The
five were arrested for minor charges on October 3rd at a protest at EDO MBM. However,
their charges have were raised to 'Conspiracy to Commit Criminal Damage' which
carries a maximum ten year sentence and must be tried in a Crown Court before
a jury. They will appear in the Crown Court this Wednesday at 9.30am where the
case will be transferred to. The trial will last for ten days.
Chloe
Marsh, press spokesperson for the Smash EDO campign said of the charges 'The height
of the allegations against the five are that they took part in a blockade of EDO
MBM, delaying the opening of the factory, and that around the time of the blockade
the front doors to the factory were superglued shut. The police could easily have
attempted prosecution for 'aggravated trespass' or other Public Order act charges.
Instead they have taken a political decision to prosecute for a much more serious
charge that they have very little prospect of success in.'
Andrew
Beckett, spokesman for the campaign said 'Ramping up the charges against these
campaigners is a waste of public funds. They will now have to face a ten day trial
in the crown court in front of a jury who would not have had to be called if the
police did not insist on trying to further criminalise this campaign'.
Notes
for Journalists
The Company
EDO MBM Technologies Ltd are
the sole UK subsidiary of huge U.S weapons manufacturer EDO Corp.From their base
in Moulescoombe Brighton, EDO MBM manufacture vital parts for the Hellfire and
Paveway weapons systems,laserguided missilesused extensively in Iraq, Lebanon,
Palestine and Somalia. EDO Corp were recently acquired by ITT in multi-billion
pound deal. ITT's links to fascism go back to the 1930s. The founder Sosthenes
Behn was the first foreign businessman received by Hitler after his seizure of
power.
The Campaign
There has been active campaign against
the presence o f EDO MBM in Brighton since the outbreak of the Iraq war.Campaigners
include students, Quakers ,Palestine solidarity activists, anti-capitalists and
academics. Despite an injunction under the protection of harassment act (which
failed) and over forty arrests the campaign is still going strong.Their avowed
aim is to expose EDO MBM and their complicity in war crimes and to remove them
from Brighton. They hold regular weekly demos outside the Moulescoombe factory
on Wednesday's between 4 and 6.
THE FILM
On the Verge is an
independent film about the SMASH EDO Campaign
“In 2004 a group of Brighton
peace campaigners began to bang pot and pans outside their local arms manufacturers
EDO MBM in disgust of their part in the Iraq war. This has grown into the Smash
EDO campaign, which has cost the company millions, been the subject of large scale
police operations and has tested the right to protest in the UK.Using activist,
police and CCTV footage plus interviews with those involved in the campaign, 'On
The Verge' tells the story of one of the most persistent and imaginative campaigns
to emerge out of the UK's anti-war movement and direct action scene.”
