Ploughshares Five acquitted!
The 5 Catholic Worker pacifists who in February 2003 disarmed a US Navy warplane at Shannon airport in the ‘neutral’ Republic of Ireland have just endured their third trial for 10 counts of criminal damage and were today acquitted on all counts.
Their principal defence was that they had ‘lawful excuse’ to damage the plane, namely that by doing so they were saving life and property in Iraq – the ultimate destination of the plane and its deadly cargo. The plane was indeed returned to the USA for repair and, as an expert witness testified in the trial, they could reasonably expect to have succeeded in their aim.
The five courageous defendants — 46 year-old Ciaron O’Reilly, 36 year-old Deirdre Clancy, 35 year-old Karen Fallon, 34 year-old Nuin Dunlop and 26 year-old Damien Moran — wept in court as the verdict was delivered.
In a statement following the close of the absorbing trial, the defendants declare: "The government has no popular mandate in providing the civilian Shannon airport to service the US war machine in its illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq. . . Refuelling of US warplanes at Shannon Airport should cease immediately."
A refreshing shimmer of light against the darkest of times. It is great to not only celebrate the brave actions of these peacemakers but the significance of the judicial ruling.
[…] Anti-war protesters have had some breathtaking successes in the UK and Ireland, both in terms of grounding warplanes and finding sympathy among their peers in the jury box. Last year five Catholic Workers were found not guilty of criminal damage to a US Navy aircraft hangared in Ireland en route to Iraq. […]
On 3 Dec. 2010, Claire Schaeffer-Duffy of the National Catholic Reporter wrote:
The acquittal of five Catholic Workers for a disarmament action at Ireland’s Shannon Airport in 2003 was discussed in a secret US cable, the latest release of documents from the international organization WikiLeaks shows.
The lengthy cable, sent to Washington in September 2006 by then-US Ambassador to Ireland, James C. Kenny, [says] “Segments of the Irish public…see the airport as a symbol of Irish complicity in perceived US wrongdoing in the Gulf/Middle East and in regard to extraordinary renditions, a view that underpinned a recent jury decision to acquit the “Shannon Five” protesters who damaged a US naval aircraft.”
… With regard to the “Shannon Five,” the ambassador understood that the case, as a criminal matter, had run its course. But he wondered if the US should pursue a civil suit, or at least, send an itemized bill to the Irish government for the aircraft’s damage to convey American “dissatisfaction with the Shannon Five verdict.”
The moral of this technical tale? The U.S. war machine is not as impenetrable as it appears.
http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/wikileaks-cables-us-worried-about-catholic-workers#comment-171406
[…] Pitstop 5 would have numerous court hearings and were ultimately acquitted by a jury in 2006. But Kelly was not so lucky, waiting over 8 years for the resolution of her […]
[…] Pitstop 5 would have numerous court hearings and were ultimately acquitted by a jury in 2006. But Kelly was not so lucky, waiting over 8 years for the resolution of her […]