activists remain in prison until trial
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trial
(1) BREAD NOT BOMBS PLOWSHARES REMAIN IN PRISON UNTIL TRIAL
(2) PRISON ADDRESSES
(3) SUPPORT EVENTS SO FAR ORGANISED IN PRESTON
(4) HOPE & RESISTANCE GATHERING
(5) STATEMENT BY ANN-BRITT STERNFELDT
(6) CONTACT DETAILS
(1) DISARMERS REMAIN IN PRISON
On Monday 29th March the Bread Not Bombs Plowshares three -- Annika Spalde, Ann-Britt Sternfeldt and Stellan Vinthagen -- appeared before Preston Crown Court for a bail hearing and were remanded in custody until their trial.
Their trial begins on Tuesday May 4th at Preston Crown Court.
(2) PLEASE WRITE TO THE PRISONERS
The prisoners' addresses:
Stellan Vinthagen (BT8233)
HM Prison Preston
2 Ribbleton Lane
Preston PR1 5AB
England
Annika Spalde (BE8940) and Ann-Britt Sternfeldt (BE8941)
(write separately):
HM Prison Risley
617 Warrington Road
Risley
Warrington WA3 6BP
England
Please include a return address.
(3) CELEBRATE NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT -- come to Preston, England
Details of events happening around and during the trial:
Saturday April 17th: Vigil in solidarity with Annika Spalde and Ann-Britt Sternfeldt, Risley Prison (phone 0403 615894 to confirm details). Saturday April 24th: Vigil in solidarity with Stellan Vinthagen, Preston Prison (phone 0403 615894 to confirm details).
Monday 3rd May: 7.30pm, Canterbury Hall, Preston (near English Martyrs' Church, 6 Garstang Road) -- "Celebration of Hope & Resistance". Meet local and international supporters and groove the night away to the sounds of the Bernadette Murphy Band and more. Bar available.
Tuesday 4th May: Procession to the Crown Court (please wear black on the first day in solidarity with the victims of nuclear weapons. Placards will be provided).
8.30am: Gather at St Wilfred's, Chapel Street
9.00am: Circle of Solidarity at the Cenotaph (near Flag Market)
9.30am: Vigil outside the Crown Court (the above routine will be repeated every morning of the trial)
Tuesday 4th May UNTIL END OF THE TRIAL, 10am: Preston Crown Court. We will establish rotas for all-day vigils outside the trial and support attendance in the public gallery of the court.
Wednesday 5th May, 7.30pm, Lecture Theatre, Greenbank Building, U.C.L. (between Victoria Street and Adelphi Street, University Campus). PUBLIC MEETING: PUTTING TRIDENT AND ALL NUCLEAR WEAPONS ON TRIAL.
More information on above events -- "Swords into Ploughshares" (contact details at end of this newsletter)
(4) HOPE & RESISTANCE GATHERING
In parallel to the trial, there is a European Hope & Resistance gathering from 1st-10th May. This is for anyone interested in exploring issues around nonviolence, civil disobedience and the ploughshares movement.
For more information: Hope & Resistance, Box X, 111 Magdalen Road, Oxford
OX4 1RQ, England; email stephen@gn.apc.org
(5) Statement of Ann-Britt on behalf of Bread not Bombs
"The official reason why we were arrested on 27th March 1999 was that we broke bail. Our own reason was completely different. We went to Barrow-in-Furness to ask workers to let us enter the ship yard so that we could continue disarmament. We also invited the workers to assist us in this -- we all have a responsibilty, as ordinary citizens, and national law is not enough to take away that responsibility. History has shown us that. The trials at Nuremberg and Tokyo showed us that very clearly.
In Nazi Germany, the orders given were in fact legal under German law. So in that case the rest of the World served as a larger communityand its judgement created the crime. It's the same with Trident. These dangerous and immoral things are protected in English law but the larger community judge it as a crime.
As Martin Luther King said:
"There are two types of law, just and unjust. One has not only a legal but moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws."
So as an ordinary global citizen we used our right and our duty to disobey a national law to prevent the huge crime that Trident is.
Therefore we will ask the judge to release us immediately, of course without any kind of conditions so that we can carry on with this necessary work in and for the larger community."
ENDS
(6) Contact Details
For further information:
Swords into Ploughshares, c/o 179 Ribbleton Avenue, Preston PR2 6AA, England (DONATIONS URGENTLY NEEDED -- made out to "Swords into Ploughshares")
Email: plowshares@hotmail.com
Bread Not Bombs Support: (mobile phone) 0403 615 894
Bread Not Bombs Plowshares website: www.plowshares.se/bnb/english.htm
If you want to visit any of the prisoners, you must first book with the Support Group: 0403 615 894.
To be included on further "Bread Not Bombs Plowshares" emailings: email stephen@gn.apc.org and put "BNB Subscribe" in the Subject heading.
The "Bread Not Bombs Plowshares" acted separately from - but in cooperation with - the Trident Ploughshares 2000 (TP2000) Campaign. To catch up with TP2000 news: email tp2000@gn.apc.org; website http://www.gn.apc.org/tp2000/
