The History of the Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network

In 1991 the international direct action movement Earth First! established itself in Britain and it soon became the fastest growing eco-movement at that time. Initially British EF! actions were very localized and small scale. But in 1992 Britain saw its first "national" Earth First! protest against the Twyford Down road construction.

Twyford Down really sparked off the anti-roads movement in Britain and established Earth First! as an effective protest network. Also in 1992, Earth First! had its first ever British EF! Gathering. At the Gathering there was a discussion about the use of ecotage and it was felt that the British Earth First! movement should not become associated with criminal damage as this might loose it some of its popular support. As a result of this decision, by Earth First!, to cease using ecotage as a weapon, a new movement was born, the Earth Liberation Front (ELF).

The ELF was dedicated to using ecotage as its weapon. The ELF modeled itself on the already very successful Animal Liberation Front and the ELF adopted the ALF's autonomous cell structure of operations as well as its policy of illegal non-violent direct action.

1992 was a very important year for radical environmental direct action in Britain. A lot of actions took place (both EF! and ELF) and a lot of learning also took place. For example, 1992 saw the creation of Britain's first anti-roads protest camp, the Dongas. 1992 also saw the ELF declaring their first "Earth Night" (Halloween '92) which saw a lot of damage occurring, especially at Twyford Down.

As well as the eco-activists learning news skills and tactics, the British police were also learning how to handle these new protests. Mass arrests/bailings (with conditions not to go near Twyford Down) became common place and also mass breaking of bail also became common. The ELF activists (who call themselves Elves) also found themselves under scrutiny with police interest in their activities. And a private investigation company, based in Hampshire, was employed by the police to create a list of known or suspected eco-militants.

With the police showing such interest in both ELF and Earth First! activists it was feared that it would only be a matter of time before militant environmentalists found themselves ending up in prison. So in 1993 a small group of activists talked about setting up an eco-prisoner support group. The name '(H)ELP' (Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Group) was decided upon for this new group, as the activists wanted something that was non-sectarian and neither linked to the ELF or Earth First!.

At the start (H)ELP.SG had great plans but sadly, we must admit, for the first year (H)ELP.SG was absolutely useless. (H)ELP.SG failed to respond to letters of enquiry; it failed to produce any prisoner lists; and basically it failed to do anything other than let a few people know it existed!

In 1994 one of (H)ELP's original supporters, the then Animal Liberation Editor of Green Anarchist magazine, got so fed up with (H)ELP's failure to support the prisoners he launched a coup d'etat and using the name 'Devon Vegans Campaigns Unit' wrote to all the EF! groups in Britain with a list of eco-prisoners (four EF! prisoners and one ELF prisoner) imploring them to support the prisoners. He also persuaded the other GA Editors to allow him to publish a full and complete Animal & Earth Liberation prisoner listing in Green Anarchist magazine.

Within a month of 'Devon Vegans Campaigns Unit' sending out its letter, ELP was re-launched from a new address in Somerset. However the re-launch of ELP was more than just a re-location of its mail box address. One of the first major changes was the name (H)ELP Support Group was changed to Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network to demonstrate that ELP was not a specific group, but a network of concerned people.

As well as the name change, the new ELP team (which contained a couple of ELP's original supporters/founders) also started to produce a regular single sheet of A4 folded paper called 'ELP Update'. Later this "update" expanded and grew into the multi-paged ELP Journal.

The 'ELP Journal' was a major step for ELP. It allowed ELP to show it was serious about prisoner support and it also allowed ELP a platform for the prisoners & their supporters to speak out and say what they thought. When ELP was re-launched in 1994 one of the big concerns of those running it was they didn't want to create a "supporters group", instead they wanted the eco-prisoners themselves, along with their supporters, to have a direct say in what ELP did and did not do.

For example, whenever ELP lists a prisoner we always list what the prisoner is inside for. The decision to do this came about because an Earth First! prisoner at the time did not want to see people jailed for violent actions listed on the ELP lists. However others felt differently. In the end a compromise was reached that ELP would list all eco-prisoners, regardless of what their crimes were, but ELP would also always make sure there was a little description of what the person was accused of so people could decide for themselves if they wanted to support that individual or not.

With its ELP Journal up and running, an offer was made by an EF! activist/ELP supporter for ELP to have its own page on a shared eco-website. Again this helped to spread the name of ELP. And with ELP's name starting to be spread around the international eco-movement everything seemed to be going really well. But then disaster struck...

In 1994/95 two leading ELP volunteers/co-founders found themselves being arrested for reasons not directly connected with ELP. The first arrest was that of Davey G, the Editor of the ELP Journal. Davey was arrested in London distributing a pro Earth Liberation Front publication, the Terra 1st, (pronounced "Terrorist") which the police said contained inciting material. On that occasion Davey was not charged with any offence, but all the copies of the publication were seized and destroyed.

The second arrest was that of Noel M, the person who compiled the ELP prisoner lists, the prisoner updates and the Ecodefence Diary for the ELP Journal. He was arrested and accused of conspiring with others to incite both Animal Liberation & Earth Liberation direct action, something he was later formally charged with assuring his place in the infamous GANDALF Trial. During his first police interview the police demonstrated their interest in ELP by asking Noel how he knew Bosco Boscovich (who at the time was jailed in Australia for setting fire to a French Embassy in protest at French nuclear tests). The police said they knew it was Noel who had first contacted Bosco and they knew he had offered Bosco the support of ELP. The police questions during this interview showed that ELP was attracting international police attention.

Besides the arrests of two of ELP volunteers, in general 1995 was a rough year for a number of British eco-activists.

In 1995 the British police were determined to crack down on the Animal Liberation Front including the circulation of Animal Liberation Front material and the publishing of Animal Liberation Front news. Their prime target was the Animal Liberation Front Press Officer, Robin Webb. However whilst investigating the publishing of ALF news and looking at the distribution of ALF publication such as 'Into the 1990s with the ALF' the police became aware that Green Anarchist magazine, at that time, was also publishing comprehensive international lists of ALF and ELF actions and was also distributing copies of 'Into the1990s with tha ALF' and simular publications through its mail order service. This led the police to become very interested in both Green Anarchist magazine, its Editors and the activities of militant environmentalists.

1995 saw a series of police raids & arrests across Britain against known animal rights and environmental activists. Fifty-five raids in all took place and at one point the police considered charging up to twelve people with "Conspiracy to Incite Criminal Damage" although in the end only six people were charged which ultimately led to Britain's infamous GANDALF Trial.

Because of the raids/arrests, some of which were directed against ELP's main volunteers, ELP itself nearly came to a grinding halt. A lot of the ELP's part time volunteers panicked. This panic became near hysteria when both the ELP mail drop address, along with Davey's family home, were raided and an arrest warrant issued for Davey. Happily nothing serious resulted from that arrest warrant. But it did pursuade Davey to cease his involvement with ELP with the knock of effect of the closing down the ELP Journal.

The loss of the Journal was a major blow for ELP resulting in ELP relying heavily on sympathetic publications like Green Anarchist magazine and Eco-Vegan newsletter to carry its prisoner lists and updates. The problem here though was that the editors of these publications were also the same people who had been charged with Conspiracy to Incite Criminal Damage, in preparation for the GANDALF Trial, and so these magazines & newsletters continued publication could not be guaranteed.

In August 1997 the GANDALF Trial started. By this point ELP was a one-person operation and that one person was one of the defendants on trial! Things did not look good. However aided by some of his Green Anarchist co-defendants ELP's remaining volunteer continued to publish a regular prisoner list and even started up a new publication called Spirit of Freedom.

ELP had two incentives for the creation of a new publication. Just before the start of the GANDALF Trial, the small bimonthly freesheet called Eco-Vegan, closed down. By the time of its closure of Eco-Vegan had become ELP's main platform for distributing up-to-the-minute prisoner news. Without Eco-Vegan, ELP could not inform people of any new prisoners who they learnt about. And within weeks of Eco-Vegan closing down news emerged that two Leeds Earth First! activists had been jailed for anti-roads activities. ELP felt it could not stand by and watch these two activists serve an entire sentence without some sort of recognition/support, so Spirit of Freedom was born.

The second reason for the creation of Spirit of Freedom was a tactical move. At that time the British police were directly linking ELP with the Earth Liberation Front and the police were directly accusing ELP's last remaining volunteer of using various publications, including the ELP publications, to both circulate Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front news and to also incite both ALF and ELF activity. The volunteer was also personally suspected, by the police, of participating in a number of ELF & ALF actions although charges were never bought about due to a lack of evidence.

Because the police were so very clear in their minds that the existing ELP publications where Earth Liberation Front publications, it was hoped that a new publication would be free from such links in the minds of the police, and that any new volunteers who wished to take over the running of the network would be able to take up the new publication without too much legal complications/police interest.

Happily just before the end of the GANDALF Trial some new volunteers for Spirit of Freedom did come forward. The new volunteers, all from Leeds, were former Earth First! prisoners who recognized the importance of prisoner support. And despite all the obvious risks that were now very much associated with ELP, these new volunteers took on the work of ELP.

By using their contacts the Leeds volunteers managed to redevelop and expand the ELP Support Network. Under the Leeds volunteers guidance "Spirit of Freedom" became a regular publication. They also set up their own website, called Spirit of Freedom, which was able to disseminate prisoner news almost immediately. The Leeds volunteers also established some really good links with the 'Earth First! Action Update' (EF!AU), which regularly gave mention of prisoners.

It is widely recognised by all concerned that the Leeds based ELP volunteers were absolutely fantastic and without them ELP would have died a death. The only problem the Leeds volunteers found was the fact that ELP had always been a loss making project and the Leeds volunteers couldn't afford to keep up the production of a paper version of Spirit of Freedom newsletter. Therefore, after a couple of years, the paper version of Spirit of Freedom ceased and instead ELP concentrated on encouraging prisoner support via its website and via friendly publications such as EF!AU.

However despite the fact the paper version of Spirit of Freedom ceased it was never totally forgotten as an idea. In March 2000, after a couple of years of being away, one of ELP's original volunteers returned to ELP and launched a new publication, 'ELP Newsletter'.

Ever conscious of costs, the new 'ELP Newsletter' tried to use e-mail for its distribution where ever possible. Initially the use of e-mail to circulate the Newsletter was done as a purely cost cutting exercise. However it was soon discovered that e-mail had other uses that just being a cheap form of communication...

In February 2000 a number of anti-roads protesters were arrested and jailed in Ireland. The ELP volunteers didn't learn about these arrests until after the production of the March 2000 Newsletter and by the time the next ELP Newsletter came out the Irish anti-roads protesters had all been released from prison.

Recognising they'd totally failed to support the Irish anti-road prisoners ELP realized it had to improve its system of distributing prisoners details as soon as it had that information. Waiting for the next edition of a newsletter to be published might be too late. So therefore Urgent ELP! was born.

Urgent ELP! is an e-mail based bulletin service which circulates the details of any new prisoner just as soon as ELP gets their details. The advantage of Urgent ELP! is it allows prisoners to start receiving support as soon as they are jailed and it also means that those on short sentences, who are jailed in between newsletter publication dates do receive the support they very much deserve. Since its launch Urgent ELP! has been a resounding sucess and a highly popular service that a few other prisoner support networks have copied.

Also around the same time ELP started to negotiate with supporters, in America, who were running the Free & Critter Support Campaign (two American activists accused of setting fire to some SUVs to protest against the environmental damage these vehicles cause). From these negotiations, with the Free & Critter Support Campaign, ELP was able to launch a new contact group, the North American Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network.

Then in 2003 ELP expanded its official contact network even further with the establishing of contact groups in Italy, Poland and Turkey, with plans to try and expand the contact network into even more countries.

But just as things started to be looking as if they were going well for ELP, a new legal complication arose.

A the start of 2004, Bayer PLC, a large European based company that is involved with Genetically Modified crops, issued an injunction against a number of leading British anti-GM groups and individuals to try and stop them from campaigning against the company and its subsideries. One of the "groups" mentioned in the injunction was the Earth Liberation Front. The injunction against the ELF was served c/o Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network.

According to the original Bayer PLC injunction, British ELP's mail box address was a mailing address for the Earth Liberation Front. Bayer PLC also directly stated that ELP's website www.spiritoffreedom.org.uk was an Earth Liberation Front website.

ELP totally rejected these accusations and sort legal advice on this matter. Having sort legal advice, British ELP contacted the courts and formally complained about the injunction. In their letter ELP explained what the Earth Liberation Front was and what ELP was. The letter explained that ELP was not the ELF and directly challenged Bayer PLC to provide evidence to back up their allagations against ELP. Bayer PLC's responce to this letter was to drop all reference to both ELP and the ELF from their injunction.

After their slight distraction with the Bayer PLC incident, ELP started to get back on track again. And apart from the arrest of a Turkish ELP volunteer for allegedly spray painting pro-prisoner slogans during an international day of protest in support of the Swiss eco-prisoner Marco Camenisch, things were going fairly well. But then a new disaster struck.

In December 2005 ELP was shocked to hear that one of its former volunteers, Daniel McG, who had been a founding member of the North American ELP Support Network, had been arrested accused of involvement in an ELF/ALF conspiracy which had occured in Oregon, USA. Due to the use of police informants a large number of people were arrested, accused of this conspiracy, and over the next year the ELP volunteers, along with a large number of other people, went through an emotional roller-coaster ride watching as this case took many twists and turns, eventually resulting in Daniel and his co-defendants all being jailed for several years each (Daniel himself received a sentence of 7 years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to his role in the ELF/ALF conspiracy).

It is agreed by the ELP volunteers that Daniel's jailing was a very bad episode in ELP's history. Even after he ceased to be an ELP volunteer, Daniel had continued to help ELP out when he could and his loss was deeply felt, not least by the British ELP volunteers who'd come to rely upon his advice.

However despite the ups and downs that ELP has experienced, coupled with the occassional legal problems faced by its volunteers for their activity unconnected to ELP, as a network ELP has, over the years, sucessfully expanded itself and established itself as an effective international eco-prisoner support network.

Through the work of our volunteers and supporters, over the years ELP has seen a shift within the radical environmental movement from a time, in the 1990s, when hardly no one wanted to support the eco-prisoners, to now when a number of magazines and websites regularly publish lists of the eco-prisoners. In fact through the power of the internet and e-mail, people can not be alerted to the arrest of an activist within hours of that arrest occuring!

ELP has volunteers in seven countries (Britain, America, Belgium, Turkey, Greece, Italy and Australia) with supporters around the world. No matter what country a person is jailed in ELP is happy to help and we look forward to our network ever growing stronger.

For more information, please do get in contact.

Article written by: Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network, BM Box 2407, London, WC1N 3XX, England.