they heard on the radio that Michael de Freitas had been arrested. This is not the only case: during this last week three supporters of pro-Chinese organisations in this country were charged with blocking the highway by selling their pamphlets at Speakers' Corner, They were remanded in custody for a week and one was sentenced to three months imprisonment, Both these attacks on civil liberties need exposing and countering, It is monstrous to charge black people because they express their feelings about the way they have been exploited by whites, It is monstrous to remand people in custody before they have been judged, (and it is perfectly clear that if the stupid bye-law forbidding sales inside Hyde Park were lifted there would be no blocking of the highway). There should be no hesitation on this question some people are under the impression that to protest against the repression of a person or organisation is to underwrite their politics, This is most misconceived and sectarian point of view. Socialists should fight oppression, and the oppressor, in every case. We repeat: the charges against black nationalists are an attempt to intimidate the black community in this country and must be fought as such.