court speech of stellan

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The Prosecutor said that the Crown Prosecution Service would not oppose bail if the defendants agreed to stay away from Trident-related facilities. The defendants stated that they would not be prepared to agree to such conditions, and no bail application was made. The three were returned to their respective prisons.

BACKGROUND
Ann-Britt Sternfeldt, Annika Spalde and Stellan Vinthagen - calling themselves "Bread Not Bombs Plowshares" - were arrested on September 13th, 1998, at the Barrow-in-Furness shipyard in the north of England, whilst attempting to disarm Britain's fourth and final Trident nuclear submarine. They had begun to symbolically dismantle equipment in the shipyard, but were arrested before they managed to get to the submarine. However, their intentions were taken seriously and the three were charged with "conspiracy to commit criminal damage" and remanded to prison.

SUPPORT THE PRISONERS
Write letters or cards of support (but please don't expect a reply):
Stellan Vinthagen (BT8233)
HM Prison Preston
2 Ribbleton Lane
Preston PR1 5AB
England

Annika Spalde (BE8940) and Ann-Britt Sternfeldt (BE8941)
(write separately):
HM Prison Risley
617 Warrington Road
Risley
Warrington WA3 6BP
England

The prisoners do not want people to write letters to the prison authorities demanding their release, but they would appreciate help in encouraging the prison authorities to allow them to meet up to plan their defence case. If you have some time, please write to:
Mr Crouch
HM Prison Preston
2 Ribbleton Lane
Preston PR1 5AB
England
and politely ask that he allow Stellan to meet up with Ann-Britt and Annika to prepare his defence properly - something supposedly guaranteed under Article 6 of the 1998 Human Rights Act.

SUPPORT ACTIVITIES AND FURTHER ACTION
An international support network is in place, with activists and supporters in Sweden and Britain engaging in political, media, legal and personal support work. The idea is not just to support the prisoners, but to use their action and court case to encourage further nonviolent resistance to the international terrorism of the Trident system.
The next email newsletter will include details of actions and support activities planned at a recent Preston-based support meeting, and how you can get involved.

FUTURE NEWSLETTERS
Future email newsletters will include various statements made by the three both individually and collectively. Below we reprint the statement Stellan Vinthagen made to the court on 11th December 1998. Please feel free to reproduce it - and include the prisoners' addresses and support group contact details.
Many thanks. And a peaceful new year...

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AND DONATIONS (much needed):
(Cheques to "Liverpool Catholic Worker")
Bread Not Bombs Plowshares, c/o Liverpool Catholic Worker, 1 Horne Street, Liverpool L6 5AH, England (tel +44 (0)151 264 8741; emaillcw@rapid.co.uk).

Bread Not Bombs Plowshares website: http://www.plowshares.se/bnb/english.htm

To be included on further "Bread Not Bombs Plowshares" emailings:
email stephen@gn.apc.org and put "BNB Subscribe" in the Subject heading.

The "Bread Not Bombs Plowshares" acted separately from - but in cooperation
with - the Trident Ploughshares 2000 (TP2000) Campaign.
email tp2000@gn.apc.org website http://www.gn.apc.org/tp2000/

STATEMENT OF STELLAN VINTHAGEN
Statement of Stellan Vinthagen at his plea hearing at Preston Crown Court on December 11th

Your Honour, as I stand here on the 11th December, three months after our attempt to disarm the Trident nuclear submarine, I together with my two friends Annika and Ann-Britt, am accused of 'conspiracy to commit criminal damage'. I am asked to plead 'guilty' or 'not guilty', but honestly I do not know what to plead.

In one sense I think I am guilty. Yesterday, on the 10th December, it was 50 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted, which gave every human being on this earth equal rights. Among these rights is the right to life, for everyone without exception. But I have, I must confess, been part of a massive conspiracy to commit criminal damage through acts of criminal obedience, allowing the militarism of the rich in defending their property, at the same time as the starvation of the poor.

My obedience, together with others', has made it possible for 20% of the world's population to own 80% of the wealth, at the same time as 30,000 children have been starving to death each day. The damage done to these children and to the poor is a terrible crime to which I plead guilty. But in another sense I think I am not guilty. Tomorrow, on the 12th December it is 12 years since I, together with three German friends - Heike, Susanne and Wolfgang, disarmed a launcher for the Pershing II nuclear missile at a military base in Germany. Our act of citizen disarmament was one year later confirmed in the INF treaty, in which the superpowers USA and Soviet Union decided to disarm Pershing II. The disarmament was done in industries by paid and skilled workers - obviously not an act anyone would regard as 'criminal damage'. So, I believe what we did on the 13th of September at the shipyard in Barrow, UK - carrying our household hammers on our way to the fourth Trident submarine - was simply an agreement amongst ourselves to nonviolently, safely, accountably and openly disarm the world's most powerful terrorist weapon. It is a weapon that is used every day as a pointed gun at someone's head. It is a weapon that is used to keep the poor down and to protect the property of the rich.

So, your Honour, I believe I am guilty of 'conspiracy to commit criminal damage', but not on the 13th of September.

END OF NEWSLETTER

Trident Ploughshares 2000
42-46 Bethel Street
Norwich
Norfolk
NR2 1NR
UK

tel + 44 (0) 1603 611953
fax + 44 (0) 1603 666879
http://www.gn.apc.org/tp2000/

Email : tp2000@gn.apc.org

Nuclear weapons are immoral, dangerous, polluting, a terrible waste of
resources and were found to be generally illegal by the International Court
of Justice on 8th July 1996.