3 Nuns Facing 30 years for disarmament action

Saturday April 05, 2003 20:55

by Ciaron - Dublin Catholic Worker

The trial of 3 Dominican nuns imprisoned since their October plowshares action at an ICBM missilile silo in Colorado Springs Air Force Base, USA - has begun.

Nuns attack US weapons of mass destruction

April 04 2003 at 03:29AM

http://iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=22&art_id=qw1049415300246B265&set_id=1

By Keith Coffman

Denver - A Catholic nun told a United States court on Thursday she was obeying
President George Bush's call to dismantle weapons of mass destruction when she
and two other sisters trespassed at an unmanned missile silo in northern
Colorado.

Sister Carolyn Gilbert and two other Dominican sisters, Jackie Hudson and
Ardeth Platte, are charged with sabotage and malicious destruction of property
relating to an October 6 break-in at the Minuteman 3 silo near Greeley,
Colorado.

Gilbert and Platte are peace activists in Baltimore, Maryland, and Hudson does
similar work in Bremerton, Washington.

Since the trial opened on Monday, peace activists have packed the federal
courtroom in Denver to support the nuns.

The three have said they cut cables and made the sign of the cross on the lid
of the silo with their own blood before they were arrested by military police.

Platte told the court in an opening statement on Tuesday they wanted to protect
the children of Iraq with a "symbolic disarmament".

"Our president has asked that weapons of mass destruction be destroyed,"
Gilbert told the court on Thursday.

"I had a duty, a responsibility and privilege to try and stop a crime, not only
under God's law, but under US and international law," she said.

Bush, backed by Britain, launched a war against Iraq on March 19 for what he
said was President Saddam Hussein's refusal to dismantle weapons of mass
destruction.

The nuns have been in jail since October after refusing to be released on bond.

US district judge Robert Blackburn has said the women could not make use of the
Nuremberg defence, which allows a citizen to break the law in order to prevent
a crime against humanity.

If convicted, the women face up to 30 years in jail and fines of up to $250 000
(about R2-million).

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Comments (7 of 7)

by Ciaron - DCW

Sun Apr 06, 2003 15:24

www.soaw.org

There's an Irish priest in jail in the U.S. for trespassing at the School of the Assasins (Americas)...lots of Irish Americans (Kathy Kelly in Baghdad) doing good stuff. Sometimes you think every one with some get up and go, got up and went.verty conservative backwater here in terms of the Church etc.

are Irish nuns and priests cowards?

by mother superior

Sun Apr 06, 2003 13:33

Where are the thousands of Irish priests and nuns, how many have been arrested for opposing this war? Maybe they have more pressing things to be involved in than stopping a war against Moslems?

James baby you're back

by Ciaron

Sun Apr 06, 2003 09:02

James baby when did you become part of the anti-war movement???...your role (the jury is still out out on whether you're paid by the state or therapeutically motivated) is to stop the movement from moving from cyber-voirism to nonviolent resistance.

Blood is obtained with a one shot syringe and red cross blood bag containing anti-collagent to keep it fluid. It has been used by the nonviolent resistance mopvement in the U.S. since the draeft board raids of the Vietnam War period...but that was before you could cruise the internet James so you are probably pig ignorant of that history of resistance.

Keep wallowing dude
#Love to meet you in person one day
if you do exist
Meanwhile keep taking cheap shots at the movement's prisoners and what else you are taking for your condition
Luvya
Ciaron

Witches - Witches

by wanta be a man

Sun Apr 06, 2003 08:34

These "nuns" are clearly black witches the whole court business is a waste of tax payers money.

Trial by water or fire would be far more apt.

Bad Blood!

by James McKenna

Sat Apr 05, 2003 21:42

"The three made the sign of the cross on the lid of the silo with their own blood"

Does anyone else feel these women are a little disturbed? Or are they trying to portray all us anti-war people as being deranged?

Did they bring the blood with them in a container from an earlier "Bleeding" or did they cut themselves on the spot? Did they chant or use prayer in some form as they dripped the blood out? Did they cut themselves or did they do each other? I am very interested in this bloodletting proceedure and its psycho-religious undercurrents.

We used to have "nuns" in Ireland represented by the Sheila na Gig that dripped menstrual blood to mix with semen which was then used as a ritual host in their rituals( John M Allegro, Sacred Myth, Weiser). Is there a connection?

What has the minuteman site got to do with Iraqi children? Nothing as far as I know. They are about the only truly defensive weapon the US has.

Why did they not do any actual damage on the site apart from cutting two $10 cables and smearing a bloody crucifix on a missile silo cover as a "symbolic disarmament"? Don't they know that their bloody cross is the cause of all this?

I think it is idiotic in the extreme and brings the whole movement into disrepute that one of the sisters uses the excuse she was only doing what "her president" had told her.

"Her President"???? I wonder what Freud would make of that? Probably call it a slip.

"Our president has asked that weapons of mass destruction be destroyed," she declared.

If the sisters get a chance during their self-inflicted mission in jail between trying to turn young black women off Islam they should read Michael Moores book "stupid white men" where there is ample proof that Mr Bush isn't anybodys president even if they choose to accept him as such.

response

Sat Apr 05, 2003 21:40

In some of these trials the prosecution gets away with a pretrial motion ilimina (sp?) where certain phrases are seen as contempt of court such as "Nuremburg Principles", "war crimes" word of God", "central America etc etc. They are able to close down the defence and deny a fair teial as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution etc etc
Not sure what is happening in thhis case.

What reason?

by Aisling

Sat Apr 05, 2003 21:23

What reason (if any) did the judge give for not allowing the nuns to use the Nuremberg Charter as a defence?

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3 Nuns Facing 30 years for disarmament action

Comments (7 of 7)