Two people were arrested as police evicted a squat in Hackney today. Friends and supporters gathered at Stoke Newington Police station to demand their release.

The police said that both people were arrested for criminal damage and abstracting electricity, but they decided not to charge either. One was released, but the other was said to be wanted over a separate allegation in Poland, and is facing extradition.

A flyer distributed at the protest said:

Today police illegally evicted a squat in Hackney and arrested our two friends inside. We are calling for their immediate release!

Hackney council and the metropolitan police have been working together to evict squatters, families and the poor. We are loosing our homes to the aggressive gentrification of hackney: we aren't going without a fight.

We are increasingly harassed, searched, beaten and arrested, and this has become a common experience across the board with policing in Hackney.

We oppose police brutality and repression.

See also https://indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/07/404111.html

Dominic

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