The photo shows Jens being arrested.
I am an Australian writing from a cell in Glasgow prison. I am serving a 33 day sentence for my part in the Trident Ploughshares 2000 Nonviolent campaign to disarm the Trident nuclear submarine system. This action is based on the 1996 International Court of Justice decision that the use, or threatened use of nuclear weapons is illegal under humanitarian law.
Trident warheads are a threat to all countries. There is a Trident submarine capable of carrying 368 warheads, each with the destructive power of eight Hiroshima bombs, somewhere in the world oceans every minute of the day. While threatening in itself, Britians nuclear arsenal feeds other countries beliefs that 'bomb' ownership is a .right' and even a status symbol. It is hypocritical that Britian and the U.S.A have condemned India and Pakastan for recent nuclear explosions while they continue to develop and test their own systems.
Trident is particularly relevant to Australia, as we mine Uranium in our most precious areas and sell it to Nuclear states. We righteously oppose nuclear tests and ownership of warheads, while sitting uncomfortably under the British and U.S.A defense umbrella. We must remember that Britian tested nuclear weapons in Maralinga, devastating Aboriginal Australian land. We must also remember, that Australia's sovereign head of state is also the notional commander of the trident fleet.
Any deterent value that nuclear weapons once had is now amply covered by conventional weaponry. The 1996 Canberra Commission report by eminent International experts shows that a nuclear free world is feasible by the new millenium. We could rid ourselves of the most serious threat to life on earth.
Until recently, I thought, like many Australians, that nuclear threat had all but passed us. I was enjoying rural India when their tests shattered my complacency. Travelling to Scottland, I realised the enormity of these weapons. I decided to join a group called 'Ploughsharers' which has members from over a dozen countries, all walks of life, various faiths, and all age groups. The camp, along with the rest of Britian, was shocked by the Omagh bombing in Ireland. It provided a potent example of the enormous tragedy of innocent victims from a relatively small scale bomb.
I thought and felt deeply before my disarming actions at Faslane nuclear facility. Knowing what I knew, I did what I felt I had to do ( In my case was arrested after cutting my way into the base). If you see a chance to help this cause somehow, please take it. If nothing else you will feel better having tried.
Yours faithfully Jens Light
Hm Prison Gateside
Greenock Scotland.