LIBERTY PUBLIC MEETING 9 OCTOBER 09
01 October 2009
LIBERTY (National Council for Civil Liberties) Sheffield Branch
Public Meeting
“LIBERTY, NOT CORRUPTION”
Michael Mansfield Q.C.
1pm, Friday October 9th. 2009
Channing Hall, Surrey Street, Sheffield
For over 30 years Michael Mansfield has been at the forefront of the struggle to defend human rights and civil liberties. He has never fought shy of controversy: among his best known cases have been the Angry Brigade, the Guildford Four, the Birmingham Six, the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, the Dodi Fayed Inquest, Barry George, and the Bloody Sunday Inquiry. He is best remembered in South Yorkshire for his leading role in the “Orgreave” trial at Sheffield Crown Court in 1985, when all 95 miners charged with riot and unlawful assembly were acquitted.
Recent years have seen a steady erosion of the rule of law and democratic accountability: abroad, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; in Britain, lengthy imprisonment without trial, control orders, targeting of vulnerable minorities and ever tighter restrictions on defendants’ rights, including access to legal aid. Michael Mansfield’s talk will address many of these issues and suggest ways in which the freedoms won over centuries can be preserved and extended.
A fuller account of Michael’s experiences and views is to be found in his recently published book, “Memoirs of a Radical Lawyer”, copies of which will be available to buy, and have signed by the author, at the meeting.
This is the first of a series of meetings aimed at re-launching the Sheffield branch of Liberty and helping to restore human rights and civil liberties to the local political agenda. The next in the series will be held on Friday. October 30th at 7.00 pm (venue to be announced), when Gareth Peirce, the country‘s best known defence solicitor, will talk on “Torture and the British State”.
ALL ARE WELCOME
Further details: michaelmccolgan@phonecoop.coop |
