Press Releases & Updates 2005

From the witness stand Rosie gave Justice of the Peace Viv Dance the context for her action last August. She began by pointing out that so many anti-Trident activists had given the reasons for their action in that court that her defense could now be so much “white noise” to magistrates and prosecutors. She wondered aloud whether a fair trial was possible.

She said that although peace protesters acted from the goodness of their hearts, this was backed up by legal justification. In 1996 the International Court of Justice had outlawed nuclear weapons, with one of the bench, Judge Bedjaoui, characterising nuclear weapons as the “ultimate evil”. The Court had also said that the obligations to disarm under the Non-Proliferation Treaty were binding in law. The Faslane protesters were trying to uphold the law and should be given a Crimestoppers Award. Her oath as a Member of Parliament, and her pledge to disarm Trident, meant that she had to tell the truth. She would continue to do so.

Summing up for the Crown Procurator Fiscal Jonathan Kemp said that the Scottish High Court had in a number of rulings indicated that campaigners’ claims about the illegality of Trident and the lawfulness of their form of protest were invalid.

Concluding her own summing up Rosie repeated her determination to tell the truth about Trident. She said “ The only lying I will be doing will be lying in the road at Faslane.”

Finding her guilty JP Dance contradicted Rosie “white noise” remark and said that she had listened to the case with care. She had found the Crown case credible and relevant. She gave Rosie 28 days to pay the fine, adding that if she defaulted she would automatically be subject to a Supervised Attendance Order.

Rosie was arrested last Thursday along with 9 other activists for obstructing the highway with a giant model Trident submarine outside the Scottish Parliament.

A Trident Ploughshares spokesperson said: “Uninformed or mischievous commentators in the mainstream media frequently accuse parliamentarians like Rosie of exploiting the Faslane protests for their own purposes. Those who know our supporting MSPs find the allegation laughable. Rosie and the others would be with us at Faslane whether they were elected representatives or not. Their solidarity is highly valued.

We are also pretty sure that JP Dance decided to go for an automatic Supervised Attendance Order if the fine is not paid, so as to avoid the publicity the anti-Trident cause would attract should Rosie be sent to prison.”

Printer friendly version

Home | Top