SPEAK -

Oxford University’s attempts to jail SPEAK founders Robert Cogswell and Mel Broughton ended in their humiliating defeat when the case was dismissed by the Judge in the High Court on 1st February. The University’s legal team had been relentlessly pursuing the pair for 3 months and had in the process squandered in the region of £44,000-worth of public money (pledged by a government with a self-serving agenda) which could have been far better spent shoring up the struggling health service.

This whole episode has reinforced our belief that where no other options are available. The way to best a bully is to stand one's ground and fight back. Despite months of harassment by the university, who have manipulated the law, and repeatedly scampered to the High Court to make false allegations about SPEAK’s activities, we have refused to be silenced.

Oxford University’s track record since the start of the SPEAK campaign 3 years ago has not been exactly squeaky clean, and they have had to engage in rapid ‘clean-up’ operations on a number of occasions when their spokespeople have put their foot in it! Sometimes those stubborn stains just stick…and it seems like someone’s put their foot in it again.

The contempt proceeding against the SPEAK founders was a crucial case to win. If Oxford University had won, a dangerous precedent would have been set. Oxford University had wanted two people imprisoned not for what they had done but for what they had said, and despite the fact that they had broken no laws. That’s just how desperate the university has become to prove they haven’t lost the plot or the argument.

These time and money-wasting exercises do nothing to secure Oxford University’s enduring position as a centre of academic learning – instead, they are damaging its reputation and status. The University is now more a financial corporation than a centre of excellence for learning – a corporation with a medley of associates from mercenary groups to large pharmaceutical corporations, with one thing in common: that they are responsible for the deaths of the innocent.

The failed contempt proceedings brought against the SPEAK founders and the continuing injunctions intended to silence the campaign should have taught Oxford University and any other parties with vested interests that their tactics are failing; that they have failed to accurately assess the mood and determination of their opponents.

We have a message for Oxford University: we’re here to stay. We’re here to dog their every step. If they try to stop us, we’ll come back stronger and more determined. The more they want to stop us from telling the truth, the more we’ll make sure the truth gets out. We have long known that these people can’t be reasoned with. What we are here to ensure is that they are made to be held accountable for what they do, and that they are stopped from doing it.

A worker at the High Court commented on Monday that it had been many years since the High Court had seen such a large demo. People travelled the entire night to make the long journey to London from as far a field as the northernmost tip of England. That’s the sort of commitment we need to end animal abuse at Oxford University! Both Mel and Robert would like to thank everyone who supported them not just this week but over the last few months: their commitment and their encouragement were invaluable. The fight continues: together we are an unstoppable force and together we will win.

For Felix and the millions of others like him!

Disclaimer: The information on this website is for the purpose of legal protest and information only. It should not be used to commit any criminal acts or harassment.