A Los Angeles Federal court today agreed to delay the trial of fifteen Greenpeace activists and two freelance journalists facing charges carrying up to six years in jail for their involvement in a peaceful protest against the Star Wars programme (1).
Judge Margaret Morrow agreed to an application by the defence lawyers for the trial to be delayed from 20th November 2001 and set a new trial date for January 8th 2001. The defence team had argued that the political climate in the United States following the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Centre would make it difficult for the seventeen to receive a fair trial at this time.
The charges relate to a peaceful protest on 14th July 2001 at Vandenberg Airforce Base in California against the last test of the Star Wars missile system. The test was delayed by forty minutes.
The activists facing trial are from America, Australia, Britain, Canada, Germany, India, New Zealand and Sweden. The journalists are from the UK and Spain.
Greenpeace spokesperson Mike Townsley said, "We are relieved that the Judge has agreed to delay the trial of the Star Wars 17, because in light of the shocking events on 11 September we were concerned that they would not get a fair trial."
The arguments for a delay were presented in court on 5th November and the judge came back with a decision today (7th November). At the November 5th hearing an additional Greenpeace activist joined the case. New Zealand based Greenpeace activist Henk Haazen pleaded not guilty to the charges and will now face trial alongside the other defendants. Dutch born Haazen flew from Auckland to the US last Wednesday (30th October) to voluntarily turn himself in to the FBI after he was described by the prosecution as a person wanted in connection with the protest (2). He was granted bail on the day of his return and released from custody the following day. He will remain in the US until the trial.
Editor's notes:
(1) Both the activists and the freelance journalists, documenting the protest face the the following charges:
- Conspiring to willfully and knowingly violate an order and direction from a Captain of the Port of the U.S. Coast Guard regarding a safety zone, knowingly enter Vandenberg Air Force Base without permission, and aiding and abetting each other - a Class D felony with a maximum six year prison term and $250,000 fine.
- Willfully and knowingly violating an order and direction of a Captain of the Port of the U.S. Coast Guard - a Class D felony with a maximum six-year prison term and $250,000 fine.
- Knowingly entering Vandenberg Air Force Base without permission - a misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of six months incarceration and a $5,000 fine.
If found guilty on all counts the sentences are likely to be served concurrently. The defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges. It is the first time in history that peaceful protestors at Vandenberg Air Force Base have been charged with felonies.
(2) Henk Haazen was not amongst those arrested after the protest and as no charges were brought against him he subsequently left the country on his scheduled flight. In late August, a second indictment was issued with a 'John Doe' named and Henk promptly contacted an American attorney to prepare his return. On October 16th, after Henk's lawyer contacted the US government, the prosecution issued a third indictment covering the case charging Haazen in connection with the protest.
Although the charge is not extraditable, Henk decided to voluntarily travel to the US to face trial with the other activists. A long time Greenpeace activist, Haazen sailed to Moruroa in 1992, and 1995, as part of a peace flotilla calling for an end to French nuclear testing. He was an engineer on board the Rainbow Warrior when it was bombed by the French secret service in 1985 in Auckland harbour. In 1987 he was the logistics coordinator responsible for setting up an Antarctic base camp, as part of Greenpeace's "World Park Antarctica" campaign. A 50- year international moratorium on the exploitation of Antarctica was subsequently declared in1991.
Despite Henk's addition to the defendants there remain 15 activists facing trial - as charges were earlier dropped against US national Bill Hebert.
Following their arrest on 14th September the activists and journalists, who include American, Indian, Australian, German, Swedish, British and Canadian nationals were taken to a high security federal penitentiary at Bakersfield, California. The US nationals were granted bail immediately, but the foreign nationals were denied bail and held for up to ten days before being released. All had their passports seized and the US nationals were restricted to their Home State and the foreign nationals restricted to Central California. These restrictions were only amended three months after their initial arrest, when on October 15th the foreign nationals were granted permission to leave the country in advance of the trial after additional bonds were posted.
Further information:
Contact:
Greenpeace press office 020 7865 8255
