EDO: SITTING ON DEFENCE

Good news for the EDO decommissioners (See SchNEWS 663) as the judge agreed to allow the factory-smashing defendants a prevention of war crimes defence. Judge Kemp took little more than a morning to decide in their favour (the hearing had been scheduled for 3 days in Lewes Crown Court), refusing to listen to the prosecution’s attempt to prevent the war-crimes argument.

This was just as well for the six modern day Luddites who went into the factory to smash it with hammers (having videoed themselves explaining why they were going to smash it up). Without a ‘preventing the killing of civilians by war crimes’ defence, it would be a very short trial indeed.

Obviously this somewhat unusual even handedness from a British judge has left the prosecution seeing red. Determined to prevent the defendants from justifying their actions in front of a jury, the prosecution is taking their argument to the court of High Court to overturn the decision.

Chloe Marsh, Smash EDO’s press spokesperson said, “This was an attempt by the authorities to shut down a fair trial for the defendants. There are important questions to be answered about this company’s complicity in war crimes. We welcome the judge’s decision and condemn these underhand attempts to prevent a jury from hearing the full facts of the case.”

* To mark the seventh anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, join the Smash EDO picket outside our local Barclays Bank, on North Street, Brighton at 12pm on Wednesday March 17th. (Barclays have made a shed-load of money off the Iraq War and ITT-EDO, in case anyone needed the dots joining).

* Following this, from 3pm-6pm at the Home Farm Road Factory on the same day there’s a ‘Horrors of War’ noise demo planned. Bring noise making equipment, bloody clothes, coffins.

Just because British troops have left and US troops are on their way out doesn’t mean the Iraq war has ended. For the relatives of the 12 killed just today (a good day by Iraqi standards) in attacks directly attributable to the chaos caused by the invasion and occupation, things are a still a long way from OK.

* See www.smashedo.org.uk and http://decommissioners.co.uk