We're challenging Cairn's gagging order: right to protest is as important as Cairn's right to run its business

Posted by bex — 29 November 2011 at 12:09pm - Comments
Cairn's rig - the most controversial in the world - about to start Arctic drilli
All rights reserved. Credit: Jiri Rezac / Greenpeace
Cairn's rig - the most controversial in the world - about to start Arctic drilling

I don't know if you read our Get Active blogs, written by our brilliant community of Greenpeace volunteers? It turns out that Cairn Energy do. Last week, Cairn's lawyers sent us a terse email warning us that we were in breach of the draconian interdict they've taken out against us.

Cairn's problem, apparently, was that a blog posted by one of our supporters the previous evening - to celebrate the acquittal of one of our Cairn-occupying polar bears and the dropping of charges against the other 16 - contained a photograph of said polar bears at Cairn's HQ.

Under Cairn's gagging order, we're prohibited from "disseminating, printing, uploading, sharing, copying or otherwise publishing any images, photographs, pictures or other material (or copies thereof) taken or recorded by Greenpeace activists present within 50 Lothian Road, Edinburgh on or around 18 July 2011."

So we took down the photo, which was posted in innocence by the blogger; Greenpeace's argument isn't with the courts, it's with the oil company that's spearheading a new oil rush to one of the most vulnerable and beautiful places on Earth to make a quick buck - and then using its legal muscle to try and stop us from campaigning against them.

But we're also challenging the interdict in court and, on Friday, we submitted the papers to do so. (We would have challenged it on the day it was issued, but we were only given 15 minutes' notice to get to the Court of Session to challenge it. We didn't make it in time.)

We're challenging not just the part that prevents us from publishing photos of our volunteers dressed up as polar bears, but also the part that prevents us from any activity that interferes with Cairn's course of business - including, for example, campaigning for Cairn to release for their spill response plan.

We'll be arguing that the right to protest is no less important than Cairn's right to run their business operations.

We'll keep you posted about the case, which will be heard in the Court of Session in Edinburgh next year. In the meantime, if you'd like to join Greenpeace's growing network of bloggers then please drop us an email. 

@Sean Partick

Um aren't you missing the point. The essence of this story being that a judge, and a court of law, found the protestors not guilty? and that the charge of 'placing Cairn's staff in a state of fear and alarm' was clearly rubbish - and thus thrown out.

When companies like Cairn are playing an irresponsible game of Russian roulette with both the Arctic environment and the future of the climate, then I reckon a bit of peaceful protest is entirely justified. The court apparently agreed.

 

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