JIMS Protest At Holyrood, 4th June 2026
- empowerinnocent
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
The weather forecast was grim, but the attendance was still good – around 70 people were willing to brave whatever the clouds dropped on them.
That said, the weather remained relatively kind with some rain spotting and only 1 momentous deluge towards the end of the protest, considerately held in abeyance until all the speeches were done.
Kirsty did a wonderful job of introducing the event, outlining JIMS’ remit and aims, reinforcing the fact that JIMS’ campaign is for fair trials, supports all genuine victims and renounces all the trolling and false accusations that come their way. Banners were held to reinforce this, one in particular reading ‘Our Dad was denied a fair trial; now we are denied our Dad.’ Talking to children and grandchildren old enough to understand the effects of what the legal system had visited on their families was especially moving.
Lynne followed, and she spoke with great dignity about the situation concerning her son, convicted after what she and her family believe was an unfair trial. Her powerful words as a mother detailed how she and her son were vilified by the media, which was only too willing to jump on the bandwagon of condemnation, and utterly unwilling to hear anything to counter the court narrative. Mothers support their children, that’s what we do, but Lynne made clear that her support for her child would not have included justifying guilt but evidence of her son’s innocence did not get a fair airing, and she is part of JIMS’ campaign because it campaigns for fairness for everyone, genuine victims as well as the accused.
It appears, though, that the media has its own agenda, as not only were none of the media outlets interested in hearing Lynne and her son’s side of the story, not one media outlet attended on June 4th despite being informed of the protest. In fact, of all the protests held by JIMS so far, the only one that attracted media attention was the one that was marred by a counter-protest. Potential conflict, it seems, is of interest to the media, not fair trials and this applies to all media outlets, mainstream press as well as the tabloids and rags.
Many were moved to tears by the eloquent words of Rena, who spoke of the devastating effect of a false accusation on her husband – a man so painfully aware of the lifelong effects of a false accusation and what it meant for him in terms of social execution, that he died by suicide last year. Contrary to popular belief, false accusations kill and her and her family’s experience is living proof of that.
Dr Stuart Waiton, the academic criminologist from Abertay University, then spoke in a personal capacity, despite the attempts by activists and the university itself to silence him last year. Free speech and its exercise matters and quite rightly, none of the complaints about his invitation to JIMS to give a lecture on his criminology course were upheld.
This was followed by an account by Wayne, an horrific retelling of how he was arrested in front of his young family, remanded in prison for over a year and never interviewed by police before being acquitted of all 17 charges of alleged rape involving 2 women at trial. Given that one woman denied in court ever having accused him and his partner suffered pressure from police to also make a complaint, one has to wonder what the motives and policies of the police and prosecutors actually are. His is not a unique story, but he is unusually brave in talking about it publicly.
Beyond the speeches, there was time for interacting with the passing public who expressed an interest in the event and asked questions, (or, when driving by tooted their horns and waved in support), and between the protestors themselves, many of whom had harrowing experiences to relate.
Deliberately held outside the parliamentary building, all MSPs had been notified and invited to come and make themselves known; to learn first-hand what the concerns of JIMS members and their supporters are. Unlike the general public, they demonstrated virtually no interest whatsoever. Determinedly apolitical, JIMS does not curry favour or align with any political party, but of 129 MSPs, only 1 MSP (Reform) took the time to come and talk with the organisers. Worse, 1 (Green) MSP walking by openly stated their disinterest in the topic and another MSP (Green), when offered a leaflet to read, initially refused to take it and had to be persuaded to take it to read later. Every other party was conspicuous by its absence. Politicians themselves make it difficult for the public not to form opinions on their true motives once in office.
This is what those campaigning for fair trials are up against - the utter disinterest of our political representatives; representatives that have yet to respond to a Supreme Court ruling handed down 7 months ago, clearly stating that there is an issue with the fairness of rape and sexual offence trials in Scotland. And the utter disinterest of the press.
But JIMS is not to be deterred, and the fight continues. Those who can will join International Falsely Accused Day on 9th September 2026, and protests will continue at regular intervals until the public understands and the politicians listen. MSPs don’t all have to agree, but they are required to listen and they are also required to take note of Supreme Court rulings.
Currently they are failing in far too many of their duties. Politics should not be for vanity projects or pet ideologies, it’s an important task affecting each and every member of the population that too few seem to take seriously.
Fair trials are not an option in a democracy and the protests will continue until we get them.
By Felicity Stryjak
Director, Falsely Accused Database
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