Mayo Solidarity Protest at GPO Dublin

by Ciaron - Catholic Worker/Ploughshares Fri Sep 12, 2008 04:36

The policing tactics at Rossport of minimum arrests/maximum roughing up, in response to nonviolent civil resistance, have been a premediatated attempt to steer the movement into a reactionary violence.

The state is violent, clearly expressed in the high crimes at Shannon, Tara and Rossport - and invites violence wishing to define the issue at these flashpoints as "law and order" and marginalise the core issues of human rights, environement and destruction of communities for energy profits whether the be in Mayo or Iraq.

The Irish state continues to fail in this strategy at Rossport as the movement remains grounded, disciplined, creative and maintaining the intitiative in its resistance. The Irish state hopes the people are still on a Celtic Tiger bender, but many are waking up a little hungover, in debt and unwilling to take our frustrations on each other in true DV fashion. As the recession kicks in, and the living on credit daze, conclude these areinteresting times where questions long supressed durng the binge are surfacing.

With the acquittals of the Pitstops, Raytheon crew and Greenpeace activists in England this week, no wonder the state wishes to avoid due process when confronting nonviolent resistance...

Cleared! Jury Decides That Threat of Global Warming Justifies Breaking The Law
by Michael McCarthy

The threat of global warming is so great that campaigners were justified in causing more than £35,000 worth of damage to a coal-fired power station, a jury decided yesterday. In a verdict that will have shocked ministers and energy companies the jury at Maidstone Crown Court cleared six Greenpeace activists of criminal damage.Jurors accepted defence arguments that the six had a "lawful excuse" to damage property at Kingsnorth power station in Kent to prevent even greater damage caused by climate change.

The defence of "lawful excuse" under the Criminal Damage Act 1971 allows damage to be caused to property to prevent even greater damage - such as breaking down the door of a burning house to tackle a fire. The not-guilty verdict, delivered after two days and greeted with cheers in the courtroom, raises the stakes for the most pressing issue on Britain's green agenda and could encourage further direct action.Kingsnorth was the centre for mass protests by climate camp activists last month. Last year, three protesters managed to paint Gordon Brown's name on the plant's chimney. Their handi-work cost £35,000 to remove.

Continued...

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change....html

by TTT Fri Sep 12, 2008 09:55

I hadnt heard of the Maidstone verdict, thats beyond great! Wow.

Yes I too have wondered about why the Rossport people havnt been charged after their arrests. Its a good thing for them that they are not hindered in their work by crippling bail conditions as 22 of us are at Tara. Maybe the State dont want to make martyrs of them or gain more negative publicity by criminalising peaceful protesters who are standing up to illegal operations. There Is a reason.

Shell to Hell!

by Malachy Steenson - The Workers Party Fri Sep 12, 2008 09:58 malachyst at gmail dot com

The President of the Workers’ Party has pledged his party’s continuing support to the community of Rossport and the Erris peninsula in the ongoing struggle of the Shell to Sea campaign.

Mr. Michael Finnegan said, "At this critical time The Workers' Party wishes to convey our total and continuing support for the struggle of the people of Rossport and environs against the depredations of Shell Oil and its cohorts, against the abject surrender of the State to big oil, and of the deployment of the Gardaí and Naval Service who are being used as the enforcers for this profit-hungry international consortium".

Speaking at a Workers’ Party meeting in Ballyfermot, Dublin last night, Mr. Finnegan stated that on a national level the Corrib Gas deal represented daylight robbery of Ireland’s natural resources and on a local level it represented an ongoing and life-threatening danger to local residents and local fishermen.

"Shell Oil", said Mr Finnegan, "or indeed any of the other companies in the Corrib project have no loyalty to the Irish people or the people of Mayo. They have no respect for the environment as can be seen from Alaska to the Gulf of Mexico. They have no respect democracy, human rights, or the rights of indigenous people as is most blatantly seen in Nigeria. Their only loyalty is to their corporate shareholders and expanding their already bloated profit margins. We must ask why they are in Mayo, and say quite clearly that they, and their bullying tactics, are not welcome".

"Since the early 1970s", continued Mr Finnegan, "the Workers Party has highlighted the robbery of our natural resources by international conglomerates and the collusion in this robbery by both the Irish government and the gombeen Irish capitalist class. From the Tynagh Mines to the Kinsale Gas field, or from the Navan Mines to the present day Corrib Gas robbery nothing has changed except the names of some of the actors. Our Natural Gas, one of the most valuable commodities in the world; will be pumped away without one Cent in royalties or profits going to our cash-strapped government coffers. The complete irony is that the Norwegian Government, through their ownership of Statoil, will end up with over 25% of the profits from the Corrib field."

"Once again we congratulate the Rossport Five, Maura Harrington, and all those other local residents who, against all the odds and the forces of the state, are confronting the might of the international oil giants in the interests of their local community

by SG Fri Sep 12, 2008 10:20

The lesson seems to be, if you are going to carry out non violent resistance to make your point (and the lack of political support for anything other than business-friendly solutions to the wold's problems makes nvda an increasingly rational strategy) then you should always opt fo a jury trial. Juries have shown that they are not prepared to send activists to prison for drawing attention to the excesses of the state and big business.

Shutting down a power station, disabling a warplane, destroying a field of GM crops- all of these have been allowed by juries- despite strong prosecution cases.

by Ciaron - Catholic Worker/ Ploughshares Fri Sep 12, 2008 14:34

Today's Guardian (G2) carries cover story on the history and the legal consequences of these acquittals in England. Interview with Andrea Needham who wielded the same hammer as later employed by the Pistops at Shannon.

Acquittals are quite rare in the Plowshares movement..two of our people got 18 year, a few 8, most 2-3 years.
Check history on chronology section
www.plowsharesactions.org

The old saying from jail
"if you can't do the time
don't do the crime (as the powers that be often define NVDA)"
is worth bearing in mind before you rush off.

Jury trials are not guaranteed (nonexistent even in some western europe countries), varies from country to country what minimum financial damage is done to qualify.....
before you get out of the assembly conviction line of the magistrates courts
Prosecution (and often judges) will do their damndest to stop one running a legitimate defense provided by the act.