On March 16th and March 19th, Noah (American) and Natasha (Australian) will go to trial for charges related to the organization of demonstrations against the COP15 conference in Copenhagen in December 2009. They are facing politically motivated charges which accuse them of organizing to disrupt the public order and do violence to police, and face stiff prison sentences as well as deportation form Denmark. Both were targeted by Danish police and arrested in December during the COP15, and kept in jail for 25 days in isolation before being released in advance of their trials. </p>
Their trials are part of a campaign of police repression carried out by the Danish police during the COP15 in which over 2,000 people were arrested within a week of protests. Of all arrested, only around 30 were charged with any crime, and those that were charged were kept in jail for between one week and 47 days without trial. Some have already gone to trial and either been acquitted or received small jail sentences and heavy fines for charges such as assaulting a police officer or throwing a stone. Some have also been deported and banned from Denmark for 6 years. Noah And Natasha are the first two to go to trial of seven accused of organizing demonstrations, and face much stiffer jail sentences (a year or more) then those who have previously gone to trial. The case is being brought on minimal and sketchy evidence, primarily acquired through dubious phone taps and other types of police surveillance. read more



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