As the year progresses more and more arrests have been made at Ploughshares actions in Scotland. Many of the trials have been postponed and media coverage has been poor. The crucial issue of whether international humanitarian law applies in Scotland will hopefully be answered as activists who have been convicted make their appeals.Earlier in the year a jury at Preston Crown Court was unable to reach a verdict on 3 young Swedish Ploughshares activists who had attempted to disarm Britain's fourth Trident submarine, HMS Vengeance, at Barrow last September. Clearly their defence that the destructive capacity of Trident demonstrated its illegality under international humanitarian law convinced a substantial number of jurors that their actions were justified in an attempt "to prevent the commission of a greater crime". The Judge has announced that he will seek from the Attorney General his opinion on the legality of Trident before the retrial begins on 11 October 1999.
For more information on Trident Ploughshares please write to:
Alan Wilkie
c/o Peace and Justice Centre
St John's Church
Princes Street
Edinburgh, EH2 4BJ.
Write to them at:
HMP CV
Cornton Road
Stirling
FK9 5NY.