British activists appear in court over RAF Lakenheath incidents

[unhappycamper]

British activists appear in court over RAF Lakenheath incidents
By Bryan Mitchell, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Thursday, January 10, 2008

RAF MILDENHALL, England — A group of British peace activists are set to appear in Suffolk courtrooms in the coming months in connection with two civil disobedience incidents roughly a year apart.

At least six activists are scheduled to appear at Sudbury Magistrates’ Court on Feb. 14 in connection with the blocking of a road leading to RAF Lakenheath on Oct. 8, 2007, according to a Bury St. Edmunds Magistrates’ Court clerk. The six were in court Tuesday for a pretrial hearing.

At least three of the same suspects are then slated to appear at Mildenhall Magistrates’ Court in March for a scheduled three-day trial in connection with charges filed after eight people broke onto RAF Lakenheath on Oct. 2, 2006, and chained themselves to a fence, the clerk said. The activists were charged with criminal trespassing and criminal damage under the so-called Serious Organized Crime and Police Act, a law enacted in 2005 and designed to protect sensitive government sites, according to British Ministry of Defence spokesman Steve Partridge.

A British anti-nuclear weapons organization published a statement on the Internet shortly after the eight were arrested, claiming the activists were protesting the storage of weapons of mass destruction on RAF Lakenheath.

The Ministry of Defence police identified the activists as Lesley Anderson, 24, of Muckhart, Scotland; Melanie Harrison, 35, Mettingham, Suffolk; Leslie Grahame, 47, Norwich, Norfolk; Margaret Moss, 56, of Norwich; Peter Lux, 44, Norwich; Irene Willis, 61, Canvey Island, Essex; and Richard Rushmer, 37, Old Lakenham, Norfolk. The ages of the suspects were provided in February 2007. An eighth suspect, a then-39-year-old Leicester woman, did not return to court last February after being released on bail, and it’s unclear if she will appear at court in March.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=51526

[dipsydoodle]

1. That issue reminds of the film

Defence of the Realm.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defence_of_the_Realm

Can't say much more without spoiling it. Good film to watch.