In a bold occupation at 2.30 this morning, a woman from peacestrike.org.uk has converted the Parliament Square Churchill statue into a mock-up of a Sri Lankan death camp. She intends to stay there as long as possible to highlight the plight of hundreds of thousands of Tamil civilians facing threat of starvation, rape, torture or murder. phone interview link below.

check back here for timeline upd…

There was a huge turn-out for the Tamil march in London this afternoon. Police turned a blind eye to the hundreds of Tamil Eelam flags which were proudly displayed. The march was good-natured, though sombre and dignified.

Previous Features: Tamil Blockade at Parliament | Tamils Blockade Parliament Square Again | SOCPA, the tamils, and the grass | Held for 24 hours by police for flag-waving

tamil protesters are leaving parliament square tonight and are calling for support on their march on saturday. a call-out has been put together by members of various supporting organisations.

Police detained Maria Gallestegui (from peacestrike.org) for 24 hours after her arrest yesterday evening for waving the Tamil Eelam homeland flag at Parliament Square.

Maria has finally just been released from Belgravia police station after being held for 24 hours for waving a flag that a week ago we were categorically told on film was not proscribed and so she couldn't be 'processed' or arrested…

police have been arresting tamils waving their national flag in parliament square. yesterday, maria (peacestrike.org.uk) tested the legality of this by standing outside new scotland yard and arguing it out on film when confronted by officers. this story is regularly updated as news develops.

when is a flag a terrorist flag? the answer, it seems, depends on who and where you are! if you are a tamil student peacefully demonstrating in parliament square, it is, and you get arrested. if you are tony benn mp and you are in parliament square, you get photographed but not arrested. if you stand outside new scotland yard and challenge the police to arrest you, suddenly it magically becomes th…

police, rather than test the truth in court, have taken to their usual method of unlawful seizure and intimidation in the battle against tamil flag waving in parliament square

At 16:00 this Monday afternoon (18th), Tamil protestors broke through the police barriers around Parliament Square and have once again blockaded Parliament. Traffic is being diverted away from the square. Although there were many police present, they were apparently taken off guard.

See full article for the timeline of events.

Photos: [1] Previous coverage: 17 May | 15 May |

with news of more than 1000 new deaths and thousands injured in just a few hours today in Vanni, tamils in london are calling for a solidarity protest outside the US embassy, grosvenor square on monday morning to urge barack obama to intervene.

US embassy

grosvenor square

monday

9-2

as more news gets out that the 'safe zone' in sri lanka is a mass of flames, tamils gathered in parliament square this morning with black flags

Tamil protestors have caught police on the hop today and blockaded the road outside Parliament again in the last half hour. Hundreds of protestors have taken the junction at Westminster Bridge Road and traffic is backed up across the bridge and up Whitehall. Police re-inforcements are moving in.

See full article for regular updates and photos.

STRIKE DAY

Make your stand, take a day off work, nursery, school, college, university, and gather in Westminster.



Wednesday 29th April from early...

police mounted a huge operation in parliament square this morning to stop any repeat of the tamil road occupation on this budget day.

police have now flooded the parliament square area tonight at 19:30 and they are telling the tamil protesters to move back onto the grass behind the barriers. updates below.

in a move reminiscent of the farcical GLA fences prior to nelson mandela's visit, and at the time of the burmese protests in summer 2007, the tamil protest in parliament square is being marginalised by the GLA and police while thousands die in sri lanka

52 Knatchbull road (entrance on Burton rd, behind Minet library) SE5 9QY.

Nearest tubes : Brixton, Oval, Kennington.

Nearest train : Loughborough junction.

Nearest buses : P5 or Brixton road (3/N3, 59, 133/N133, 159/N159, 415. stop: loughborough road)