Brief reflection on Shannon court decision

national | miscellaneous | news report Friday February 14, 2003 17:12 by Eoin Dubsky - Refueling Peace info at refuelingpeace dot org 087-6941060

Yesterday in Shannon District Court Judge Mangan returned a verdict of "guilty" (under his breath, while shuffling nervously through his papers) for the charge of criminal damage which I was facing because of the Shannon Airport USAF Hercules spray-painting action I did last September. I'm going to appeal his decision.

The sentence was quite harsh too:
* Fined 1,000 euro
* 6 months suspended prison sentence
* Own bond of 50 euro, independent bond of 500 euro
* 2 years bound to the peace and stay out of Co. Clare

It was a good media day, as I got to speak with local, region, national and other media about the continued use of Ireland and Shannon Airport
as a conduit for war, and the legitimacy of continued nonviolent resistance. For a while in some media reports my age ranged from between
22 and 33 (I turned 23 on Tuesday, that's what confused them), but otherwise they were quite fair.

Here's a 30 second report from RTE in RealVideo:
http://www.rte.ie/news/2003/0213/6news/6news56_4a.ram

Friends had also come along in support of me and Mary Kelly, who was there for a pre-trial formality about a fence-climbing charge against
her from a Shannon Airport demonstration in August (small cheese compared to her disarmament action with an axe on a US Navy aircraft a
few weeks ago). The main message to the media that day was (see RealVideo clip above) that the court's judgement wouldn't deter people
from continuing their work in solidarity with the people in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere on the "map of terror/oil".

# BACKGROUND...

September - Right after the action:
http://lists.redbrick.dcu.ie/pipermail/justice/2002-September/000161.html

December - Right after the trial:
http://lists.redbrick.dcu.ie/pipermail/justice/2002-December/000174.html

# FUND-RAISING

While I don't intend to pay the fine as a matter of conscience, I'm not above fund-raising for campaigning and legal costs. ;-)
Now that there have been three disarmament actions at Shannon Airport which may be before the circuit court, I hope we can get over some
expert witnesses from abroad who've helped with similar actions in the US and UK previously (my appeal will be heard before the same court
where the recent Pit-stop Ploughshares case by the five Catholic Workers, and Mary Kelly's handy work with an axe are heading). Having
some cash would make some other legal and campaigning stuff possible
too...
Anyways, my address (if you want to send me a letter or a donation :)) is: Eoin Dubsky, Whitewalls, Ballymoney, Gorey, Co. Wexford, Ireland.

While we're on addresses... please note this new address for the five Catholic Workers who are currently in jail for their recent ploughshares
action at Shannon Airport:
c/o Br. Anthony, Glenstal Abbey, Murroe, Co. Limerick

# RESISTANCE CONTINUES
Okay, that's almost it. Just before I go though: If you live in Dublin, could you check out the Irish military airbase at Baldonnel and see
whether it is also being used by the US (please let me know). Even though there are armoured personel carriers and soldiers with machine
guns at Shannon Airport (that's just the Irish army, I'm not talking about the US forces on their way to Iraq)... don't be put off taking
action there yourself. Visit the airport with a group of friends, take notes of access routes, pipes, and other infrastructure which could be
safely blocked or broken to disrupt the military shenanigans there. People will continue to resist by creative nonviolent means and on March
1st there is a demonstration planned for Shannon Airport which you could
attend.