A ‘travesty of justice’ is how PCS described the guilty verdict against Martin Smith, of Unite Against Fascism (UAF) and Love Music Hate Racism (LMHR).
Martin, national coordinator of LMHR, was found guilty by magistrates in south London on 7 September of assaulting a police officer at the demonstration outside the BBC against Nick Griffin’s appearance on Question Time on 22 October last year, an allegation he strenuously denied.
There was a demonstration supporting UAF national organiser Martin and the right to protest against fascism, outside the court in Battersea before his appearance.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “I am shocked at the verdict delivered in a magistrates’ court, in the absence of any evidence, that Martin Smith, was guilty of assault on a police officer.
“Martin was present at a perfectly legitimate protest against the BBC for giving airtime to a fascist and racist organisation and their repugnant views. The sentence of 80 hours’ community service that has been handed to Martin is a travesty of justice.
“There is a danger that verdicts such as these provide encouragement for the abhorrent views of racist and fascist organisations and therefore it is crucial that across the labour movement we stand united in our condemnation of it.
“At PCS we will redouble our efforts to campaign against the far right, including organisations such as the BNP and EDL, and continue to support Martin and other anti-fascist campaigners.
“PCS will work with UAF and LMHR to fight the far right wherever we can and also to highlight the unequal way in which anti-fascist campaigners and activists are treated.”
Find out more about the campaign at lovemusichateracism.com and uaf.org.uk
