On Tuesday 8th June three Trident Ploughshares 2000 activists disarmed a vital part of Britain's Trident nuclear weapons system when they disabled "Maytime", a floating laboratory in Loch Goil. They were remanded to Cornton Vale prison when they appeared in closed session at Dunoon Sheriff court.
Ellen Moxley (63), a peace campaigner from Dollar, Scotland, Ulla Roder (44) a shop assistant from Denmark and Angie Zelter (49), a potter and peace campaigner from Norfolk, England, made their way from the shore to the Maytime's anchorage by inflatable boat. Once aboard they damaged 20 computers and other electronic equipment and circuit boxes, cut an antenna, jammed winches and other machinery with superglue, sand and syrup and tipped logbooks files and papers overboard. They were on board for almost four hours before MOD police, apparently alerted at last by a media enquiry, took them into custody. Initial estimates of the value of the damage range from £30,000 to £100,000.
The women are members of the "Pheasants' Union" group, part of the Trident Ploughshares 2000 campaign which aims to rid the UK of its illegal weapons of mass destruction by non-violent and accountable direct action. When they met supporters outside the court they said: "We really cleaned it out!".
In their collective statement the women had said: "Our actions are based on the legal and ethical premise that the UK's Trident nuclear weapons system is a system preparing for the mass murder of innocent civilians. As loving, feeling human beings we feel responsible for trying to do everything in our power to prevent the system from being able to operate, providing that our actions are safe, non-violent, open and accountable."
The Floating Laboratory Complex is run by the Defence Evaluation and Reseach Agency (DERA), part of the Ministry of Defence and submarine trials are conducted regularly at the facilities in Loch Goil.
Angie Zelter, Ellen Moxley and Ulla Roder will appear in Dunoon court again on Thursday 17 June.
Please send cards and messages of support to :
HMP Cornton Vale
Cornton Road
Stirling
FK9 5NY