Press Releases & Updates 2000

Tuesday 4th April: First hearing for "Trident Three" Reference.

Wednesday 5th April: Brian Quail’s Appeal.

On Tuesday next week (4th April), at the High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh, the "Trident Three" will attend a procedural hearing in connection with the Lord Advocates’ Reference of Sheriff Gimblett’s judgment.

At Greenock Sheriff Court last year Angie Zelter, Ellen Moxley and Ulla Roder were acquitted by Sheriff Margaret Gimblett after damaging the Trident-related laboratory "Maytime". The three women had argued that their action was justified under international law. The Reference is not an appeal against the verdict at Greenock but is a method of seeking the High Court’s view of the legal aspects of Gimblett’s ruling. The full hearing of the Reference is likely to take place in the autumn.

The appeal of Scottish Ploughshares activist Brian Quail will be heard next Wednesday (5th April) by the same court. Brian’s appeal will be argued by advocate John Mayer, a member of the "Trident Three" defence team.

Brian was originally convicted at two separate trials which arose from protests at Faslane naval base in August and November 1998. The basis of his appeal is that at both trials the magistrate excluded consideration of international law in reaching his verdict. Like the "Trident Three", Brian had argued that the illegality of Trident under international law gave him reasonable excuse for taking direct action against the naval base, home to Britain’s four nuclear weapon submarines.

Brian said:

"In using non-violent direct action against Trident, Ploughshares activists are trying to uphold the basic humanitarian law which states we must not kill, or threaten to kill, innocent people."

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