Gearing Up For Another War - Clamping Down On Protest

south west | protests | news report Sunday April 02, 2006 15:40 by James Venables james at venables dot plus dot com

With reports of bomber activity at RAF Fairford over the last week, alongside a new law which came into force on 1st April (not an April Fools) carrying a maximum penalty of one year for trespassing on 13 designated military bases - including Fairford - the indications are that the powers that be are gearing up for new wave of military action - probably against Iran - while simultaneously ensuring that any direct dissent can be dealt with in a far more draconian and effective manner than during the protests against military bases in the lead up to the aerial bombing of Iraq from British soil in March 2003.

This new law is clearly not one to lazily hang around the statute book, rarely to be enforced. Within hours of it coming into force two women were arrested at NSA Menwith Hill - the largest electronic monitoring station in the world - accused of alleged trespass. This development also coincides with the timely refusal of the Law Lords to recognise that the crime of attacking another nation can be recognised in British domestic law - itself a development arising out of earlier direct action protests at RAF Fairford and Southampton Military docks. The following reports are a round up all these latest developments.


1.) ‘Concern Grows After Stealth and B1-B Bombers Spotted At Fairford.’
2.) ‘Trespass on Designated Sites : Trident Ploughshares Legal Briefing’
3.) ‘First two (known) English SOPCA arrests made at NSA Menwith Hill.’
4.) 'What Happened About Your House Of Lords / Fairford Case?'


1.) ‘Concern Grows After Stealth and B1-B Bombers Spotted At Fairford.’
By Philip Booth, Gloucestershire Green party. “Greens fear we maybe witnessing the build up to an attack on Iran. Two B-2 Stealth Bombers and two B-1B multi-role bombers have been spotted at the Fairford RAF base over the last week (i). The base, in rural Gloucestershire, last saw action in 2003 when B-52 bombers flew from there to bomb Iraq. It is the largest USAF bomber base in Europe and the only one with maintenance facilities for the B-2.”
Full Article: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/westcountry/2006/03/337164.html


2.) ‘Trespass on Designated Sites : Trident Ploughshares Legal Briefing’
“There is a new Criminal Trespass law which will apply on 13 military sites from 1st April 2006. This briefing attempts to explain what it is. If anyone has any experience with this new law, whether of its use or threatened use, please let us know at legalsupport@tridentploughshares.org Updates on this briefing can be found on www.tridentploughshares.org We are not lawyers.
Full Details: http://www.tridentploughshares.org/article1405


3.) ‘First two (known) English SOPCA arrests made at NSA Menwith Hill.’
“Two Keighley women, Helen John and Silvia Boyes are the first known arrests in England under Section 128 of the new Serious and Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOPCA) which makes trespass at a few handpicked military sites (mainly American military and nuclear sites in the UK) a criminal offence, potentially carrying a 51 week prison sentence. The two women were arrested on Saturday 1st April 2006 within hours of the new Act being brought into force, by Ministry of Defence police at NSA Menwith Hill.
Full Details: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bristol-stop-the-war-coalition/message/3740


4.) 'What Happened About Your House Of Lords / Fairford Case?'
By Margaret Jones. “People have been asking me what happened with the appeal of the ‘Fairford Five’ and the Greenpeace activists in the House of Lords. They said - the crime of attacking another nation - is a crime in international law, but cannot be said to be part of British domestic law. Therefore the argument that defendants believed the war was illegal cannot be used as a defence argument against charges of criminal damage, etc. If this sounds like Alice in Wonderland to you, it probably is. But splendid protection for Tony Blair and co.”
Full Article: http://www.bristol.indymedia.org/newswire.php?story_id=24830