Trident Ploughshares Undeterred by Rejection of Appeals

international | crime and justice | news report Wednesday May 05, 2004 21:00 by Eoin Dubsky - Trident Ploughshares (087) 6941060

Anti-trident activists in Ireland stick by their pledge too

The Trident Ploughshares campaign has confirmed that it will continue its programme of peaceful protest against Trident at Faslane and elsewhere in spite of today’s rejection by the Scottish High Court of the appeals of three protesters against convictions for a breach of the peace.

A five-strong panel of judges (Lord Cullen, Lady Cosgrove, Lord McLean, Lord McFadyen and Lord Sutherland) heard the appeals last month, along with two others unconnected to anti-Trident protest. Jane Tallents (45), from Helensburgh, appealed against a conviction for protesting against Trident in the Scottish Parliament in April 2001; Margaret Jones (55), from Bristol, against a conviction for a blockade at Faslane in February 2002; Gaynor Barrett (25) from Exeter, against a conviction for a blockade of the warhead depot at Coulport in 1999.

The judges have issued a 26-page judgment backing the decision of the magistrates and sheriff who handed down the convictions. Though the judgment has still to be scrutinised in detail, it appears to support the status quo as represented in the Smith v Donnelly opinion. Campaigners say this means that across the country people will be acquitted by unbiased magistrates who find that the actions of the accused were unlikely to cause fear and alarm, while the politically biased justices at Helensburgh District Court will continue to convict peaceful protesters.

A Trident Ploughshares spokesperson said: “The High Court judges say that the circumstances are crucial for assessing a charge of breach of the peace that behaviour which is a breach of the peace in one context may not be in another. What they have lamentably failed to do is to show any appreciation of the context for anti-Trident protest. Our actions at Faslane and elsewhere are famed for their peaceful and non-violent nature and our protest is against illegal weapons of mass destruction. Like their colleagues who handed down the notorious Lord Advocate’s Reference judgment in 2001 they seem to have no understanding of what nuclear weapons actually are. In Jane Tallents’ case they have said that prosecuting her was valid since it provides a deterrent. We want to make it clear that this judgment will not deter us from our campaign of direct action against Trident.”

On Monday 26th April Irish citizens and British citizens living in Ireland handed into the British Ambassador to Ireland a letter asking him to pass on to Prime Minster Tony Blair their demand that Britain abides by its treaty obligations and sets a real timetable for decommissioning its nuclear weapons.

The peace activists include members of Irish CND, Trident Ploughshares, and the Dublin Catholic Worker. They have taken steps to begin the disarmament of Britain's Trident nuclear missile system openly and peacefully, "by hand" as it were.

Karen Fallon, who just before the US-UK invasion of Iraq last year helped to decommission a US warplane at Shannon Airport, said: "Far from fulfilling its obligations to disarm under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the British government has recently stated that it will continue to use Trident submarines as a nuclear deterrent, and is pro-actively pursuing the development for use of tactical nuclear weapons. These weapons of mass destruction are a serious threat to the peace and lives of everyone on this planet. The UK should honour its treaty obligations and disarm now!"

Eoin Dubsky added: "We want the British Ambassador to Ireland to urge his government to prepare for the NPT Review next year by setting out a genuine step-by-step programme of disarmament. Furthermore we hope that Ireland will return to the principled position it held before, opposing all nuclear weapons equally, not least the ones which really do exist and quite possibly pass through Irish airspace and waters."

The event was part of the "Deadline for Disarmament" campaign during which people all over Britain asked their MPs to pass on the disarmament demand. Overseas supporters approached their British embassy or consulate with the same demand.

The campaign was organised by Trident Ploughshares which, in the light of the failure of the UK government to act, has issued its own timetable of disarmament activities at Trident sites across England and Scotland.

Members of the Trident Ploughshares campaign sign a Pledge to Prevent Nuclear Crime, giving their full name and address, which is posted to the British Prime Minister's Office. They prepare for their open, accountable and peaceful disarmament actions by participating in intensive nonviolence and safety training workshops before becoming "pledgers". Trident Ploughshares activists have been involved in high-profile anti-war disarmament actions in Britain and Ireland too.