Anti-War Protestor Jailed for Refusing to Accept Ban from Co. Clare

by Joe Sheehan Thu Feb 12, 2004 17:30

Judge Mangan today decided to change the bail conditions for Eoin Rice from a five euro bail to include a ban from Clare.
Eoin stated that this was wrong and that it was an arbitrary ban and it was beyond the judges power to do this. Judge Mangan asked Eoin if he was refusing to accept the ban?
Eoin refused to accept the ban so was then jailed by Judge Mangan
There will be a statement from Eoin later and a more complete court report in due course

by David Thu Feb 12, 2004 17:43

Since when can any judge impose a ban from a whole county just because of Illegal, fraudulent dangerous driving Charges alleged by Gardai who had just Smashed his car window after illegally blockading him in his car for several hours.

Fuck Justice

by Joe Sheehan Thu Feb 12, 2004 17:47

"Judge Mangan sought to augment my bail (previously with no conditions) by banning me from Clare. He would offer no reason or argument for this action.
I refused to accept this ridiculous imposition and stated frankly that it was illegal and beyond all law"

by Anonymous Thu Feb 12, 2004 17:55

Another terrible situation.

Any idea how long he has been jailed for?

by Joe Sheehan Thu Feb 12, 2004 18:04

I think that as it is for contempt of court he is jailed until he remedies his contempt.

I am not sure of this but am sure the court report will cover this later

by David Thu Feb 12, 2004 18:06

until his next hearing (if he refused to accept the conditions of bail even though the conditions had to be illegal)

This has got to be the first time ever in any country that somebody has been imprisoned for reversing a car in a carpark without hitting anybody

by Bloody Assizes Thu Feb 12, 2004 19:06

Fair play to Judge Mangan for dealing sternly with this thug. It's the best news I've had all day.

by Constitutionalist Thu Feb 12, 2004 19:30

I'm sure that banning someone from a part of Ireland is against the Constitution. There is a right of citizens to come into and to leave the State, and to freely travel within the State.

It cannot be a condition of bail that freedom of travel within the state is restricted. If this was appealed there would be a very good chance of having it over-turned.

by Irish Anti-War Movement Thu Feb 12, 2004 20:03 087 1258325

IAWM PRESS RELEASE

ANTI-WAR PROTESTER JAILED FOR REFUSING TO ACCEPT BAN FROM COUNTY CLARE
A Dublin-based anti-war activist, Eoin Rice (35), has this afternoon been sent to Limerick Prison for refusing to accept a ban from the entire county of Clare as part of his bail conditions.

At a sitting of Shannon District Court, Judge Joseph Mangan told Mr Rice, who was arrested in the aftermath of the December 6th Irish Anti-War Movememt (IAWM) blockade at Shannon airport, that he was adding a ban from County Clare to his bail conditions, which had previously involved a payment of just E5.00. Mr Rice is charged with alleged motoring offences.

Eoin Rice was then taken into custody following his refusal to accept such a ban. His solicitor has been instructed to challenge the ban in the High Court tomorrow, but if that fails Mr Rice will remain in prison until his next hearing, which is on March 18th.

Refusing to accept the new condition, Mr Rice said, as he was being brought away to Limerick Prison: "Judge Mangan sought to augment my bail, previously with no conditions, by banning me from Clare. He would offer no reason or argument for this action. I refused to accept this ridiculous imposition and stated frankly that it was illegal and beyond all law."

Commenting on the jailing of Mr Rice, Dr Fintan Lane, spokesperson for the Irish Anti-War Movement, said: "This particular judge has fallen into the habit of banning all anti-war activists from County Clare, no matter how minor the offence. I suspect the man thinks he's presiding in Stalinist Russia where internal exile was regularly deployed against political dissidents. The attempt to ban Eoin Rice, while on bail for a minor motoring offence, is ludicrous. Mr Rice has our full support and we believe that the course of action that he has taken is an honourable one. The banning of peaceful anti-war protesters from Shannon must stop - it is not Judge Mangan's role to protect the US war machine from peace activists."

Dr Lane, who was himself banned from County Clare for two years by Judge Mangan last April, concluded: "We applaud the stance taken by Eoin Rice and demand his immediate and unconditional release from Limerick Prison. His jailing is an outrage."

PRESS RELEASE ENDS

To contact Fintan Lane, IAWM PRO, phone 087 1258325.

by john mcdermott - R.F.F.P Thu Feb 12, 2004 22:44

Judge Mangan should be removed from the bench forthwith.

by Steve Thu Feb 12, 2004 23:19

I think this fella just gets himself into trouble to get attention.

by iosaf (ipsiphi) Thu Feb 12, 2004 23:22

Now let us know please,
is it a right of Irish Citizens
1. to enter and leave the state at will?
2. to travel throughout the public space of the state at will?
3. if you look like a womble do you get treated differently?
4. has the blessèd irony of 21st century Ireland issueing such a ban "betwixt Connaught and Hell" on entering the county of Clare not raised little hairs upon the scruff of the neck?
***
We all knew when they added the Clare prohibition to last year's and 2002's protesters castigation that it was morally questionable.
& now many of us are reflecting that those protesters "prevented by Law" from entering Clare have been vindicated, and that in contrast the object of their protest, "the USAF" was "not prevented by Law" from using Clare, and indeed the war is far from being vindicated.
& we seem to think not only in these columns and pages of indymedia and it's allied fora, but elsewhere in the "mainstream" media, and across the tables of the "mainstream" "chattering class" that such protesters were and are being vindicated.
No matter what you may think of Mr Eoin Rice, a committed socialist protester who has long been associated with the IAWM you must wonder several things:-
the list above on Irish Citizens right to freedom of movement and whether or not Mr Eoin Rice's treatment at this time, (right now) in the light of media manipulation aimed at opposing this year's May Day celebrations may be "justified".

I believe not.
As usual I hold that the power that "be" in Ireland really send the wrong messages to the power that "will be".

Happy May Day Justice Mangan.
Eoin Rice is a Womble.
We are all Wombles.

by Fintan Lane Thu Feb 12, 2004 23:30

You may think that Steve, but I'm afraid it's entirely beside the point. The point here is that Judge Mangan arbitrarily bans anti-war activists from County Clare at every possible opportunity. Indeed, he has even instructed an anti-war activist who lives in Shannon town to leave the town whenever there is an anti-war protest in progress (the gardai are to notify him in advance!). At this stage, he has banned well over twenty people.

These bannings are an attempt to undermine the anti-war movement and Eoin, on a point of principle, clearly wouldn't accept it. Consequently, he is actually in jail tonight and needs our support.

by Mark Thomas Fri Feb 13, 2004 06:59

Interesting, isn't it? The State isn't banning activists from marching in Dublin, is banning activists from protesting at Shannon. I wonder why? Never mind, judge Mangan will be delighted to hear that the SWP/IAWM is doing the job for him by ruling out actions at Shannon.

Answer this, SWP friends: which side are you on?

And now together "four legs good...", ehm, sorry, I meant "One solution..."

by Curious Fri Feb 13, 2004 10:13

Where is he being held?

by Free Eoin Rice Fri Feb 13, 2004 10:16

Surely by now we should have heard from Aoife. If the SWP was under attack here on Indymedia, she would have spoken by now.

If Eoin had only thought to take out membership of the SWP before his court hearing, he would have got the unstinting support of the SWP within the IAWM. As it is, he needn't expect much from that quarter.

by Civil Rights Fri Feb 13, 2004 14:34

Mark you wrote "The State isn't banning activists from marching in Dublin." Well they tried it a few years ago with by-laws, which would have effectively banned marches, direct actions, and any form of street protest, and it took a strong campaign to stop them, but they 'promised' (warned more like) that they would bring in 'slightly' 'revised' by-laws, so we're ready for the next attack on our civil liberties, which has been the hallmark of this government ever since they were elected in 1987. I don't need to go through all the brutal attacks on protestors, but here's a few anyway, September 2001 - Critical Mass on O'Connell Street, Dublin, October 2001 - The Burlington Hotel, Dublin, October 2001 - IAWM protest outside US embassy, May 2002 - Reclaim The Streets Party, Dublin, 2002, 2003 and 2004 - Shannon Warport, January 2004 - Galway, to name but a few where people have been brutally attacked by Gardai, both in Dublin and in the rest of the country.

by - - postcards (33% postage success rate @ 51centimos of a Euro) Fri Feb 13, 2004 16:13

Eoin Rice
(prisoner of conscience)
Limerick Prison
Mulgrave Street
Limerick.

Province of Leinster where you can be more a pacifist than Connaught,
Ireland ,the light of hope (formerly neutral)
European Union (formerly enshrined freedom of movement)
Earth (used to be the world but now it's just american)

& on which wing ought the black pope be addressed?

It now seems he is not SWP, and we established between 4.14pm and 4.56pm of Dec. 19th 2003 that he isn't an anarchist.
Oh dear, leftys, eoin is black pope, womblish,
and "victimised" and not a party member nor a collective hack. The thing is all those who obviously from afar don't like the man and suggest he is merely "looking for attention", have missed the accordingly retributive nature of his punishment. Justice Mangan appears to have acted as an individual in his sentancing rather than as a professional. I can suggest numerous similar cases where the Judge suggested a more "social work/Care" approach to protesters with such a constant arrest record.
It really is very simple.
Either Eoin gets up their noses too much, or they victimise him.
Either way sending him to prison is not going to help him aviod getting up their noses and only confirms the suspicion that his treatment is victimisation.

.

Write to Eoin.

by Mark Thomas Fri Feb 13, 2004 17:00

i wasn't talking about gardai's attacks and state repression in gteneral. we all know about that. what i said was that activists, a growing number of them, are being banned from co. clare. obviously the state is afraid of actions at shannon airport. if you look back at the last year, the only tangible victory of the irish anti war moevment (as opposed to the IAWM) has been forcing US military companies to pull out of shannon. and though richard boyd barrett of the swp/iawm had the gall of claiming that victory, the swp has been working overtime to keep the movement away from shannon. bertie must be so delighted, that i think it would be fair for him to publicly thank the swp.
that's what i was talking about.

by Intransigent Fri Feb 13, 2004 17:09

Am I correct in assuming that this idiot believes that he is making a difference to the ordinary Iraqi civilian by consistently returning to a site that has and never will yield to the demands of anti war protestors. Shannon is a dead issue at this stage and it's about time the hippies and marxists got their act together and thought up some useful strategies other than Shannon protests which have become less and less popular since the war bagan. It's not that the majority of people are now for the war but that they don't want to be associated with the same form of protests as mad people.

by jeff Fri Feb 13, 2004 17:40

It is very sensible to lock people up if they are a nuisance. It is very imporatant to ignore the Constitution. Shore, begor, constitutions, and all dat stuff, them was written before we had Celtic Tiger, laptop computers, al Qaida, and dvd players.

So, if de gard or de judge says yer annoying, so be it. Lock em up.

Or try disaaperances, like in South America. Chile, fer example. If they'd adhered to silly oul' tings like constitutional law, sure their economy would be no good.

In dis day n' age, boy, tings have to be dun the REAL MAN'S way.

So now, begor, oink, oink, agus Hoigh O' Duffy ( agus Mangan!)

by Curia Fri Feb 13, 2004 18:21

When the bin tax protestors got sent down, they refused to accept the order of the court and were held in contempt and got a sentence.
How does this judge send somebody down indefinetely?
Something not right here!

by Ciaron - Dublin Catholic Worker Fri Feb 13, 2004 22:45

We scrawled a postcard to Eoin on Thursday night and got in the post this morning- hopefully he'll get in Monday. You don't need to put a wing on the address, they'll find him!
The more mail he gets the safer he will be.

When I first laid eyes on him I thought he was Yipee (hardhat) transported through time and space from '68. Pretty sure he wasn't aware of the Wombles, I think he initially dressed as a weapons inspector (like the three Dominican nuns who git sentenced to 2 & 3 years in Colorado.)

Eoin is Eoin, what a dude. Mucho respect

by Deirdre Clancy - Pitstop Ploughshares Fri Feb 13, 2004 23:04

That's how it works. If you refuse bail conditions imposed by your judge, you remain in custody until such time as your trial is heard. Judge Mangan favours a ban from Clare, both as a bail condition and as a sentence on conviction. Several anti-war protestors have two-year bans from Clare imposed as sentences for their convictions on trespass charges. However, he imposes this ban on people other than anti-war protestors. It appears to be a strong fetish he has. He seems to regard it as his duty to cleanse the county of what he regards as unfavourable elements. The ban appears to be arbitrary, even by the standards of the judicial system. By those standards, it would make more sense to ban anti-war people from a few miles of the radius of Shannon Airport, rather than from the whole of the County of Clare. But I suppose it would be naive to expect the punishments meted out to make much sense after the last year and a half.

by paul otoole Fri Feb 13, 2004 23:30

Welcome to the third mellinium everyone. The treatment of Eoin rice by the 'guardians of the peace' is only a little foretaste of what is comming. Obviously Eoin strikes a nerve.

I admire his courage and wish him well and support his action fully.

by Tim Sat Feb 14, 2004 00:12

Rice, Eoin (Peace activist)
A man who for the past year has dedicated himself to the cause of dislosdging Bush's warmachine from Ireland.
A man who shows colour, a sense of humour, and can admit when he is wrong.
A man who gives his own time and energy to support others in court cases and is appreciative when that is returned.
A man who does not accept abuse of power, even when it would be easier to give in.


Mangan, Joseph (District Court judge)
A man who has for many years acted as if he were the infallible lord an master in the court rooom.
A judge who said that "the less i hear about Shannon, Iraq and the war, the happier I will be"
A man who did not even have the decency to pay attention to three witnesses during the trial of Jenny Hannon and Martin McGowan (some even suspect he nodded off)
A man who recently did NOT impose any type of ban on a man accused of violently mugging a 15yr old girl, but sees fit to ban people from Clare for sitting down, an act that caused no damage or injury.
A man who, when he thinks the accused is a peace activist, will not take a guilty plea into account when sentencing. Plead guilty -get the maximum sentence PLUS a ban from Clare.
A man who thinks that he can ignore the law when it is against his whims. - like having people arrested and imprisoned for standing in silence, 20 feet from court, and not allowing them the proper procedure to respond.
A man who takes it very personally when people stand up to his rulings.
A man who does not like people representing themselves in court, and has on occassion appointed a solicitor to a defendant who specifically asked to represent themselves.

A man who may be the first judge in Ireland to deliberately contravene the European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003

Protocol No. 4
Schedule 3
Article 2

Freedom of movement
1 Everyone lawfully within the territory of a State shall, within that territory, have the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose
his residence

2 Everyone shall be free to leave any country, including his own.

3 No restrictions shall be placed on the exercise of these rights other than such as are in accordance with law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public
safety, for the maintenance of ordre public, for the prevention of crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of
the rights and freedoms of others.


Clearly, an arbitrary ban from Clare is not in accordance with the law, nor is it necessary in a democratic society, nor is it in the interest of national security.

Eoin hasn't even been convicted and this judge has tried to ban him from Clare for alleged public order offences. At the same time, lots of other people in Shannon appear before the SAME judge for public order offences and are NOT BANNED FROM CLARE.
The difference? They're just drunken louts, not peace activists.

by Tim Sat Feb 14, 2004 00:27

The courts are entitled to require sureties to guarantee an accused's attendance at the trial and also to attach conditions to the bail, but so important do the courts regard the right to bail, excessive or unreasonable sureties or conditions are held to amount to an unconstitutional denial of bail.

(from the website of the UCC Law Faculty)


The Crucial Importance of Bail

Fundamental principles of liberty are involved in the law of bail. The right to bail is that right which every accused has to personal liberty until his/her trial.
Bail is a RIGHT and not a privilege.
Courts must grant bail unless the prosecuting authority can show that there is a likelihood of the accused not attending the trial or interfering with witnesses.
All of these matters directly relate to the trail of the offence of which the accused is charged and not to any trial of some offence the commission of which has not taken place.
The courts are entitled to require sureties to guarantee an accused's attendance at the trial and also to attach conditions to the bail, but so important do the courts regard the right to bail, excessive or unreasonable sureties or conditions are held to amount to an unconstitutional denial of bail.

by Tim Sat Feb 14, 2004 00:37

see the court report from Tulla Dec 6th to see what the judge regards as fair.

On the day Eoin was arrested, court was held at 6:30, the solicitor was informed by the state it was at 7.
The judge decided to go ahead and deal with Eoin without allowing him access to a solicitor.
Eoin strenuously objected to this as being against his rights.

The judge, on that day set bail of 5 euro, which satisfied all parties, until his ego was bruised yesterday.

by 'orrible D3 person Sat Feb 14, 2004 02:15

This thing of banning people from entering Co Clare should have been challenged from the outset. I know of no provision in the 26-County Constitution which would allow for this kind of internal exile.
As for the judiciary, many of them are completely off the wall. Earlier this week a judge referred to an upcoming case which he was trying to fit into his schedule. He remarked before a packed Dublin courtroom that he did not know whether it could be heard in Dublin or Limerick until he "heard from the Nicaraguan jungle". It is unfortunate that these judges don't try to use the grey matter before opening their mouths and inflicting this kind of racist nonsense on us.

by Trippy Hippy Sat Feb 14, 2004 03:03

Mr Constitutional expert??

We'll see. The Irish people will crush your movement.

by Judge Dredd Sat Feb 14, 2004 03:37

That was a ridiculous comment, Trippy. And you certainly dont speak for the Irish people. And I'd bet you would be incapable of crushing anyone, except in your imagination.
The previous commentator may actually be right, it probably is in breach of the Constitution.

by Lord Castlereagh Sat Feb 14, 2004 13:16

Unconstutional ? Harrumph ....

Well I would recommend that the Free State Government pass a Suspension of Habeas Corpus Act.

That was the way things were done in my day.

Have to adopt strict measures to deal with these troublemakers.

Otherwise no telling where it might all end.

by Shane Sat Feb 14, 2004 21:58

There are few arbritary and seemingly meaningless acts carried out by people with power over others. There is "nearly" always a reason, it just requires a little thought and information to figure out why.
The impending visit of George W Bush to Ireland this summer (flying into Shannon and staying in County Clare is the most likely option) -see Irish Independant Sat 14th Feb, is certainly a strong possible motive for these conditions and sentances.
To quote said paper - "US officials are working with their Irish counterparts to make sure protesters will be kept at arm's length for the visit. "

As an aside, something can be legal, constitutional and morally wrong at the same time.

by mosquito byte Sun Feb 15, 2004 13:35

12th Feb 2004

the venue

the judge

the prosecution

the defence

by mosquito byte Sun Feb 15, 2004 13:39

...

another defendent

being taken away

by Deirdre - pitstop ploughshares Sun Feb 15, 2004 14:35

With regard to the following:

"There are few arbritary and seemingly meaningless acts carried out by people with power over others. There is "nearly" always a reason, it just requires a little thought and information to figure out why.
The impending visit of George W Bush to Ireland this summer...is certainly a strong possible motive for these conditions and sentances.
To quote said paper - "US officials are working with their Irish counterparts to make sure protesters will be kept at arm's length for the visit. "

It would be my considered opinioin that the judge in this case is just deeply eccentric, and also out of his depth with anti-war activists and their propensity to point out grey areas and niceties he'd rather not have to think about. He's used to people just paying their fines and doing their time to get out of the hassle. Now his universe has been upset by upstarts who do things he is not used to: refuse bail conditions; argue for their legal rights under constitutional, European and international law and for human rights in general; refuse to accept that they are criminals; and go to prison rather than pay a fine to the state for exercising their right to peaceful protest. There is little that is pre-meditated about his bans from Clare; they erupt in fits of frustration. He seems to regard it as a very grave punishment/deterrant and he metes it out when he's annoyed or irritated. Clare is a beautiful county, but it makes very little difference to your life unless you actually live there. I have sometimes seen him give these bans to non-activists, on the many occasions I have been in front of him for hearings. It makes no sense even on the State's terms to ban activists from Clare. You can still get quite close to Shannon via Limerick (I have done pickets on the border quite close to the airport), so on their terms it would make a lot more sense to ban people from a few miles radius of the airport.

Also, he has been banning activists from Clare since 2002. The Bush visit was not on the cards then, nor when the vast majority of the other bans occurred. It's a fixation he has on a personal level, rather than a master plan to keep the crazed peaceniks (as Ireland on Sunday would have it) away from Dubya.

The context is that the district courts are very parochial, surreal places. On our first hearing after arrest, after waiting several hours for our hearing to occur (on no sleep for about 36 hours), we had to leave the court in Ennis and be driven in a garda van to Tulla. This was because Ennis district court doubled up as a pub/GAA club; the bar was about to open, and they wanted to serve pints to people. It's real Craggy Island stuff; you couldn't make it up.

by ec (1 of IMC IRL) Sun Feb 15, 2004 15:46

Are those stills from video footage? If they are please get in touch with an e-mail address thru the contact form on site.

by Shane Sun Feb 15, 2004 21:23

Thanks for the clarification Deidre, it does sound hard to believe that such a person is dispensing justice, but I take your word on the matter. I was too cynical and I am glad to be proved wrong.
Best of luck to all who stand before him.

by jeff Wed Feb 18, 2004 22:07

Or else he will be Judged by G-D!

Desist from Evil, Judge Mangan.

by jeff Wed Feb 18, 2004 22:12

the usual, I wish nasty things like cancer/worms/AIDS death would happen to him, but I can't. I know it is wrong to wish evil. So I would like him to become a good judge and be honest. Either that, or have this shoe dirt removed from office.

by yup Thu Feb 19, 2004 10:59

This judge successfully settled out of court with a journo who pointed out his hypocricy over mobile phones eg. having people arrested on occasion for them going off and his own going off. So it mightn't be the best move to slag him off personall undeer your own name.

by Fingal Thu Feb 19, 2004 11:06

I think he's doing a great job. More power to ya, Judge Mangan!!!