Newsflash - raytheon 9 Acquitted
national |
anti-war / imperialism |
news report 
Wednesday June 11, 2008 16:14
by Damien Moran
.
I just got an sms from Ciaron O'Reilly:
R9 ACQUITTED ON ALL CHARGES. E McCann guilty of theft - got conditional discharge.
Earlier Feature: http://www.indymedia.ie/article/87799
More details to follow.
Congratulations to the defendants, their supporters, etc.
Comments (17 of 17)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17absolutely delighted with this news. maybe more sporadic actions will occur as a result of ¨raytheon 9¨ ' s actions....fair play to everyone involved...these guys have courage and guts and hopefully will inspire others to do their bıt to end this horrıble war......this action and result prooves we can play a huge part in ending the suffering of the ıaqis and ındeed all those people who are at the recieving end of raytheons war machine....
thank u, the raytheon 9....yous are an inspiration......
(hopefully this result wıll be followed up by a positive NO vote ın the lisbon treaty- to top off the week)
to the 9 and all supporting. The right and just result!!!
Congratulations guys!!!!
Wow! :-)
Anyone see a trend here?
What's next?
bloggish stuff...
'There were jubilant scenes in a Belfast court today as six Derry anti-war protesters were unanimously acquitted of destroying property belonging to multinational arms company Raytheon.
As the Crown Court jury of four men and seven women were led from Court 14 at the Laganside complex, the six men and their supporters who had packed the public gallery clapped and cheered in appreciation of the not guilty verdicts.'
http://www.derryjournal.com/journal/Raytheon-6-cleared....43.jp
Can somebody do an interview with somebody you know who was in court today and get a little alternative exclusive for Indymedia?
By the way, Indy was the first to carry the acquittal on the web.
Take note of the final paragraph - the jury obviously believed our friends who were acquitted and not the war profiteers.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/foy...3.stm
http://u.tv/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=89575&pt=n
The focus for these news outlets is that Eamonn, to paraphrase, 'stole discs' and was 'let off', rather than the amazing news of the acquittal and what it means in exposing Raytheon's crimes and the politicians who let them come into and stay in Derry.
Brilliant. Just got this most welcome news from Ciaron and Paul (thanks C and P) after coming home (without mobile). It's fantastic.
The long wait is over for these brave people and I hope that their celebration will be full and joyous. They deserve no less. Sleep well tonight.
Thanks to all nine and their faithful supporters who stood by them throughout all the dark moments before this happy conclusion.
Raytheon may not have been stopped from making killing machines and children will still be dying as a result of their horrible weapons but they stand condemned now more than ever.
Well done, "Raytheon Nine", you have made history today. You have exposed Raytheon the dealers in blood for what they are.
Well done too to jury and judge.
Six were acquitted, I thought there were nine, what about the other three?
Well done to the Raytheon 9 and to all involved in the Derry Anti-War Coalition! It should be remembered that this was a collectively agreed action and all in DAWC should be commended for the act of decommissioning and for the solidarity they organised afterwards for those actually arrested. Goretti in particular played a key role and could have been among those charged.
Well done all in DAWC! Well done the Raytheon 9!
Another aquittal for non-violent direct action! It certainly puts it in a position to be a more generally accepted form of protest,
Question to Damien or Ciaron, were they aquitted on the same grounds you were? ie. that criminal damage does not apply if you destroy property to save someone from harm or their property from harm.
I would assume after the dust settles. A lot is going to be written about the Raytheon 9 case from legal and political, movement and academic frameworks.
Legally, it was a in different jursidiction eg. British V Irish. where the criminal damage acts are written differently. The legal defense team would have laid the basis in which relevant evidence could be heard. The Prosecution one would expect try to strip the act of any damage of any context eg. Raytheon's complicity and profiteering in the killing of innocents. At one point in the Raytheon case the Judge wished to direct the jury to acquit (as the Judge did in the Loch Goil plowshares case where Trident related computers were thrown overboaad from a barge into Loch Goil). It appears that the defense thought they were in such a strong position early in their case they decided - that to add would be to subtract - and closed after calling only one witness. This contrasts with the Pitstops all testifying and attempts (some successful some not) to call many expert witnesses. These decisions are all strategic and this is what happens when you accept professional legal representation rather than defending yourself....which is also a tactical/ strategic decision.
Politically, the broader anti-war movement and associated organisations (IAWM, StWC, CAAT could have done much more to make this a major showtrial of the arms trade) did not swing behind the Raytheon 9 as it failed to swing behind the Pitstop Ploughshares...if it had, this acquittal and the previous one would have been more dynamic....more heads would have been plugged into the circuit board for a jolt of hope. Everyone in Ireland should at least know what Raytheon is and that the U.S. military are still using Shannon Airport...they don't and that's not the fault of any of the defendants in either of these trials. The mainstream media Covering (up) of the Raytheon 9 acquital is remiscent of the cover up they did following the Pitstop acquittal. Both these were historic acquitals and exceptional occurences in the legal system on the island. It is not bad luck they are being suppressed, these are editorial decisions. There are other ways they will enter the dissident memory and nourish nonviolent resistance long after Emperor Bush has departed Belfast and the world stage.
As you say this acquittal and the Pitstops should do much to mainstream NVDA as an anti-war movement tactic north and south of Ireland. We have to develop techniques and a culture of solidarity where people taking the risks of NVDA feel nourished and supported. I hope to write about this and solidarity in general in the days ahead. It would be interesting to have a seminar or gathering to unpack what was learnt form these two trials - not only legally but in terms of organising techniques locally, nationally and internationally.
Harry Browne's soon to be published (by Counterpunch) book "Hammered by the Irish" takes up these themes of the legal defense, isolation of nonviolent direct actionists in the Irish ant-war scene and celebration of communities of resistance in much more depth. Hopefully more will be written by and and about the Raytheon 9 experiment in nonviolent resistance.
>Six were acquitted, I thought there were nine, what about the other three?
They are currently in prison in the Irish Republic so they could not attend the trial.
The still got acquitted though.
I would think it highly unlikely the state would pursue a prosecution on absent co-defendants when the case has already been heard and lost. For example, acquitted defendants could testify at the later hearing they had already been found not guilty of charges arising from the incident etc etc
While I don't understand the legalities of it all, the other three were represented on the first day of the trial. There was some muttering by their barristers back and forth with the judge and then they withdrew. I went out and asked them if the other three would be included in the trial as we are all are adamant that there should be no separation of the 9 defendants. The barristers said that, if the six were acquitted, then the other three would be de facto included in that verdict while if the six were found guilty the other three could demand a separate trial since they were not in court....so getting a second bite of the cherry.
to all the 9 for their commitment and effort to bring this great result, a very important victory for the people.
I remember in 1999 doing a public awareness meeting with Eamonn McCann in Letterkenny about the growing arms trade ( publicised by Afri researchers in their excellent LINKS report ), particularly in the north where the Good Friday Agreement actively facilitated and welcomed the investment of these companies. It is very satisfying to see ordinary town people in Derry people step up to the challenge to put things right, take the knocks along the way, and put huge effort into making the connections between that faceless looking factory to some of the families it is responsible for destrying in Lebanon. Well done!
To Ciaron; fair play for your active solidarity to the 9. I second your call for a seminar to learn from this trial and the CW trial, and I suggest my own trials have much also to contribute to the pool of learning. While I was convicted for criminal damage in 2004, my appeal has been slowly working its way through the Court of Criminal Appeal, thwarted however by the dissapearance of a significant portion of the transcript. Its a very interesting case, as was the trial with many obstacles and important lessons.
Overall a good week with very hopeful results Great stuff!
Also sends a big statement to Raytheon. You are not wanted in Derry!
There are rumblings that the plant is in trouble and is considering closing its doors.
This verdict will only increase the pressure on them to do that.
Now the trial is out of the way we can get back to protesting outside and taking the message directly to the workers and the management.
Find ethical employment - close down - piss of!
Raytheons "anti protestor weapon".
Basically the thing microwaves you from a distance. Lovely!
http://www.counterpunch.org/dickinson05282008.html
http://www.counterpunch.org/garcia06022008.html
(Note: Raytheon9 got a mention! :-)
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