[OccupySheffield] City of London wins bid to clear Occupy protesters from St Paul’s Cathedral

[David Kirkham]

The demonstrators camped outside St Paul’s Cathedral in London were told they 
will be evicted today after a High Court judge granted an injunction against 
their three-month Tent City protest. 

Demonstrators said there would be “no Dale Farm-style resistance” ahead of 
the ruling and confirmed that talks were ongoing with the cathedral about a 
lasting, symbolic demonstration. 
The City of London Corporation, which brought the case for their eviction, 
said that the cathedral had been “desecrated” by the protest and that “graffiti 
have been scratched and painted” on to it, and “human defecation” was found on 
its grounds. Lawyers for the authority also said that “alcohol and other 
stimulants” fuel noise levels which have caused complaints, said its 
representation to the court. 
The Corporation said it was not seeking to prevent lawful and peaceful 
protest or lawful assembly in the general location - but the right to protest 
enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights did not justify a 
semi-permanent campsite on the public highway - particularly in a location like 
St Paul's Churchyard.
Lawyers for the protesters said that the case raised an issue of “extreme 
public importance” and that freedom of expression was a liberty which must be 
jealously guarded by the courts. 
The camp did not prevent worship at St Paul's and any impact it did have on 
those visiting, walking through or working in the vicinity was not solely 
detrimental. 
They said that politicians, members of the public and commentators had 
expressed support for the camp's presence and the sentiments behind it, at a 
time when there was a consensus that the issues it raised needed addressing. 
But, after a five-day hearing held before Christmas, Mr Justice Lindblom 
ruled that the authority had the right to evict the protesters, who have been in 
occupation since October 15 last year and have attracted support from civil 
rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Dame Vivienne Westwood and Radiohead 
frontman Thom Yorke. 
The Occupy London movement, which says it is protesting against “greed”, 
still holds three more sites. The Bank of Ideas, housed in a disused UBS 
building, another encampment at Finsbury Square, near St Paul’s Cathedral and 
the building which used to house Old Street Magistrates Court in east London, 
although the demonstrators have come to an agreement with the owners of the 
latter to vacate the building in five days. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/city-of-london-wins-bid-to-clear-occupy-protesters-from-st-pauls-cathedral-6291250.html




David 
 
Occupy
 		 	   		  
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