Meanwhile the international campaign in defence of the Communist League continues. Demonstrations in solidarity with the League have been held in fifteen cities across the United States, in a number of Canadian cities, and in Quebec. Five thousand people in West Berlin, and another 2,000 in Frankfurt, turned out for protest meetings against the banning of the League, addressed by Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Rudi Dutschke.
In France local protests have been held in a number of provincial centres, organised by the local branches of those organisations which are supporting the League nationally (Communist Party, Socialist Party, United Socialist Party, the trade union federations). Last week mass public sales of the newspaper Rouge (formerly the organ of the Communist League) were organised throughout France, with great success. On 10 July a French court ruled that Alain Krivine, a leading member of the former Communist League, should be released from custody pending his trial. This decision was immediately appealed by the Government, and Krivine remains in prison until the appeal is heard. Another militant of the former Communist League, Pierre Rousset, is also still in prison.
Here in Britain new signatures have been obtained for the letter of protest to French President Pompidou over the banning of the League. These include John Gollan, national secretary of the Communist Party; Monty Johnstone, prominent Communist Party intellectual; Ernie Roberts, Assistant General Secretary of the AUEW; and Peter Doyle and John Forrester of the Labour Party NEC. A local demonstration against the banning of the Communist League is being organised by IMG militants in Merseyside for this Saturday, and another is planned for the Midlands on 28 July.