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Press Releases & Updates 1999
7th March 1999
Appeal Breakthrough Puts Spotlight on Trial of Swedish Ministers
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Two Swedish ministers and a Swedish student appear in court in Helensburgh on Wednesday this week in connection with disarmament activities at Coulport nuclear weapons base amid hope that local courts may at last be compelled to take account of international law, after another activist was granted leave to appeal his conviction.
On Wednesday 10th March at 10 .a.m. in Helensburgh District Court, Fredrik Ivarsson, (30), a minister in the Church of Sweden, trainee minister Klaus Engell (30) and student Petter Joelson (19) will appear on charges relating to their actions against the base in August last year, during the first phase of the Trident Ploughshares 2000 campaign.
This is the first trial of Trident Ploughshares 2000 activists after retired teacher Brian Quail was granted leave to appeal against his conviction for a similar alleged offence.
Leave was granted by the High Court of Justiciary, on the ground that "It is arguable that, in determining the question of ’without reasonable excuse’, the magistrate should not have excluded consideration of what were said to be principles of international law."
Brian said:
" This is a huge step forward. The JPs and Sheriffs will now have to sit up and take notice. It is high time the law in Scotland opened its eyes to the blatant illegality of the nuclear weapons installations at Faslane and Coulport. Let’s hope that Fredrik, Petter and Klaus will be the first to benefit as the local courts wake up to their responsibilities."
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