Des manifestations organisées par des groupes d’extrême droite dans des zones ethniquement diversifiées constituent une provocation, mais leur interdiction peut avoir des effets indésirables. Josh Black examine une interdiction de rassemblement de la Ligue de défense anglaise à l’Est de Londres.
Exposition des faits
Les minorités ethniques constituent près de 35 pour cent des résidents de Waltham Forest, un quartier à l’est de Londres, dont la population vit majoritairement dans la ville de Walthamstow. En date du 1er Septembre 2012, la Ligue de défense anglaise (EDL), qui prétend faire campagne contre l’extrémisme islamique, mais est souvent accusée d’être une organisation raciste, a cherché à se rassembler au centre-ville de Walthamstow. Les résidents locaux ont organisé une contre-manifestation et ont bloqué leur progression, ce qui conduit à l’annulation de la manifestation de EDL par la police en mars. Elle demandait ainsi à ses partisans de se disperser.
Après cet évènement, l’EDL a déclaré son intention de revenir à Walthamstow à une date ultérieure. Le conseil municipal a demandé et obtenu une ordonnance du Ministre de l’Intérieur qui ne permet à l’EDL que d’organiser des manifestations statiques devant les Chambres du Parlement à Westminster et les résidents de Waltham Forest à faire des manifestations statiques à Walthamstow. Certains résidents considèrent ceci comme étant injuste et appellent ces tentatives policières d’empêcher les militants de manifester «une attaque honteuse à la démocratie locale».
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People protest in order to have their voices heard, to bring awareness to their cause. I believe that we should protect the rights to march in protest of all citizens. However, the law should and does protect all citizens from acts of violence and damage too. I feel that although we should conserve everyone’s right to protest in marches, we should also take precautions in situations where citizens would likely get harmed and property get damaged. Therefore the protestors should be able to march, but have a designated route on which they walk with police constantly monitoring the march. Should something go wrong, the police could would immediately intervene and take control of the situation.
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I believe this to be a more complex problem than some may think. My own belief is that we should protect the rights to march in protest of all citizens. However the rule of law should and does protect all citizens from acts of violence and criminal damage. A great number of EDL members attend these marches for the trill of getting high on drink or drugs and participating in such recreational violence and criminal damage. The whole ethos of « football hooliganism » as morphed into the new Islamaphobia. Though they may make do with any minority individual as a target of recreational hate; if there’s no Muslims at hand. We should still try to give them as much freedom of speech as possible. The EDL and the majority of the British public are feeling sorry for themselves now that we have the ‘time of austerity’ . They fear Muslims and the dreaded foreigner are costing them money; however the EDL and yobbos generically are , with great pride wasting the budget allocated for just about everything. It cost a vast fortune to deal with yobbos; don’t worry about foreign aid, worry about yobbos. We also have the other end of the problem; the « Muslim Extremist » and any other groups to whom we should give the same rights to march and protest; but with the same rules that forbid violence or criminal damage. I also emphatically believe we should have the greatest freedom press possible. I have used many web sites and news channels, that most of the British public have not bothered with; and I have learned a great deal. We will certainly see more terrorist attacks, more diversity of method, and greater longevity. It would seem to me that it takes « two to tango » as they say. Albeit the authorities have played a disingenuous and sometimes exasperating role; now we have ‘down to earth’ enthusiasts who are genuinely keen to make Britain as violent as Syria; in the name of cheap larger.