Is there a doctor on the street???

Sometimes its nice to get out of the office and onto the streets – gets you back in touch with what this campaigning mallarky is all about.

Yesterday marked two years in jail for Binayak Sen – a remarkable man who has spent decades providing healthcare to the rural poor in central India. That won him all kinds of plaudits and awards. But he wasn't happy to leave it at that. He also engaged in political activity, questioning the authorities over their actions. And that got him chucked in jail.

Two years inside without a trial, without any firm word as to the exact charges against him and growing concern over whether he will every receive any kind of fair trial. It just ticks all those Amnesty boxes doesn't it.

Binayak Sen will be the subject of our At the Festival campaign in Scotland this year – with intrepid Amnesty volunteers heading off to various events and festivals to ellicit support for his case. More about this on this blog at a later date.

Yesterday we marked the occasion by arranging for 30 campaigners to dress up as doctors, who were then handcuffed and chained up outside the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh to make a rather photogenic photo opportunity. A great day for it, with the sun shining and a whole batch of photographers turning out.

The whole idea is to impress upon the Indian Consulate that folk in Scotland are talking about this issue and that the reputation of their proud democracy is being dragged through the mud by these actions. So the nice big photos in the Herald, Scotsman and Metro will have done just the trick.

You can see more photos here