Raytheon 9 trial derailed by actions of the State

by Anti War Sun Jan 06, 2008 17:01

It's Derry that has the Raytheon plant in it, so surely it should be Derry people deciding if the Raytheon 9 were right or wrong to take the direct action they did.

by DAWC Member Mon Jan 07, 2008 01:32

Its an absolute disgrace that this trial has been streteched out for so long.
Its obvious that the so called forces of law and order are not confident of convictions and are still digging at the last minute for straws to clutch at.
Not likely to get convictions, this is their way of making the Nine suffer for their actions and to try and stop others trying the same thing in the future.
Stupid, pointless, infantile. It won't work. The Nine know what they did was right. Any decent peace-loving person knows they were right. And should the corporate driven trial drag on for the next 10 years neither the Nine, the DAWC or the Anti War community will be broken.

by Fintan Lane - Anti-War Ireland (and ISN) Mon Jan 07, 2008 09:38

The legal system can often grind along at an unbearably slow pace, but it seems to me that "dragging it out" is sometimes part of a deliberate effort to wear people down, to make them regret their involvement, etc. etc. Anybody engaging in civil disobedience and direct action should bear this in mind - the legal process afterwards can be extended over a very long period and used as a 'punishment' in itself. The Pitstop Ploughshares had to endure three years of legal proceedings, for example.

I have no doubt that the Raytheon 9 will refuse to be ground down or demoralised by this process. They have travelled to Lebanon since their action and it is clear that they are as strong, if not stronger, in their conviction that they acted with full justification. They acted in defence of innocent people in the Middle East and should be applauded for what they did.

by Socialist Mon Jan 07, 2008 17:59

The Raytheon 9 have been given another date for their trial to start. This time it's April 7th.

Typically however the date set by the court in Derry this morning is still uncertain. There's a hearing on Thursday next week about whether the trial should be in Derry or Belfast. The defendants are confident that the trial will be in Derry - because the arguments for moving it to Belfast (the "danger" of a Derry jury feeling intimidated) are pathetic. But if the court decides on Belfast, there should be an appeal against that ruling which would mean a further delay.

We need to hear from DAWC about what protest or solidarity action is being taken in the interim. Are they, for example, considering a protest against the media accepting the gag on reporting the case so timidly ?

It really is ridiculous that a case with obvious major implications should be going through the courts without a word in public. Whatever happened to 'justice must not only be done but seen to be done'? And what about the media's role in standing up for freedom of speech?

by Des Mon Jan 07, 2008 18:15

This is fucking laughable.
The way these folks are being treated is surely a violation of their human rights.
Has anyone thought about pursuing this line in order to get the court to catch itself on?

For the court to claim that a jury from Derry would feel intimidated is an even bigger joke. A jury intimidated by a group of people headed up by one of the most richeous protesters in the country, Eamonn McCann, who carried out a non violent protest in order to campagin against war and violence. What do the court think will happen to the jury....they'll be bombarded by leaflets? They'll be subjected to evil peace protestors outside the court who might intimidate them by shouting anti-war slogans? Intimidation my arse. As someone already said, the only reason they want it to go to Belfast is that the jury will be les sympathetic.

As for this gagging order. Surely it only applies to Northern Ireland. Doesn't that mean that the media here in the Republic can still carry the story and highlight the plight that these folks are being put through?

They can't gag the internet. Surely the DAWC/IAWM and anti war supporters all over the world should be making better use of any and every means at their disposal in order to publicise this farce. Unless we stand together and stand up to the system it will only continue to abuse the ones who try to stand up for peace and true justice.

by Ciaron - London Catholic Worker Tue Jan 08, 2008 10:13

I've organised around 7 disarmament trials in England and Ireland over the last ten years and attended a couple of more in England, Scotland and U.S. I've never know one to start on the day advetised by the courts....which makes it a difficult organising problem. It's worse when it is delayed months rather than days or weeks.

The delays are exhausting. For the defendants and families being on bail is not freedom, you're future and life are on hold with the possibility of a prison sentence hanging over you.

The Derry crew and the rest of us have to keep coming up with creative ways of exploring the issues raised by the nonviolent direct action of the 9 in the context of this upcoming judicial confrontation........Raytheon, the arms trade, Ireland's role in increasing and expanding wars on the poor.

Our minimal effort planned for this week was a vigil at Raytheon's new offices in Uxbridge, London (downtown no longer).

It was a great initiative by the 9 to use their campaign website as a way of raising funds for the victim's of Raytheon's bombs.

The Pine Gap crew www.pinegap6.org who ran into Raytheon's death dealing in the Australian outback - head to Darwin next month to face yet another round in the courts. The government simultaneously has warrants out for their refusal to pay fines and is appealing the original sentence for being too light, go figure! In Dec 05 they carried out a "citizen's inspection" of the NSA Pine Gap warfighting (Raytheon maintained) base near Alice Springs.

by Con Catha Tue Jan 08, 2008 19:06

And for all the major merchants of death.

Can composite materials used for war be separated from those used for civilian purposes?

Surely this research in Galway is on dual-use material and therefore CTL is part of the war machine.

As this company is partly financed by the Irish government, Irish tax money is being used to finance the war machine. And a mockery is made of Irish independence and self-determination.

http://www.entemp.ie/press/2005/20051006.htm

by DAWC member Tue Jan 08, 2008 19:10

Ciaron
While its great to see supporters all over the world stand up and defend the Nine, we should really be looking at gaining support for them locally (Derry, Donegal and now possibly Belfast if the trial is moved there).
The reason they did what they did in the first place was to educate people in this locality that there was a weapons facility in their midst and to get them thinking about the implications that the work done here would have.

The message we need to get across is one of "not in my name" and we need to get it to the very people who will sit on the jury. Unfortunately the powers that be have shafted us with their gag order, taking away our right to call upon the media to assist us in doing just that. Now that christmas is out of the way and people have less committments we would hope to have more people to peacefully and tactfully step up to the mark and help raise public awareness and gain support.

Time to muster the troops!

by Ciaron - Pitstop Ploughshares/ Catholic Worker Sun Feb 17, 2008 22:15

In Ireland & UK jurisdictions, unlike the U.S., subjudice seems to be interpreted very narrowly. Ironic, in this case as well as ours, - sub judice laws are probably there to protect the defendant. In this case, as well as ours, the defendants wanted the ongoing issues out before the trial

It was a problem promoting the three Pitstop Ploughshares trials thorugh the mainstream media in the south. The best breakthrough came just before our first trial when 4 British activists nonviolently occupied the Irish Embassy in London in solidarity with us awaiting trial in Dublin . It was a real man bites dog story...the media couldn't resist running with ....after 30 years of Irish demonstaraions at British embassies etc.

Gag order/ sub judice would only apply to publishers in northern media.

by Ciaron Fri Apr 25, 2008 07:57

Catholic Workers Jim Dowling, Lisa Bridle and Sean O'Reilly occupy Raytheon Office in Brisbane, Australia

http://bushtelegraph.wordpress.com/2008/04/24/merchant-...eath/