faslane day 2: activist gives police the slip and blocks gate

national | miscellaneous | news report Wednesday February 13, 2002 18:25 by amanda

peace camp activist Ian slips through police lines, climbs main gate and occupies it for hours. 250 people, 30 arrests.

Day2 13thfeb'02. 7am protestors gather as workers begin to arrive, some cars get in early on. South gate opened at 9am. People locked on carnival style, with dragon costumes, pink flamingoes, pink bunnies etc. These extra materials numb the little round saws the police use to cut metal pipes, making the lock ons more effective by further delaying road access.
Around 10.30am Ian from faslane peace camp got through police lines during a moment of confusion and scaled the main gate onto a small platform covered in barbed wire. There he stayed for hours. Police had difficulty getting to him and started to build scaffolding beside the gate. Meanwhile no cars/trucks could get in or out. Ian tried to snap some of the wires he was wedged between with his boot, a tissue on his hand was soaked in blood. We tried to throw plasters up to him but were prevented by police. They were bringing in people with climbing gear to get up onto the scaffolding to get Ian down. As they approached he started to dance on the platform. Then when they finally got him down (around 3pm) he passively resisted, and police were not aggressive towards him.

legal news from yesterday: 7 of 9 from irish contigent released, 2 still in custody. 122 arrests yesterday in total, most released. Most of these people, including irish, back in court on 25th february.