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Press Releases & Updates 2000
4th October 2000
Local Court Seizing Up Under Pressure From Peace Activists
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As the Scotland’s highest court prepares next week to discuss the right of
citizens to take disarmament action against the UK’s nuclear weapons
system, an unmanageable backlog of cases against activists is threatening
to completely clog up the local court which is nearest to the nuclear
weapon bases on the Clyde.
Today 24 cases against Trident Ploughshares activists, including 6 trials,
were before Helensburgh District Court. All the trials, including that of
MSP Tommy Sheridan, were further adjourned for a variety of reasons. Two of
the trials had to be rescheduled due to the lack of disability access to
the court, affecting the accused in one case and two witnesses in another
case. It had been intended to hold these two trials in the nearby and
accessible Victoria Halls but that building has recently suffered a
collapsed ceiling. 40 trials are still in the pipeline and these only deal
with the arrests as far as February this year. Reports relating to the 161
arrests at the August blockade and disarmament camp are still before the
Procurator Fiscal. The backlog is in spite of the fact that the court now
has three sittings per month rather than the normal single sitting.
A Trident Ploughshares spokesperson said:
"The local Procurator Fiscal has
stubbornly continued to send our cases to the local court which basically
cannot cope. Our cases take more time, because our defences are thoroughly
prepared and presented. The issues that we raise are complex, frequently
involving International Law and the European Convention on Human Rights,
and neither the Procurator not the Justices of the Peace have the necessary
expertise. Lets hope that the High Court can rise to the challenge."
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