In loving memory of Tim Clark, friend, joker and most proudly a father. He supported the campaign against  immoral arms manufacturers in Bristol at times getting himself into to trouble doing so. He supported the red factory social centre through good times and  bad. He was a pleasure to live and work with, he was a trooper, a comrade and hilarious at a party. He will be sadly missed but he will always remembered.

R.I.P Tim

After a nail-biting twenty-four hour hiatus, the jury came to decision on the Decommissioners Case – 100% Not Guilty! Six of the seven defendants Tom Woodhead, Bob Nicholls, Ornella Saibene, Harvey Tadman, Simon Levin and Chris Osmond came smiling out of Hove Trial Centre at the end of a gruelling three and half week trial. Elijah Smith was remanded in custody for another offence. Five were acquitted on Wednesday afternoon, the other two Chris and Elijah had to wait until this morning. They had waited eighteen months for this moment. Read the article here

Yesterday five of the seven remaining EDO decommissioners, on trial in Brighton for damaging the EDO arms factory during last year’s attack on Gaza, were found unanimously not guilty. The other two verdicts are expected Friday, as the court isn’t sitting today (Thursday 1st June).

The defendants successfully argued in court that they were acting to prevent war crimes against the people of Gaza. EDO MBM have been shown to be complicit in these crimes by supplying parts for F16 aircraft.

After being acquitted, one of the five, Ornella Saibene, said: “I’m proud of what I’ve done. It was the right thing to do.” the crowd gathered outside the court obviously agreed with her. Another decommissioner was heard saying “the campaign has been an inspiration to all of us and after this verdict an investigation should be launched into ITT’s bussiness here in the UK”

Noam Chomsky said on hearing the news “I would like to express my respect and admiration for those who are undertaking non-violent resistance to oppose British participation in Israel’s cruel and illegal crimes in Gaza.”

The court case will continue on friday support is still very welcome.

The defence get their first victory under their belt as one defendant gets their case dropped at the beginning of the week, followed by the start of the defence case with decommissioners Ornella Saibene and Robert Nicholls taking the stand along with character references for each. Read the rest of this entry »

or should we say one not down! the first defendant in the EDO decommissioning case has been acquitted, and hopefully she won’t be the last. The judge concluded that there was absolutely no evidence that the ninth person arrested had known anything about the decommissioning at EDO/MBM until after the event.

The Prosecution case came to an end on Tuesday the 15th, the defence case is due to begin on Thursday the 17th.  Support is still welcome outside hove crown court, but if your busy during the week support the Decommissioners Benefit Roast and WildKatz Gig and celebrate us having at-least one acquittal.

Sunday 20th June – 2-9pm, Cowley Club London Rd. Brighton.

Tasty vegan roast followed by music from Brightonian music collective “The WildKatz”

The judge in the decommissioners trial at Hove Crown Court on day one said that the jury would need to know the historical background to the trial. He recommended that a short summary of the Goldstone Report be submitted to the jury as part of the evidence for the defence. This is a highly significant decision as the report is extremely critical of both the Israeli Defence Force and Hamas. It finds, in particular that war crimes were committed by Israeli F16 in its attack on Gaza in 2009. Outside the court room around 100 people gathered in support of the decommissioners, if you were one of them we are very grateful.

During the second day of the trial the managing director of EDO MBM was called to be a witness by the prosecution. Things got particularly interesting when Dexter Dias QC got the chance to cross examine Paul Hills on whether his company was supplying component parts to the IAF. Dexter Dias QC was determined the truth be told and brought several documents to the juries attention. Including the Zero Retention Force Arming Unit which used to be advertised on the EDO MBM website as being used in the IAF VER 2 which is the F16 bomb rack. Have a look at the archive pdf here.

The Guardian covered the start of the trial you can read it here.

A jury in Belfast Crown Court has acquitted nine women for their parts in a protest at the Raytheon plant in Derry in January 2009.

Julio Torrojo, Roisin Barton, Goretti Horgan, Elizabeth Doherty, Diana King, Helen Reynolds, Roisin Bryce, Sharron Meenan and Jackie McKenna were acquitted after just over an hour of jury deliberation.

Earlier this week, Judge Tom Burgess directed the jury to acquit another three of the ‘Raytheon 14′, Rory McDermott, John McMonagle and Bernard McFadden The jury convicted two defendants of minor offences.

The accused faced charges including breaking and entering over the direct action at the Raytheon company in Derry in January 2009, when a number of people acted to protect lives in Palestine during Israel’s brutal military assault on Gaza, which killed 1,400 people.

Raytheon supplied many of the bombs and missiles used in the Israeli assault on Gaza in late 2008 and early 2009. Raytheon’s factories globally manufacture Tomahawk Cruise missiles, Sidewinder missiles, Hellfire missiles, the ‘bunker buster’ bombs, the delivery systems for cluster bombs, white phosphate and napalm.

In a statement the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) welcomed the decision by the jury. It commended those who faced the courts for their entirely appropriate response to the presence in Derry city of Raytheon, a company that has Israel as one of its largest customers. And it commended the jury for its good sense in finding them not guilty.

Israel has underlined its flouting of even the most minimal principles of international law with its brutal assault on the Freedom Flotilla in international waters this week.

find out more at the bbc.

Article written by Ciaron O’Reilly & supporters

The EDO Decommisioners trial now set for June 7th
Solidarity with Those on Trial in Belfast & Brighton for Resisting Israel’s Weapon Manufacturers!
-Derry Women on Trial in Belfast & EDO Decommissioners on Trial in Brighton

I have just spent the last two days in a Belfast court attending the trial of 9 women and 2 men from Derry. Charges on 3 other men were dropped the Tuesday morning we drove up from Dublin. The nine women moved from protest to resistance during the Israeli attack on Gaza in the January of ’09. It was a powerful experience to listen to their testimony to why they have risked their liberty to bring down the mainframe computer of the Derry Raytheon plant during the Israeli ’09 war on Gaza.

Raytheon is one of the largest arms manufacturers in the world and was invited to Derry as part of the North’s “peace dividend”, opened by Nobel Peace Prize winners Hume and Trimble, go figure! Raytheon weapons have been used extensively by the state of Israel in killing civilians in Lebanon and Palestine. The 9 women had attempted to enter the Raytheon plant in Derry with the intention of pouring water into the mainframe computer and having a direct effect on Israel’s ability to butcher men, women and children in Gaza. during the attacks of Jan ’09.
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/90565?search_text=derry…women
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