Adam Conway in UK jail for anti-nuke protest

international | crime and justice | news report

Wednesday September 08, 2004 22:53

by Eoin Dubsky - Trident Ploughshares

Trident Ploughshares pledger, Adam Conway (25), was sent to prison for seven days today for refusing to pay a 170 GBP fine he received for an anti-nuke protest back in July 2001. Many Indymedia Ireland readers will know Adam from his tireless work on Shannon, in Gluaiseacht, the Grassroots Gathering, Mayday protests and actions. He helped get legal support docs, legal observers training, and nonviolence workshops together for Shannon protests too.

The case has been a long time in the pipeline. On 31st July 2001 Adam was one of a group of four who blockaded the Construction Gate at the Trident base, while three others blocked the main gate. In October 2002 he was found guilty of a breach of the peace by Justice of the Peace Fraser Gillies.

It was the same magistrate who dealt with the case today, as Adam was asked to give an account of why the fine had not been paid. Adam told the court that his conscience did not allow him to pay. The JP summarily sentenced him to seven days.

It is likely that Adam will serve his sentence in Greenock prison and be released on Friday, with the result that support mail to the prison is unlikely to reach him in time. However, messages of support can be sent to prisoners@tridentploughshares.org and they will be given to Adam on Monday when he again attends the Helensburgh court, this time for cutting through the perimeter fence at Coulport during the Trident Ploughshares camp there last August.

A Trident Ploughshares spokesperson said: “This magistrate’s distaste for peaceful protest against Trident is well known, so the outcome is no surprise. Adam was expecting a jail sentence and accepts that it is the natural result of persistently challenging the criminal behaviour of the British state. Meanwhile the real criminals sit comfortably in Whitehall.”

save preference

Comments (7 of 7)

baldy

by adam - greenpeace

Fri Feb 24, 2006 20:43

hey he has a cool name same as mine !

Weapons Inspectors Fined (Adam in court again)

by Eoin Dubsky

Tue Sep 14, 2004 14:19

Yesterday (13th September) two peace activists were fined in Helensburgh District Court for carrying out a weapons inspection at a British nuclear warhead store.

Jane Tallents (46), from Helensburgh, and Adam Conway (25), from Northumberland, were fined respectively £150 and £120 for cutting the perimeter fence at the Coulport nuclear weapon depot on Loch Long in Scotland in August last year.

Jane explained to the court that she and Adam had been attempting a citizen’s weapons inspection of the WMD base, and that their authorisation to do so came from the UN through its nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty. This was not a symbolic gesture since evidence from citizen’s inspections like theirs was regularly presented to NPT conferences. Her action at Coulport had come after many attempts to report the presence of nuclear weapons at Coulport, including submitting a complaint to the police.

Adam, who was in Greenock Prison last week for refusing to pay a fine for a previous anti-Trident action, reminded the court that Britain was the only country in recent years which had specifically threatened to use nuclear weapons. He wanted to draw attention to this and to double standards about WMD. It was apparently alright to kill thousands of people in order to respond to a WMD threat as in Iraq, but those who intervened peacefully and nonviolently in this country were arrested. The charge against him referred to malicious damage, but there had been nothing malicious in his actions, which were deliberate and considered.

Contacts: Jane Tallents 08454588367

David Mackenzie 0870 458 3117 (07876593016)

Cheers Adam, enjoy the free food!

by BlackPope

Thu Sep 09, 2004 18:00

soon enough they will be asking you to pay for it on top of everything else

Well done in the spirit of Vanunu - Nukes out of Britain and everywhere else

prisoners [ at ] tridentploughshares [ dot ] org

Thu Sep 09, 2004 13:32

You can send messages of solidarity via email to Adam at the address above.

not the point

by leftie

Thu Sep 09, 2004 13:00

you can't put money value on freedom, the fact that comrade is going toi jail for refusing to pay a fine to the state shows how limited our freedoms are under capitalist "democracy".

ive never met that comrade who is going to jail but i can only offer my solidarity and sympathy with his plight. and like the poster above recognise his commitment and strength of will to not be cowed by the state.

can anyone tell me an email address to send my solidarity to so he will get it?

thank you

What's the point?

by Badman

Thu Sep 09, 2004 12:46

What's the point in going to jail for this? It's not going to acheive anything like mainstream media coverage or heightened awareness of the issue. The point of principle about paying a fine to the state for something that you don't believe is wrong is fine, but in truth that state appropriates lots of money off us all the time involuntarily through taxation, so the principle has already been conceded long ago. To my mind it just comes down to devaluing your freedom. £24 a day for freedom - cheap at 10 times the price if you ask me.

solidarity !!!

by karen fallon

Thu Sep 09, 2004 12:32

in solidarity with adam!
Sad to hear that he is in jail although i know he expected it, it is terrible that protesters who are trying to disarm the weapons of mass destruction of the blairite regime are subjected to such an abuse of liberty.
well done Adam for standing firm!
see you soon.

Number of comments per page

Upcoming Events

New Events

Other Press

User Preferences

Feeds

Blog Feeds

Anti-Empire

The Saker

Public Inquiry

Voltaire Network

Adam Conway in UK jail for anti-nuke protest

Comments (7 of 7)