Press Releases & Updates 2001

Rebecca Johnson, director of the Acronym Defense Institute and a nuclear disarmament adviser to government officials worldwide, explained that she had campaigned at Greenham Common along with one of the defendants, Sylvia Boyes. Rebecca said that she has since been told by US Air Force personnel that the women’s direct action there was an important reason for the withdrawal of Cruise missiles from British soil.

Sylvia (57), a peace campaigner from Keighley in Yorkshire and River, an Open University tutor from Manchester, are facing charges of conspiring to commit criminal damage after their attempt in November 1999 to decommission the Trident submarine Vengeance.

Earlier today Sylvia concluded her testimony, giving more evidence on the ever-present danger of Trident. A Barrow woman had told her how residents were given iodine tablets and a leaflet explaining what to do in case of a nuclear accident in the dockyard. As a mother Sylvia identified totally with this woman’s distress at having to bring up a family in such perilous circumstances. She was asked why a BBC film crew had been present to film the action and she explained that the crew had come entirely of their own accord, without any invitation from her. She further explained that she had taken extensive documentation with her on the action to make it clear that what she did was not as a result of some whim, but only undertaken after the most serious and thorough consideration, and as the last resort.

A Trident spokesperson said:

"When Sylvia is in the witness box it’s really hard to remember that she is the one who is supposed to be on trial. The focus is instead on the criminality of Trident, the nuclear chain, the government leaders who make sure it continues to threaten mass murder and the complacency of the rest of us who shrug our shoulders and refuse to take responsibility."

The trial continues.

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