Press Releases & Updates 2004

In April last year, a few days after the Really Big Blockade of Faslane Ceri Gibbons (36), from Buckinghamshire and Noora Jaakkola (22), from Finland, cut into the oil depot at the nuclear weapons base, with a view to getting inside the area where the Trident submarines are berthed.

Ceri told Helensburgh District Court that the Principles, enunciated during the trials of Nazi war criminals at the end of the Second World War, made it mandatory for individuals not only to refuse illegal orders but also to challenge breaches of international humanitarian law, even if it meant breaking the laws of the state. When arrested, Noora and Ceri had handed police an extended statement justifying their action with reference to international law. Supporters in court were pleased to hear it being read out in full by one of the officers.

J P Nicholson found both guilty of malicious mischief and breaching bye-laws by being inside a prohibited area without authorisation, but said he would defer sentence for six months and would admonish them if they exhibited "good behaviour" in the meantime.

Ceri attended court today after being released at 2 a.m. this morning from police custody following his arrest for taking part in stopping a nuclear convoy at Balloch on Loch Lomondside. Those arrested for stopping the convoy at Stirling were released after giving an undertaking to appear at the town’s Sheriff Court this Thursday.

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