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Extinction Rebellion deletes ‘misleading’ prison advice that told protesters to practise yoga

Climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion has removed its prison guide from its website after it was criticised by civil rights activists for being misleading and outdated.

The environmental group encouraged activists to get arrested during two weeks of disruption in London last month.

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More than 1,100 demonstrators were arrested during the protests, which brought parts of central London to a standstill.

The guide told protesters that “most of the prison officers are black and do not wish to give you a hard time but simply want to get on with their jobs”.

Extinction Rebellion also recommended taking books with “plenty of good tips for yoga and meditation” and reassured activists that they would be able to request a vegetarian or vegan diet.

A spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion told the BBC: "A number of inaccuracies in our guide have been brought to our attention. The guide has been removed from the website and is now being rewritten with the support of legal experts."

Here's what Extinction Rebellion advised protesters about prison:

  • Make sure you have plenty of good literature
  • You can take in reading, writing, and art materials and swap books with other activist inmates
  • Structure the space with times for sitting, yoga, breathing exercises, journaling, creative art
  • If you get solitary there's plenty of time for meditation
  • You can take as many naps as you want!
  • Most of the prison officers are black and do not wish to give you a hard time but simply want to get on with their jobs.
  • We strongly encourage you to prepare psychologically and/or spiritually for your prison experience. For many jailed activists, it has been a moving and maturing experience

Civil rights activists warned that prisons are “dangerous and oppressive” institutions, and said the advice was inaccurate.

According to the latest government figures from March last year, more than 94 per cent of prison officers in England and Wales were white, contrary to the protest group’s claim.

“Prison is not – and I can not stress this enough – a yoga retreat,” human rights campaigner Eda Seyhan wrote on Twitter.

"Prisons are dangerous and oppressive institutions where disproportionate numbers of black and brown men are locked away from the rest of society,” Sehyan told the BBC.

"I've spent enough time in police stations and prisons to know that violence and discrimination are rife – no amount of yoga or meditation can change that."

The guide also said activists were unlikely to be held in prison for more than six days.

Three members of the group who were charged with obstructing trains or carriages on the railway on 17 April were denied bail and have been held in custody until their next court appearance on 16 May.

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Another Twitter user commented: “It’s particularly awful because if your campaigning intrinsically involves the possibility of arrest, there must be safeguards in place to support people who put themselves in that vulnerable position.

“The glamourisation of arrest and imprisonment is so problematic”