Libertarian Alliance News Release Contact Details: Dr Sean Gabb 07956 472 199, sean@libertarian.co.uk Friday the 10th August 2012 Immediate release

The Libertarian Alliance welcomes the acquittal of Simon Walsh on the charge of possessing "extreme pornography." It sees the acquittal as a victory for freedom of expression.

The Facts

Simon Walsh, a barrister and former adviser to the Mayor of London, was charged with possessing images of acts between consenting adults. The law used was section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, which outlaws pornography depicting acts which would cause "serious harm to the anus, breast or genitals". On Thursday the 9th August 2012, the jury acquitted him on all counts

Statement

Speaking today, Dr Sean Gabb, Director of the Libertarian Alliance, made these points:

1. There should be no law against the creation and publishing of any image depicting acts between consenting adults. Doubtless, the more extreme the act, the more investigation there should be regarding the reality of consent. In this case, however, it was reasonably plain that the parties had consented and were enjoying themselves.

2. There should be no law against the mere possession of any image. Possession of images should be used as evidence of involvement in illegal acts. But laws against possession in itself are a licence for the police to fabricate evidence.

3. The acquittal of Mr Walsh should be seen as a victory for free expression and a vindication of our ancient system of trial by jury. However, the main target of censorship by the British State is no longer sexual expression but dissidence against political correctness. The Libertarian Alliance notes that Emma West, a white working class Londoner arrested in 2011 and charged with "hate crimes," has still not been brought to trial. There have been repeated and ill-explained delays, and there is reason to believe that the authorities are hoping to wear her down by delay into pleading guilty. They are frightened that, as with Mr Walsh, their oppressive laws against freedom of expression will not bear scrutiny by a jury of twelve ordinary people.

4. Emma West is as much a victim of state oppression as Mr Walsh. In her case, indeed, the process has become the punishment. The Libertarian Alliance calls on all those individuals and groups who provided moral support for Mr Walsh to give the same support to Miss West. We cannot make a principled defence of freedom of expression if we support only those of whose expression we approve. Either we support Miss West in the same was as we supported Mr Walsh, or we do not really believe in freedom of expression.

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Note(s) to Editors Dr Sean Gabb is the Director of the Libertarian Alliance. He is the author of over a dozen books and a million words of journalism. He can be contacted for further comment on 07956 472 199 or by email at sean@libertarian.co.uk

His recent novel, The Churchill Memorandum, asks what England and the world have been like in 1959 if there had been no Second World War. If you like Bulldog Drummond and Biggles and the early James Bond, this will be right up your street.

Or his book, Cultural Revolution, Culture War: How Conservatives Lost England, and How to Get It Back, explains how its current ruling class has turned England into a totalitarian police state, and how this ruling class can be overthrown and utterly destroyed.

Or another of his books, Smoking, Class and the Legitimation of Power, explains how the current "war" on smoking has nothing to do with making individuals healthy, but everything to do with enhancing the power of a totalitarian ruling class, and enriching its relevant client groups.

You can see other books by Sean Gabb here. Extended Contact Details The Libertarian Alliance is Britain's most radical free market and civil liberties policy institute. It has published over 800 articles, pamphlets and books in support of freedom and against statism in all its forms. These are freely available at http://www.libertarian.co.uk Our postal address is

The Libertarian Alliance Suite 35 2 Lansdowne Row Mayfair London W1J 6HL Tel: 07956 472 199