Press Releases & Updates 1998

Today Helen John, a 60 year old determined disarmer, was remanded in custody in Cornton Vale Prison till her Court appearance in Helensburgh on September 29. Yesterday she attempted to disarm nuclear weapons at the Coulport Naval Base in Scotland (40 miles NW of Glasgow).

Surprisingly Katri Silvonen (20) from Finland and Krista van Velzen (23) from the Netherlands, two full-time ’For Mother Earth’ campaigners working in Belgium, were released at the same court. These two young women had breached, for the second time in one week, the high security at the heart of Britain’s Trident nuclear submarine weapon system, by swimming carrying hammers, boltcutters and other disarmament tools. Hanna Jarvinen (21), another Finnish For Mother Earth campaigner, was also released.

Pol D’Huyvetter from Belgium, TP2000 Press Officer, stated: ’I suspect that the British government intends to counter the swelling controversy abroad by releasing the foreign campaigners who have committed the most significant offenses breaching military security. How do you otherwise explain that Mr. Donnelly the Procurator Fiscal has dropped all charges against the foreign activists.Though making headlines in the foreign press, here in the UK press coverage has been minimal up to today.’

TP2000 files a Citizens Complaint at Dumbarton Court

Helen John will now join three UK campaigners and an Australian activist who have been on remand since last Friday August 21. Two of them, Sylvia Boyes (56) from Birmingham and Rachel Wenham (25) from Leeds will appear in Victoria Hall, Dumbarton Court tomorrow at 10 am. Robin Boyes, Sylvia’s husband and a vicar will travel up to Scotland to support his wife as he supports her for 100%. Helen John, from the Menwith Hill Women’s Peace Camp in Yorkshire arrested at Coulport last night for cutting the fence, stated just before her arrest : "I admire the wonderful concept of all TP2000 activists, dedicated to bring an end to the Trident system. I will snip in the fence of international law against genocidal weapons. It is a great pity that courts do not yet support us."

TP2000 chooses non-violent and accountable direct disarmament, enforcing the 1996 UN World Court decision, specifically, to compel Westminster to sit down and start negotiations banning nuclear weapons by the year 2000. Around 110 activists were arrested over the past two weeks TP2000 international peace camp. The arrested were from Australia, Belgium, Canada, England, France, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland, USA and Wales, amongst others. People from Belarus, Romania, Russia, Sri Lanka and Ukraine were refused an entry visa when they wanted to join the 1,000 km peace walk which joined TP2000 on Nagasaki day in Faslane. The peace walkers had left from NATO hq in Brussels.

The released FME activists might take new disarmament action before leaving Scotland for their homebase in Belgium and the Netherlands, where a new Ploughshares campaign is being launched against US B-61 tactical nuclear weapons. Today starts the new phase of TP2000. All Trident related sites are now susceptible to direct disarmament actions.

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