UK: MINERS STRIKE 1984-1985: ORGREAVE
12 June 2015
Despite finding evidence of assault, police withholding evidence and committing perjury the IPPC (Independent Police Complaints Commission) decides not to investiage any further:
IPPC Decision (pdf) and:
IPPC Review (pdf)
See:
Orgreave: Truth and Justice Campaign (link):
"Whilst disappointed, OTJC members are not surprised that the IPCC will not be conducting a full investigation into policing at Orgreave on 18 June 1984. It was back in November 2012 that South Yorkshire Police referred itself to the IPCC, which ever since has acted slowly and conducted little independent work in assembling and collating information. The fact that the IPCC, described – rightly in our view – by many prominent individuals as ‘not fit for purpose’, is stepping aside on Orgreave affairs will not therefore be deterring the OTJC from continuing its campaign." [epmhasis added]
See the excellent video:
The Battle for Orgreave (YouTube, link, viewed 67,204 times):
"The miners' strike 1984 was one of the longest and most brutal in British labour history. A community fighting for jobs and survival was wholly denigrated and depicted as violent by the majority of the media. THE BATTLE FOR ORGREAVE puts the record straight, as miners recount their own history.."
Orgreave: What they wouldn't say in public (Morning Star, link):
"As early as 1991 ministers were privately admitting that there may have been problems with the policing during the most infamous incident of the miners’ strike"
IPCC will not investigate Orgreave police action during miners' strike - Watchdog says 1984 events too long ago despite evidence that officers assaulted miners, perverted the course of justice and committed perjury (Guardian, link):
"In a report to be published on Friday, the IPCC says that the force’s withholding of evidence about improper treatment of miners and perjury by officers, and its failure to investigate it, “raises doubts about the ethical standards of senior officers at South Yorkshire police at that time” and suggests they were complicit. However, after two and a half years’ research into evidence relating to the bitter Orgreave confrontation and prosecutions which followed, the IPCC has decided not to investigate further."