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xmasdale
Angel - now passed away
Joined: 25 Jul 2005
Posts: 1959
Location: South London
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 Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 11:08 am Post subject: Jury clears USAF Fairford "saboteurs" |
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Lambeth Stop the War have sent us this:
Pair cleared of air base damage
The Oxford
Mails e-dition is inviting comments on its report of the Olditch and
Pritchard aquittal: it would be a shame for there just to be just seven.
http://www.oxfordmail.net/display.var.1417621.0.0.php
http://www.oxfordmail.net/display.var.1417621.0.0.php#comments_for
m
Now I have text to send.
The activists, from Oxford, admitted using bolt cutters to cut through a
perimeter fence at RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire, prior to the Iraq war.
...The two men intended to damage the planes by clogging their
engines, as well as sabotaging the runway...
When caught by Ministry of Defence police they had coloured liquid
and bags of nails and staples to use in the sabotage plan...
Defending, Edward Rees said they carried out their protest because
they believed the planes were being prepared to bomb Iraq
indiscriminately with uranium and scatter bombs....
"These particular bombs would inevitably have resulted in
indiscriminate death of civilians.
"They believed that the extent of the damage to normal life was
unreasonable," he said.
......
Jurors took four hours to reach their not guilty verdicts.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/6681639.stm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necessity
The two men, who came to be known as the B-52 Two, pleaded not
guilty to conspiring to cause criminal damage when they tried to
disable the bombers to prevent them from attacking Iraq. They argued
that they acted to prevent damage to life and property in Iraq, and war
crimes by aggressors. It was the second time they had been tried for
the same offence. The first, in October 2006, ended in a hung jury,
after 12 hours of deliberation spread over three days. Had they been
convicted, they could have faced up to 10 years in jail. Two similar
cases are awaiting re-trial, as a result of hung juries, at Bristol
crown
court.
The protesters argued that war crimes would be committed in the
bombing as the B-52s carried cluster weapons - which scatter
unexploded "bomblets" that kill and maim civilians. They argued that
the aircraft were also armed with "bunker busting" bombs tipped with
depleted uranium that fragments and spreads radioactive toxins
harmful to civilians.
The prosecution conceded only that delaying the bombers would have
prevented civilian casualties since it would have allowed people fleeing
cities more time to escape.
The court heard that the pair entered the base on March 18 2003, the
day before bombing commenced at the start of the Iraq war. They were
armed with bottles of red and brown coloured liquid along with bags of
nails and staples which would have been poured into the planes'
engine bays. The pair were arrested after being spotted by patrolling
Ministry of Defence police.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/antiwar/story/0,,2085930,00.html |
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Mark Gobell
On Gardening Leave
Joined: 24 Jul 2006
Posts: 4529
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| Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 4:36 pm Post subject: |
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Bravo. Sense has prevailed, at last.
Four years and two months after the alleged offences took place.
The decision follows a judicial review and High Court ruling, Court of Appeal, House of Lords, trial and re-trial.
Political intervention and submission to a judge, authorised by then Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, claming that to rule on the legality of war would encourage terrorists.
A ruling that stated the UK courts have no power to rule on the legality of war because it is a matter of international law, even if the international court were to subsequently find that the war was in fact illegal, a defence based upon preventing an illegal war cannot be used in UK courts and in any case the Crown is exempt.
Slap yourself again with that wet fish. It's true.
A ruling that allowed a defence based on the prevention of war crimes.
A marathon legal case finally resolved.
Just as in the Fairford Coach Action case.
Congratulations to all.
_________________
The Medium is the Massage - Marshall McLuhan. |
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Disco_Destroyer
Trustworthy Freedom Fighter
Joined: 05 Sep 2006
Posts: 6342
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| Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 5:05 pm Post subject: |
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Excellent news as long as the next cases go similarly well 
Funny how these kind of heroic stories never reach the MSM
_________________
'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
www.myspace.com/disco_destroyer |
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Mark Gobell
On Gardening Leave
Joined: 24 Jul 2006
Posts: 4529
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| Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 5:10 pm Post subject: |
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Ah but. CIF features our protagonists here: http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/toby_olditch_and_philip_pritchard/ 2007/05/on_the_face_of_it.html
| Quote: | The greater crime
The verdict acquitting us of criminal damage in the B-52 case is fantastic, but Iraqis are still living in a war zone.
Toby Olditch and Philip Pritchard
On the face of it we were guilty; our intention to damage B-52 bombers on 18th March 2003 was explicit and not one we ever sought to deny. We knew that the information we were carrying with us when we went into the base gave the prosecution all the evidence necessary to pursue charges.
However the law makes provision for the fact that a person may do something that would otherwise be criminal while acting to prevent a greater crime or while trying to protect the property of another.
Therein lies the nub of it; the lawful excuse that allowed a jury to acquit having listened to a week of evidence on the consequences to Iraqis of "Shock and Awe" and the indiscriminate nature of cluster munitions and depleted uranium.
We should like to believe that in reaching their decision, the thoughts of the jury went far beyond the bounds of the court, to a country that has been laid waste by an unprovoked war and that in finding us not guilty they were also sending a message of sympathy and support to the millions of people who've been affected by the war in Iraq and in particular by the weapons used.
In my mind the jury were reflecting the greater collective common sense of our country in regretting the war itself. A reflection that we are all in part responsible for the tragedy that has befallen Iraq and the Middle East.
It is impossible to know exactly what was in the minds of the jurors but we think they were persuaded by the weight of the information we carried on our action and by the details of how cluster bombs and depleted uranium weaponry may affect civilian populations long after war is over.
This is not a ground-breaking verdict. It is arguably unusual, but in Eire last year five people were found not guilty in Dublin for the Pit Stop Ploughshares action against a USAF transport jet at Shannon Airport, and in 1996 four women who damaged a BAe Hawk jet bound for Indonesia were acquitted after demonstrating to the jury that the Hawks previously sold were being used in genocidal attacks against the East Timorese.
Although the verdict is fantastic for us the feelings we come away with are bitter sweet for us as ordinary soldiers and the people of Iraq are still in a war zone due to the recklessness of our government. This might be the closest Britain ever gets to a ruling in a domestic court on the Iraq war.
We would far rather never have found ourselves in a position where taking non-violent direct action is necessary. We will always regret not having been able to stop the use of these weapons. However we hope that by communicating our motivation and the moral and legal justifications for this action we are able to provide some balance to unchecked executive power.
The thousands of messages of support from all over the world, especially while we were in prison; the close support of our families, friends and new acquaintances; the dedication of our lawyers has served to transform this action from two people breaking into an airbase to a mass of people acting to change the way we regard the state, the abuse of power and our common responsibilities as citizens. |
_________________
The Medium is the Massage - Marshall McLuhan. |
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Disco_Destroyer
Trustworthy Freedom Fighter
Joined: 05 Sep 2006
Posts: 6342
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| Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 7:44 pm Post subject: |
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What I mean is that it was not reported when they where arrested to prevent copycat activists
_________________
'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
www.myspace.com/disco_destroyer |
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