Police caught on tape trying to recruit protester as spy
- From: Webmanager_CritEst <webmanager@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:43:12 -0700 (PDT)
Police caught on tape trying to recruit protester as spy
Plane Stupid climate change activist taped men who offered cash for
information about group's members and activities
Listen to the tapes and read the transcripts
* Paul Lewis
* guardian.co.uk, Friday 24 April 2009 18.18 BST
Plane Stupid climate protesters break into Aberdeen airport last
month. Photograph: PA/Plane Stupid
Undercover police are running a network of hundreds of informants
inside protest organisations who secretly feed them intelligence in
return for cash-in-hand payments, according to evidence handed to the
Guardian.
In the material, the police claim to have infiltrated a number of
environmental groups and say they are receiving information about
leaders, tactics and detailed plans of future demonstrations.
The dramatic disclosures are revealed in almost three hours of
secretly recorded discussions between covert officers, claiming to be
from Strathclyde police, and Matilda Gifford, an activist from the
protest group Plane Stupid. The officers attempted to recruit Gifford
as a paid spy after she was released on bail after a protest at
Aberdeen airport last month.
Gifford, 24, said she recorded the meetings in a bid to expose how
police seek to disrupt the legitimate activities of climate change
activists. She had two meetings with the officers, who said they were
a detective constable and his assistant. During the taped discussions,
the officers:
• Indicate that she could receive tens of thousands of pounds to pay
off her student loans in return for information about individuals
within Plane Stupid.
• Say they will not pay money direct into her bank account because
that would create an audit trail that would leave her compromised.
They say the money would be tax-free and add: "UK plc can afford more
than twenty quid."
• Accept that she is a legitimate protester, but warn that her
activity could mean she will struggle to find employment in the future
and result in her receiving a criminal record.
• Claim they have hundreds of informants feeding them information from
protest organisations and "big groupings" from across the political
spectrum.
• Explain that spying for police could assist her if in the future she
were arrested. "People would sell their soul to the devil," an officer
says.
• Warn her that she could be jailed alongside "hard, evil" people if
she received a custodial sentence.
The meetings took place in a Glasgow police station last month and in
a supermarket cafe on Tuesday this week. Gifford used a mobile
telephone and device sewn into her waistcoat to record the officers
when they offered what they described as a "business proposal" that
she should think of as a job.
They intimated that in return for regular updates on Plane Stupid's
plans she could receive considerable sums in cash.
When lawyers acting for Plane Stupid contacted Strathclyde police this
week to establish the identities of the detective constable, they were
initially told by the human resources department there was no record
of his name.
However, when the Guardian contacted the force, they acknowledged that
officers had met Plane Stupid activists.
In a statement last night, Assistant Chief Constable George Hamilton
said the force had "a responsibility to gather intelligence" and such
operations were conducted according to the Regulation of Investigatory
Powers Act (Ripa). The force would not comment on the identities of
the officers.
"Officers from Strathclyde police have been in contact with a number
of protesters who were involved with the Plane Stupid protests
including Aberdeen airport," he said. "The purpose of this contact has
been to ensure that any future protest activity is carried out within
the law and in a manner which respects the rights of all concerned."
It is known that at national level, a confidential intelligence unit
has been set up by the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo)
with the power to operate across the UK, mount surveillance and run
informers, with the intention of building up a detailed picture of
"domestic extremism".
Gifford's lawyer, Patrick Campbell, said: "I have very considerable
concerns about these events. There appears to be a covert operation
that is running in some way with, or using Strathclyde police's name.
There appears to be a concerted effort to turn protesters to
informants and possibly infiltrate peaceful protest movements.
"The methods employed are disturbing, and more worrying yet is the
lack of any clearly identifiable body responsible for this. These
individuals seem to have some kind of police support or at the very
least connections with the police – the access to police stations
confirms that – but my concern is the lack of accountability and the
threat to the individual and her right to protest."
Gifford intended to meet the officers for a third time yesterday,
taking a lawyer with her. But the officers did not appear at the
rendezvous. However, she said that later in the day she was approached
by the detective constable, who said he was disappointed in her. The
man got into a waiting car that drove off, leaving Gifford feeling
shaken and intimidated.
Gifford said today that the initial approach from the officers was "an
opportunity that fell out of the sky". "Recording them seemed like the
obvious thing to do. I was keen to find out what they had to offer,
what they wanted to find out, and feed that back to the group in case
other members of Plane Stupid were approached."
But she added: "In a sense it rippled out to something much wider, in
terms of not knowing who the two men are. It's opened up in all these
murky directions."
Listen to the tapes and read the transcripts
Read the full investigation in tomorrow's Guardian.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/apr/24/strathclyde-police-plane-stupid-recruit-spy
***
WM
www.critest.com
.
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