Press Release Friday June 20th 9pm

Voices in the Wilderness UK (0845 458 2564) voices@viwuk.freeserve.co.uk
Michael Nendick (01273 736 690) (micnen@yahoo.com)

Anti-war Protesters Refuse to Pay

Twenty one peaceful anti-war protesters each refused to pay their fines on Thursday after they were found guilty of unlawful highway obstruction for an anti-war protest dating back to before the recent Iraq war.

After a two-day trial, at Dacorum Magistrates Court, Hemel Hempstead, a single magistrate rejected their defence of lawful excuse and fined each defendant between £120 and £180. Refusal to pay can lead to a prison sentence of up to a week.

"None of us is willing to pay because we don't wish to co-operate with state terrorism," said Michael Nendick, 35, an English teacher from Brighton. "We took our action believing the government was planning not only an immoral act, but one that was also illegal. We may see a higher court agree with us if Tony Blair or anyone else are ever indicted by the International Criminal Court." The International Criminal Court (ICC) identifies military aggression as a crime. The UK government ratified the ICC Statute in October 2001 and is therefore subject to its jurisdiction. The United States has notoriously refused to be held to account by the ICC.

The magistrate rejected the protesters' argument that their obstruction of the highway had been lawful because it had been an attempt to impede the government in its preparation for war. The magistrate stated that there were plenty of lawful ways to protest at a government's behaviour. "The magistrate seemed to have made up his mind before listening to our evidence," said Nendick. "Many of us have written to our MPs, the Foreign Office, and Tony Blair, and gone on marches and signed petitions. We have found that registering protest is not enough. People like Gandhi teach us that power resides in the people and that when enough people refuse to co-operate with a government it must listen. Unfortunately, the amount of peaceful resistance was not
enough this time. Sadly, therefore, there will be a next time."

The protesters had all been arrested on January 19th of this year for blocking the entrance to the UK military headquarters in Northwood, Hertfordshire. Twenty two of the 53 people arrested pleaded not guilty, leading to their trial this week.

Defendants included Nick Buxton an aid worker who was greatly disturbed by the desperate reports coming from affiliated aid agencies in Iraq.

Heather Hunt visited Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War and saw the devastating effects of the bombing as well as the sanctions and the widespread radioactive contamination from the many thousands of depleted uranium shells used across wide areas of Iraq. "I repeatedly contacted the Foreign Office last year, to ask them if depleted uranium was to be used in shells should there be another attack. They would not answer my question."

"We must continue to look for ways to restrain our terrorist state from its murderous overseas actions," concluded Nendick.

Press Release: Voices in the Wilderness UK
Thursday June 12th 2003
Contact: 0845 458 2564, 0794 7839992 or 020 8806 6272

20 to stand trial for anti-war protest: defendants to use case to put invasion of Iraq on trial.

This coming Tuesday 17th June at 10am, Hemel Hempstead Magistrates' Court will see 20 people from around the country stand trial for blockading the entrances to Britain's military nerve centre in Northwood [1] during an anti-war protest in January. Sixty people were arrested at the protest on January 19th which closed the main entrance to the base for eight hours [2]. Almost all were charged with 'obstruction of the highway.'

The trial comes as evidence continues to mount that the British Government distorted pre-war intelligence reports to exaggerate the threat posed by Iraq [3] and UNICEF warns that 'Iraqi children are suffering alarmingly high rates of diarrhoea and related diseases' as a result of the invasion and its chaotic aftermath. [4]

Defendant Gabriel Carlyle (29) from London said, 'this was an illegal and immoral wardriven by the greed and arrogance of powerful men happy to gamble with the lives of millions of people. Over five thousand civilians were killed and the aid agencies are now predicting that Iraq's children face a 'summer of diarrhoea' as a result of the chaos caused by the war, with many more innocent lives lost. I intend to use this trial to put the British Government in the dock, where it belongs.'

Notes
[1] For more information about Northwood Permanent Joint Headquaters (PJHQ) see here
[2] See here for pictures and reports on this action.
[3] See eg. New doubts on Iraq weapons, Evening Standard, 6 June 2003.
[4] See UNICEF Worried by Health Risks to Iraqi Children, Reuters, 9 June 2003 http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=571&ncid=571&e=4&u=/nm/20
030609/hl_nm/unicef_iraqis_dc_3

For another report on this case see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/2998016.stm
See here for details of other anti-war protest court cases