Magna Carta: Challenging 800 years of 'liberty'
London, United Kingdom - Police have attempted to shut down a "festival for democracy" at an eco-village overlooking a site where dignitaries including the Queen gather on Monday for official events to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta.
The festival was planned by the residents of Runnymede Eco-Village, a community established three years ago in an area of neglected forest on the edge of London within a few hundred metres of the spot where the celebrated document - considered by many a symbol of civil liberties and the principle of equality under law - was signed in 1215.
Organisers and participants said the event, which included talks by academics and political activists as well as music and workshops, was a necessary alternative to the official programme that included a river pageant along the Thames, and the erection of a four-metre bronze statue of Queen Elizabeth II, the UK's hereditary head of state.
"There has been a bonfire of the liberties in the past 10 years. We have seen the removal of so many of our rights to gather, our rights to protest, our rights of free speech and the right to a fair trial," Peter Phoenix, a Runnymede resident and a campaigner for land rights and the environment, told Al Jazeera.
"Our rights have been suppressed during the war on terror and we want some redress. Magna Carta was the beginning of it all, but now we need a new charter of liberties."
Maria Sanders, an Occupy Democracy activist, said that erecting a statue of the Queen to commemorate a document celebrated for curbing monarchical power was "hypocrisy".
"Part of the reason for having the festival is to make the point that the fight that started 800 years ago isn't finished. People still have to keep fighting for democracy because we don't have it, though we've made a lot of gains," Sanders told Al Jazeera.



