| |
Support to NATO train blockaders on trial in Valencia (Spain alternativa antimilitarista - moc valència - 27.02.2007 11:04
On Tuesday march 6th at 10 am four antimilitarist activists will be on trial for a military train blockade in fall 2004. The public prosecutor asks for a sentence of one year's imprisonment, while the activist's lawyer pleads for acquittal. The trial has been postponed already three times, the last two because of the absence of the witnesses (4 policemen) for the prosecution without giving any reason On Tuesday march 6th at 10 am four antimilitarist activists will be on trial for a military train blockade in fall 2004. The public prosecutor asks for a sentence of one year's imprisonment, while the activist's lawyer pleads for acquittal. The trial has been postponed already three times, the last two because of the absence of the witnesses (4 policemen) for the prosecution without giving any reason. With their nonviolent action the accused activists protested against and wanted to call attention to the manoeuvres that Spanish military and NATO is carrying out during the last years in the country. Their action forms part of a continuing campaign against the military structures in general, and in particular against the existence of NATO and other military headquarters in Spain, especially the one in Betera near Valencia, one of the several NATO Response Force (NRF) headquarters in Europe, claiming for their conversion to social and ecological use. We invite you to give support by sending emails to the court where the trial is to be held , to the spanish ministry of defence, and to the NRF HQ of Valencia (see email addresses below), expressing your concern for the trial's outcome, defending the aims of their direct action and the legitimacy of non-violent, civil disobedience actions. Please head your message to the court address with the following court and trial number: JUZGADO DE LO PENAL NÚMERO 2 Procedimiento: Juicio oral 000526/2004 E-mail addresses: - Spanish Ministry of Defence: infodefensa@mde.es - NATO Response Force HQ (Valencia): medianrdcsp@hrf-valencia.org - Court No. 2 of Valencia: vadeeg_002@gva.es alternativa antimilitarista – moc (valència) c/ roger de flor 8, baix-dta 46001 valència retirada -at- xarxaneta -dot- org // www.insumissia.org _______ For further information, see also: - Press release: http://www.stopthenato.org/m/zit/id_ses/8a6f251f/id_p/10/opt/read_e/id_s/654.html - Video: http://www.beyondtv.org/pages/page.php/352/ftr/ - Pictures: http://barcelona.indymedia.org/newswire/display/129110/index.php _____________________ LETTER IN SUPPORT OF 4 NATO TRAIN BLOCKADERS ON TRIAL IN VALENCIA I understand that on 6 March at 10 am four antimilitarist activists will on trial at the Penal Court number 2 of Valencia. On 17 October 2005, these activists carried out an action of nonviolent civil disobedience, blockading a NATO convoy which left from the cargo station for manoeuvres in Zaragoza. These manoeuvres were a trial run for the new headquarters of the NATO Response Force (NRF) in Valencia, established under Bush's doctrine of "pre-emptive war". The activists are accused of "public disorder", for which the public prosecutor demands a sentence of 1 year of prison. I consider these civil disobedience actions not only legitimate but also socially healthy. They are nonviolent, appeal to shared social values and give voice to opinions commonly marginalized from social debate. Therefore, I object that these activists should be prosecuted and appeal fortheir acquittal, especially considering that this specific action was carried out with great care in avoiding harm to people: the military train was stopped in the cargo station, the participants made themselves highly visible from the first moment and at a reasonable distance from the convoy, and ordinary rail traffic was not interrupted. The only possible damages could be the ones occasioned to the deployment of the NATO base of Valencia. This is an imposed and dangerous installation that should be dismantled as soon as possible and its lands given back to the town of Bétera to put them to social and ecological uses. The aforementioned base, together with the possible installation of the NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance in Zaragoza, the NATO Tactic Leadership Program (war pilots training) in Albacete, and the enlargement of the US bases of Rota and Moron, deepens the involvement of the Spanish state in an aggressive and militarist politics which its citizens have massively rejected and that, anyway, is self-destructive and immoral. I support this action's call for non-coooperation with war preparations. Disobedience to war means actively resisting the military machine and the consciously made political decisions that force us to collaborate in the preparation of war, often without even knowing about it. For example through the millions of tax-euros that the military structure absorbs daily. Name: Place: E-Mail: retirada@xarxaneta.org Website: http://www.insumissia.org |
Read more about: militarisme vrijheid, repressie & mensenrechten | supplements | |