Rights and Wrongs
This page has been set up to provide information and updates relating to Monaxle's arrest in Chatham High Street in July 2009, his complaint to the Professional Standards Department of Kent Police, and Medway Eyes' plans to raise public awareness.
For the full story, please see the post from Friday 17th July below. You will find a link to Monaxle's blog there, and much more besides.
Photo by Monaxle
Posted Friday 11th December 2009
Monaxle has finally received his letter from Kent Police, confirming that his arrest and subsequent detention were unlawful and unnecessary and that this has been recorded as proven. However, some parts of his complaint have not been upheld. You can read more on his blog.
The Independent ran another story on the use of Section 44 against photographers a couple of days after a BBC journalist was stopped and searched for taking photos of a London landmark. Monaxle gets a mention in that one too. You can view the online version of the article here, though sadly without Alex's photo of Mick's Plaice.
Posted Tuesday 1st December 2009
Monaxle was interviewed on BBC Radio Kent yesterday. You can listen to what he had to say here.
Posted Wednesday 25th November 2009
Monaxle has spoken to the investigating officer at Kent Police who has confirmed that his arrest back in July was UNLAWFUL. This is great news for Monaxle whose patience and integrity have won the day. You can view the details of Monaxle's conversation with the investigating officer here.
Posted Wednesday 26th August 2009 (edited 1st September)
Posted Tuesday 25th August 2009
One of our youngest members made a short film after our photo walk, where she interviewed Monaxle and a few other photographers and supporters about his arrest and the use of Section 44 on photographers.
Medway Eyes: Common Sense Views on Monaxle's Arrest from The Paisley Emporium on Vimeo.
The Medway Towns group on Flickr is hosting all photos taken on the day, but due to the constant stream of photos going into the group pool, it may take a while to dig for them. While we recommend that you have a nice leisurely browse of the Medway Towns group photos anyway, we have created a slideshow below of the Monaxle Photo Walk for your convenience.
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
Posted Sunday 16th August 2009
Thank you to everybody who came to support Monaxle and Medway Eyes yesterday. We made our point well, and the public we spoke to were supportive of us and shocked to hear why we were holding a photo walk. We managed to raise public awareness and appreciation of our rights and our photography.
Photo by Graham Ewing. Click through to see Graham's work on Flickr.
Posted Monday 10th August 2009
Please see our post of Saturday 25th July, below, for details of the photo walk on Saturday 15th August. The planned assembly point is the Riverside Gardens in Chatham. Here's a Google Map for anyone who needs to know where that is. It's near the library at ME4 4TX.
Note that this is a peaceful, non-confrontational and entirely legal action that will be conducted by people of all ages. If you have your own agenda and were thinking of coming along to make a noise and goad the police, then please don't bother. Stay at home and build your own bandwagon instead. We want to be safe. Especially the children.
Those of you who are coming to offer your support and walk and photograph with us, thank you. Remember, you can join Flickr for free and share your photos and experiences there (again, see the 25th July entry below).
You may prefer to join our Facebook group and add photos and comments there. That's cool, but read their Ts and Cs about photos carefully before posting. We strongly recommend Flickr as the way forward.
The I'm a Photographer Not a Terrorist website allows you to download a bust card, which outlines your rights should you be stopped by police officers. We recommend you carry two copies of it when you are out taking photos.
One last thing: A month after his initial complaint, Monaxle has yet to receive notification of the outcome from Kent police. Medway Eyes has received no response to correspondence from them either.
Thank you for your interest and support.
Posted Saturday 25th July 2009
We've been overwhelmed by your support and interest. Thank you.
Two crucial updates:
Monaxle's Complaint to Kent Police: This was voluntarily referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission by Kent Police. The IPCC subsequently decided that this was a matter for internal investigation. This is due process, and Monaxle will be able to appeal to the IPCC, should he choose to do so, if he is dissatisfied with the findings of Kent Police or their response to him. It should be noted that Monaxle has not yet received a written response to his complaint, although the police have issued a statement to the press.
Medway Photo Walk on Saturday 15th August: Inspired by recent events, Medway Eyes is planning a meet up and photo walk in Chatham on August 15th. An open invitation has been issued to photographers and friends, and both local and national press are expected to attend. This is not a protest, but we will be happy to speak on the subjects of photographers' rights and the value of social documentary photography whilst the group assembles.
We will be meeting up at 11:00am at a spot to be advised in due course. Thereafter, we will disperse into smaller groups and go our separate ways throughout Medway, allowing photographers to follow their eyes, rather than a prescribed route. We invite those attending to post their photos of the day in the Medway Towns Group pool on Flickr, and to share their stories of the day in a special discussion thread.
The aim is to celebrate photography and the Medway Towns.
As a courtesy, we will be writing to the Police and Medway Council over the next few days.
You are welcome to join our event-specific mailing list by simply sending an email to medwayeyes@gmail.com with "44" as the title, and we will keep you informed of developments. Alternatively, you might like to follow us on Twitter.
Posted Friday 17th July 2009
Monaxle's Arrest under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 - Updates
We've created this page for the following purposes:
- To record Monaxle's statement to "news gatherers"
- To provide links to reports from various news sources
- To keep our readership up to date with developments
- To provide information on photographers' rights
- To keep our readers informed about the peaceful gathering that will be taking place on Saturday August 15th.
- To comment on specific aspects of the episode, particularly where misreporting has occurred
Monaxle's Blog
The original article can be read HERE.
Monaxle's Statement to News Gatherers
Reposted from Monaxle's blog.
"Thank you for your interest regarding my arrest in Chatham High Street. As you should be aware I have lodged a complaint with the responsible authority (as defined by the Police Reform Act 2002 Chapter 30), which in this instance is the Professional Standards Department of Kent Police. When I receive a response to my complaint I will add a further post to my blog in relation to it. I do not intend to at this stage to comment further regarding the issue other than in any replies I choose to make to comments made in this blog post or elsewhere on the internet. When I receive the initial written response to my complaint I will also reconsider talking directly to any journalists that remain interested at that time. Clearly this is an important issue. Though I’m involved on this occasion it’s the principles that merit attention rather more so than my individual views. I hope you can understand this position".
Some journalists have ignored this statement and tried to obtain access to Monaxle. There is no need. All the information you require is contained within his blog or on this page. Monaxle is focused on due process and has no wish to become a one man media circus. If you want to know more about him, try using your mouse find his older blog entries and photographs.
Staying Informed
You are welcome to join our mailing list by simply sending an email to medwayeyes@gmail.com with "44" as the title, and we will keep you informed of developments.
In the News
To date, the story has been covered by the following organisations. Click on the name to see the article:
- Amateur Photographer
- Ban The Mindreader
- BBC Online
- The British Journal of Photography
- The Guardian
- Kent Online
- The Register
Unfortunately we couldn't find it on their website.
In the interest of fairness, here is the statement that was issued to The Register by Kent police.
Assistant Chief Constable Allyn Thomas said: "Our officers are extremely vigilant and their primary concern is always the safety of the public.
"At the time of this incident, a police officer responded to a report concerning a man who was taking photographs of buildings and people in Chatham town centre. When challenged by the police officer the man refused to give any personal details which it was thought was suspicious.
"As a result, he was arrested and asked to wait in a police vehicle while his details were checked. He was released a short time later after these details had been properly verified, and no further action has been taken.
"A formal complaint has subsequently be made in relation to this incident which has been recorded and an investigation has commenced."
It was Alex's right to withhold personal details, and Medway Eyes asserts that should not be regarded as suspicious when people choose to exercise their rights.
The news is all over the blogsphere, with many bloggers reposting the above news articles, most notably the one in The Register. The vast majority of comments are supportive.
One blog we would like to draw your attention to is that of Mark Reckless.
Photographers' Rights
The Metropolitan Police guidelines are very useful and informative. Note that although equipment can be seized by the police, images cannot be deleted or films destroyed.
Many of us have been carrying a written summary of photographers' rights in our camera bags for some time now.
Monaxle's Complaint
To date, no progress has been reported.
Medway Eyes' Response
On Saturday August 15th we will be photographing en masse in Chatham town centre in a peaceful, unobtrusive, articulate protest that will aim to inform on the importance of social documentary photography, the rights of photographers and individuals, the impact of section 44 on civil liberty and the responsibility and accountability that accompanies the ceding of unprecedented powers to public servants.
We will provide an update on this at the end of July.
Finally
One piece of information that Medway Eyes considers worthy of note is that the location given on the police form was Military Road. Monaxle was arrested in Chatham High Street, so why take him a couple of hundred yards just to be able to put a different location on the form?
Thank you for dropping by.