Catholic Workers Acquitted! (1 Viewer)

[W.]

http://www.indymedia.ie/article/77465

great news.

 

[pete]

from ireland.com

Five anti-war protesters have been found not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court of criminally damaging a US aeroplane at Shannon Airport over three years ago. The jury of five men and seven women took four and a half hours to reach its unanimous decision on day twelve of the trial which had been continuously attended by supporters of the activists.
It was the third trial for the five protesters, who pleaded not guilty to two counts each of causing damage without lawful excuse to a naval plane, property of the United States Government and to glass door panels, property of Aer Rianta at Shannon Airport, Clare on February 3rd, 2003.
Juries in two earlier trials were discharged before evidence had concluded following suggestions from the defence teams that the presiding judges were, or could have been perceived to have been, biased.
The accused at all stages accepted that they had gone into a Shannon Airport hangar with hammers and damaged the aircraft. They argued that they had a lawful excuse for doing so as they honestly believed they were acting to protect lives and property in Iraq.
Judge Miriam Reynolds discharged the group and left the court but returned when supporters burst into a round of applause telling them their behaviour was "understandable" but not acceptable in a court room.
The five are Ciaron O'Reilly (46), an Australian national, Nuin Dunlop (34), a US citizen and counsellor, Damien Moran (26), Karen Fallon (35), a Scottish marine biologist, all of Rialto Cottages, Rialto; and Deirdre Clancy (36), a copy editor of Alverno apartments, Clontarf.
The jury heard that a lone garda was on duty in the hangar at 3.45am when five people came running in carrying hammers and an axe or mattock.
Evidence was given that they were shouting "some words of God" and went to the front, side and rear of the aircraft using the items to hit the plane. They then knelt in a circle and prayed until gardaí arrived to arrest them.
Copies of the Bible and Koran, Rosary and Islamic prayer beads, candles, flowers, St Bridget's crosses and photographs of distressed children were among the items found at the scene in the form of a shrine at the doors to the hangar.

 

[broken arm]

that's a relief.

 

[W.]

I was so nervous for the lads, can't imagine how they coped with it.

 

[D0njo]

amazing! at last...

 

[Squiggle]

Great news indeed!

 

[mackle]

That great to hear. Read an interview with one of them and the stress they were under was horrible. Hopefully now they'll be able to get their lives back
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[Space]

Good stuff.

 

[Janer]

Nice one.

 

[carbide]

this is awesome.

 

[shcuzzy]

So does this set a precedent for the legal smashin up of warplanes in the future?

 

[Blog Bloc'er]

So does this set a precedent for the legal smashin up of warplanes in the future?

well mary kelly and the psp 5 got off. i'd say thats a precedent.

 

[ci]

Muchos Kudos.

 

[Cormcolash]

Fucking brilliant!

 

[oh shit]

So does this set a precedent for the legal smashin up of warplanes in the future?

not really, you could refer to it but at the end of the day it's just a jury's decision on the facts of this particular case.

precedent is set when a verdict is appealed, the case is then sent 'up' to a higher court, first the court of appeal and then the supreme court in ireland (i think anyway), or the house of lords in the UK. these higher courts don't use juries, senior judges decide by majority on the points of law raised in the appeal and explain their reasoning. this reasoning is what sets precedent for future readings of the law.

the other thing to look at is whether the government have amended the law or passed new laws since this incident which would "widen the net" of what the offence is, making it harder for juries to acquit.

still, good to hear. though i wonder how sympathetic they'd have been if the lads hadn't all sat down and started humming new age post-ecumenical nonsense?

 

[broken arm]

So does this set a precedent for the legal smashin up of warplanes in the future?

it's not the first time. a bunch of biddies did the same in the UK a few years back and "got away" with it too.

as seen in...

"Grounding A Hawk With A Hammer"
(Esperanza Production)
The story of how four woman risked life imprisonment in the early hours of January 29, 1996 to disarm-arm a Hawk Jet Fighter and stop it being exported to Indonesia, claiming it would be used against civilians in East Timor. The jury at their trail found the women not guilty, accepting their defence that they had acted to prevent the crime of genocide on the East Timoresse people.

 

[ravishinrikrude]

great news

 

[the strange guy]

Of course they got off, they're Catholic. If they were Protestant, Jewish or Muslim they wouldn't have had God looking after them.