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Raytheon 9 - preliminary hearing 5 June, charges reduced
 derry |
anti-war / imperialism |
news report
 Thursday April 05, 2007 20:02 by Virgil Tibbs - Derry Anti War Coalition
The Raytheon 9 appeared in court again this morning. Their lawyers got an indication that the state was ready to proceed. The earlier charge of 'aggravated burglary', a scheduled offence under the Terrorism Act, will not be pursued. Instead, the charges are those of 'affray', and two counts of 'criminal damage'. The case will be heard before a jury at the Crown Court in Derry, but not before the autumn.
The next stage is a Preliminary Enquiry, at which the Prosecution present the charges to be pursued and outline the evidence. This will be on Thursday 5 June 2007, at Bishop Street Courthouse in Derry.
The Derry Anti War Coalition is organising a mass rally outside the courthouse on that day, calling for the charges to be dropped and urge everyone to begin making plans to come to Derry for that day . The Raytheon 9 were in court again this morning .
Before the hearing, their lawyers got an indication that the state was ready to proceed and that the charge of 'aggravated burglary', which was a scheduled offence under the Terrorism Act, would no longer be pursued.
Instead, they are to be charged with 'affray', which can also be a scheduled offence, but in this case it is to be descheduled. They will also be charged with two counts of 'criminal damage'.
This means that the case will be heard before a jury at the Crown Court in Derry, probably in the autumn, at the earliest.
The next stage is a Preliminary Enquiry, at which the Crown Prosecution Service present the charges to be pursued and outline the evidence. The police are saying that they are still processing 150 witness statements (!!!). It is not clear who these witnesses might be, though there were a lot of police outside by the time the arrests were made.
The Preliminary Enquiry will be on Thursday 5 June 2007, at Bishop Street Courthouse in Derry.
The Derry Anti-War Coalition (DAWC) will be organising the biggest possible rally outside the courthouse on that day, calling for the charges to be dropped, as it may be the only opportunity this year to demonstrate support for the Raytheon 9. DAWC urges anyone connected to anti-war groups in other parts of the country to begin making plans now to come to Derry for that day - it will mean booking some time off work - and spread the word about it.
DAWC plans to relaunch the statement of support (in a more concise, easy to use form and listing all those who have supported us so far) in the next week, so that it can be used to build support for the 5 June rally especially. They aim to send it to every councillor, TD, MLA, MP, trade union etc in ireland and further afield. Suggestions for particular people in your area who might sign it, should be passed on to DAWC e.g. via http://raytheon9.org/.
The Cork Against War group are putting on a fundraiser for the Raytheon 9 on Thurs 19 April.
Next meeting of the Derry Anti-War Coalition will be on Monday 16th April in Mason's Bar at 8pm, to make a start on organising the rally for the 5 June.
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Comments (15 of 15)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15The chance to put the case to a jury is a positive development. I think there was some speculation of it being argued to a judge or panel of judges. After the ploughshares trial in Dublin, the prosecution must be a bit disappointed to have to argue the case to a jury.
Increase the pressure, y'all!
Brilliant news!
Hopefully this trial will go the way the Ploughshares one went in Dublin and they will soon be free to carry on the good work.
And now another defence contractor announces its setting up in Derry.
http://www.u.tv/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=82738&pt=n
Fujitsu which is responsible for several military hardware and software projects for several countries announce they are creating some 300+ jobs in Derry.
All the money men in Derry City Council must be rubbing their grubby little hands with glee. And I'm sure $inn Feign will be scrambling to get their hands on a cut to buy more nice fancy suits and import luxury cars.
Justice for the Raytheon 9 - merchants of war out of Derry now!
you might want to change the name from the maiden city to the merchants of death city.
Let's be clear about this: very few multinational companies do not have some military links e.g. DuPont a big employer in Derry for decades now make Kevlahar which has all kinds of military uses. However, what is different about Raytheon - and Derry Anti War Coalition has always been explicit about this - is that its MAIN purpose is as an arms manufacturer. This is why it has been the focus of a concerted campaign to get it out of the city.
So where do you draw the line Virginia?
Hello, your company works on several major weapons components and has contributed a lot to some of the most deadly and destructive weapons on the planet but as your main product is digital cameras and printers I guess its ok for you to set up a plant as long as you keep arms manufacturing to a minimum. And you do a lot of contract work for the military establishment of a country which is occupying six counties of the country you are setting up in and which has been responsible for the deaths of thousands of its inhabitants, not to mention torture, inprisonment and misery. Oh well because its not your main selling point I guess we will over look it.
Cherry picking horseshit!
Before you start cherry picking the companies you do and don't want coming in to the north it might be a good idea to do some research into the more ethically questionable work they do which they are not so keen to make known.
Many people drive volkswagens because volkswagens main product is cars sold to the public. However, dig a little and see what volkswagen provide to the military what countries these military groups belong to and you start to be a little more cautions. Dig a little deeper into the history of the company, particularly world war two and you find they used slave labour from concentration camps and prisoner of war camps to build their products and would you ever buy a volkswagen again? I hope not.
Have a little delve around and see what Fujitsu has worked on past and present and you might start to change your mind.
Looks like the DAWC needs to do a bit more homework on Fujitsu.
Try these links - just the tip of the iceberg.
http://www.ovum.com/go/content/c,55226
http://www.fujitsu.com/uk/casestudies/fs_btoperations.html
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2005/03/09/20872...s.htm
I'm quite surprised actually. I thought DAWC had a bit more savvy.
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/82758&comment_limit=0&c...96830
The DAWC can not really afford to rock the boat at the minute for fear of endangering the freedom of the Raytheon nine. This must really stick in their throats but its a sacrifice which needs to be made for the greater good. When the trial has ended then you will see a return to the war on the war companies.
If Fujitsu are bringing weapons projects into Derry it will be made public.
What I would suggest is that if anyone does know anything about Fujitsu bringing military work to Derry then they should voice it at one of the anti-war forums.
Yeah Mal but how is making public the fact that a company who plays a major part in military work going to endanger the freedom of the Raytheon 9 (for who I have the upmost respect)? If anything it would have the opposite affect, showing that they are devoted to peace and prosperity and the motivation behind their actons is founded by their strong ethical values.
As you can see from the links above Fujitsu's work plays a major part in the British Army's command and control and communications structure and correct me if I'm wrong but is that not the same thing that Raytheon in Derry were hauled over the coals for last year by Derry City Council after the journalist published documents prooving Raytheon Derry were working on the same kind of thing.
The ambiguity of the whole thing just amazes me. Because the Raytheon name is mostly associated with weapons then we can object to their presence but because the Fujitsu name is associated with commercial products we can overlook them doing exactly the same thing as Raytheon. Go on then, I'm obviously missing some subtle point here so please explain it to me Mal?
Well I am looking at the big picture and to me anyway the big picture is this. There will be no suport in Derry for this type of action by either the council or the people. They are more concerned with getting people into jobs than they are about who they are working for. The general feeling in Derry about Raytheon is ‘who cares’. To be frank there does not seem to be a lot of support for the anti-Raytheon campaign in Derry. The average joe does nor care. If DAWC starts campaigning against Fujitsu then their credability will probably take a kicking because as a person above has pointed out they are not recognised as an arms dealer the way Raytheon is. People will see protestors as trying to drive away jobs from the city and if anything this will cause resentment. DAWC want Raytheon out of Derry. Let’s face it its probably not going to happen. They know this but it does not deter them. Why? Because the value the anti-Raytheon campaign lends to the global anti-war cause. Raytheon serves as a symbol of bomb and weapon makers. Actions against them may not close them down but it does create publicity and public awareness and that is the real benefit of the actions of DAWC against them. It inspires thought, inspires others to action and makes people aware of what the cold, stark realities of their closed little lives are. That is the value of the anti-Raytheon campaign. Lets face it doing the same against a company like Fujitsu or Du Pont will not have the same impact. I understand your point Jed and it is dishartening to say the least. I am not trying to take away from what you say in the slightest and I agree with you completely in principal. In reality however I have learned that you need to pick your battles and I just do not see the value in a battle with Fujitsu for the reasons stated above.
Yeah Mal I understand the point you are trying to make. But the point I am trying to mae is that we should at least be exposing companies like Fujitsu and letting people make their own minds up.
It doesn't have to be a protest or a rally. It can simply be letters to local papers voicing concerns, questions to local councillers at Council meetings, comments put up on web sites and that kind of thing.
This isn't starting a battle with anyone, its not pissing people off and it doesn't have to be done in the name of any antiwar group. It can be done by concerned citizens.
At the end of the day any right minded person has a duty (I think anyway) to expose this kind of thing and get it into the public domain. If we didn't than companies like Raytheon, Thales and Shorts would be doing a lot more than they are now and contributing more to death and destruction around the world.
The gist of it is that if Fujitsu see that they have got public attention and the public don't like them working on war work then they might think twice about doing it in Ireland. That in itself would be a victory, all be it a small one.
There was a good turn out of people from Dublin, Cork, Donegal and the Lebanon outside the court last Tues, 5th June, when the Raytheon 9 were supposed to have the Preliminary Enquiry about their case. However, the prosecution were - again! - not ready. Having said a few weeks ago that they were not ready to proceed because they have over 150 witness statements to go through, this time they said they have still more witnesses from whom they need to get statements. The magistrate was a bit cross with the prosecution. "This is not a murder case", he said, "the defendants have a right to a speedy trial and it will be over a year from when the alleged offences took place by the time the trial happens". He insisted that the prosecution return in two weeks time on 19th June, ready to proceed.
Jed that's fair enough. I take your point and I agree that we should be making such things public IF THAT IS THE CASE..
This hinges on a few things.
1) Wait until after the Raytheon 9 trial so that nothing is done to jeopardise or prejudice their case.
2) Find out if Fujitsu will actually be doing military work in Derry before taking any action and if they are, THEN start organising demos, newspaper articles, die-in and so on.
I’m not saying that we should not do anything. I am saying that we gather our information and pick the right moment and method to expose it. Even then it will be more difficult to get support for an anti Fujitsu campagin. Like it or not you can not categorise Fujitsu and Raytheon in the same context - when was the las time a Fujitsu bomb destroyed a market in Iraq and killed many innocent people?
Jesus, its like banging your head against a brick wall!
What do you mean “if that is the case” Mal. Try clicking on the links above. Try doing your homework. It is the case.
Fujitsu have made no attempt to hide the war-work they do. The information you want to gather is already there. Its just a matter of getting it to the masses.
Fujitsu bombs may not be falling on markets in Iraq, but Fujitsu software and Fujitsu products are being used to get them there. After all they’re used in the command-and-control structures of the armed forces and they are the ones who drop the bombs.
Once again we’re getting back into this narrow-minded mode of thought that as long as the company doesn’t actually make something that goes boom then its really not as bad as the other companies that do. Wise up!
Raytheon in Derry could be making cuddly toys. Would you still want them there because the profits they make from selling those toys goes back into weapons manufacture and research? Don’t think so. Fujitsu could well be writing software in Derry to organise and control the delivery of weapons onto your market in Iraq. Is this acceptable to you?
Even if Fujitsu are making cuddly toys in Derry, the profit they make from those is going back into a company which is producing some very sophisticated military hardware and software which is helping to drop bombs, move tanks and planes, co-ordinate attacks, order the daily milk ration for soldiers and yada yada yada.
The very least that should be happening is for people calling for Fujitsu to detail the work they are doing in Derry and offering some assurances that they are not doing war-work. Fail to see how you view this as having a negative effect on the R9 trial. If anything it would reinforce their actions and serve as a reminder the public of the reasons they did what they did.
Please Mal spare me any more of the "but they're not as bad as a proper weapons company are" horseshit. They do their part and they're accountable, no matter how far down you and others choose to bury your heads in the sand.