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Issue 642 Articles:

Game, Ossetia, Match

All the Kingsnorth's Men

Crap Arrest of the Week

Five Go Up Before the Jury

Animal vs Mineral

And Finally

Home | Friday 15th August 2008 | Issue 642

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FIVE GO UP BEFORE THE JURY

Five Smash EDO protesters on trial for ‘Conspiracy to Cause Criminal Damage’ were found not guilty by a jury this Wednesday in Brighton Crown Court. After an eleven day trial the jury took four hours (and part of that was the lunch break) before delivering a unanimous ‘not guilty’ verdict.

The protesters were arrested after some of them locked-onto the doors of the EDO-MBM factory in Moulsecoomb during a demo last October (see SchNEWS xx). After being arrested for minor charges, these charges were then raised to ‘Conspiracy to Cause Criminal Damage’ which carries a maximum of ten years imprisonment, and requires a trial in a Crown Court before a jury. Some EDO factory locks were superglued during the demo, and the prosecution tried to claim that the five were part of a conspiracy to stick up the locks.

But the cops' gamble for heavy sentences didn't pay off and the victory was celebrated with a spontaneous demo at the factory yesterday (14th).

* Smash EDO continue to protest every Wednesday outside EDO-MBM/ITT, Home Farm Rd, Brighton. On Oct 15th another mass demonstration is planned. See www.smashedo.org.uk

* On August 20th Smash EDO will be holding a musical protest against EDO. Back in July a Judge at Hove Crown court upheld the conviction of a protester for using a sound system convicted under a council byelaw outlawing amplified noise. The judge said that if the music had been directly relevant to the protest it would have been unlawful to use the byelaw – so Smash EDO are calling on people to bring their collections of protest songs to the factory...

 

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