Press Releases & Updates 1999

At the end of the first week of the Trident Ploughshares disarmament camp at Coulport the arrest count has risen to 53 as concern grows about the ability of the local court system to administer justice in an open and accountable way.

Today, Tuesday 17th August, a further 7 arrests have been made. One group of three activists were held when they obstructed the gateway of the Coulport base where the UK’s Trident nuclear warheads are stored. Later three members of the Aldermaston Women Trash Trident group were taken from the waters of Loch Long by MoD police after entering the same base through shallow water at low tide, displaying a banner stating: "Trident is Illegal/ Disarm it Now".

After being held overnight on Breach of the Peace charges two Northumbrian women, Joy Mitchell (66) and Joan Meredith (69), were released on bail. This was, for both women, their fourth arrest of the camp. Their trial will be held on 21st October. Today’s hearing was in a tiny room in Rhu Community Hall, to which only four members of the public were admitted.

Trident Ploughshares pledger Jane Tallents said: "It’s not on to hold these hearings in places which cannot accommodate the public interest which the issues arouse. We appreciate that the local Council has found it difficult to find suitable venues but it needs to sort the problem now before we begin to suspect that the authorities want to

hide these cases from the public view."

Many more actions are planned for the remaining days of the camp.

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