Fourteen Greenpeace volunteers who were arrested following a peaceful protest at Marchwood military base on Tuesday, 4th February, 2003 appeared at Lyndhurst Magistrates Court in the New Forest on February 13th at 9.45am.
All of the volunteers pleaded not guilty to the charges (1), arguing that they have the right to peacefully protest against the planned war against Iraq.
The Greenpeace volunteers entered Southampton's Marchwood Military Port and occupied tanks and jeeps queued up to leave on the roll-on/roll-off ferry Stena Shipper. Some of the volunteers entered the dock area on inflatable boats, evading Ministry of Defence speedboats to reach the tanks, They then climbed into the tanks, securing the hatches behind them. Other volunteers cut a hole in the perimeter fence and reached the jeeps from the land.
The direct action was part of an ongoing global campaign by Greenpeace against war in Iraq.
Greenpeace Director Stephen Tindale said,
"These volunteers simply reflect what the vast majority of the UK believe that launching a war against Iraq is unjustified and immoral. Military strikes will cause massive civilian suffering and will do nothing to solve the global problem of tackling weapons of mass destruction. In a democracy they have the legal right to peacefully express these strongly held beliefs".
Notes for editors:
The Greenpeace volunteers are:
Oliver Knowles of London; Ashby Smith of Washington DC, USA; Laura Yates of London; Natalie Duck of London; Graham Thompson of Romford, Essex; Helen Wallace of Buxton, Derbyshire; Janice Harron of London; Jim Footner of Shropshire; Rachel Murray of Glasgow; Richard Watson of Burnley; Robin Oakley of Lancashire; Belinda Fletcher of Oxford; Ben Ayliffe of London; Jens Loewe of Germany.
(1) The volunteers face charges including aggravated trespass and criminal damage.
Greenpeace is part of the global campaign to prevent a military attack on Iraq that could kill thousands of civilians and increase the chances of weapons of mass destruction being used. An attack on Iraq is clearly a barely disguised desire to take control of Iraq's huge oil reserves.
Greenpeace is opposed to war in Iraq, whether or not an attack is sanctioned by the United Nations, because it would have devastating human and environmental consequences. According to military and health experts a conventional war could kill many thousands of people, mainly civilians, and many more could die from famine and disease.
Bush and Blair have cited Saddam Hussein's desire to acquire weapons of mass destruction as justification for an invasion. However, pre-emptive military strikes against states possessing or suspected of possessing chemical, biological or nuclear weapons do not provide a stable basis for controlling them. It would require repeated armed interventions against numerous countries. The five nuclear powers are Britain, the US, China, France and Russia. Other states known to have nuclear weapons include India, Pakistan and Israel. North Korea is openly seeking to acquire them. The Bush administration has stated that at least 13 countries are pursuing biological weapons research.
Greenpeace believes the solution to weapons of mass destruction is collective international arms control and disarmament. The framework already exists, in the form of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the Biological Weapons Convention and the Chemical Weapons Convention. But rather than being strengthened, these global treaties are being undermined, especially by the USA.
The war is also clearly motivated by oil. The same forces that are backing the war are also supporting the US's refusal to sign the Kyoto Protocol, which would begin to combat climate change. The same US companies that maintain America's oil addiction and oppose the Kyoto Protocol are also backing the war against Iraq. The British Government has recently announced that one of the top five priorities for foreign policy is securing access to energy supplies. Yet Blair still denies that an attack on Iraq has anything to do with oil.
Further information:
Contact:
Greenpeace press office on 020 7865 8255
