Star Wars peaceful protest
The Star Wars 17 are 15 Greenpeace volunteers and two freelance journalists from the United States, UK, Germany, Sweden, Australia, Canada and India.
On 14 July they participated in - or in the case of the journalists, documented - a peaceful protest near Vandenberg Air Force Base, California against the United States' National Missile Defence Programme, Star Wars.
The Star Wars missile test was delayed for 40 minutes when the activists entered the water near to where a missile was due to be launched.
The Star Wars 17 faced trial on 8th January 2002 and on the 15th April 2002 for "conspiracy to violate a safety zone" at Vandenburg. All 15 Greenpeace volunteers and the two freelance journalists walked free from court with varying probationary periods and one sentence of
time served.
Those involved originally faced double felony
charges and up to six years in jail, but the felony charges were dropped in January 2002.
The case of the Star Wars 17 is now over, but the threats posed by Star Wars are not.
