Quaker and Methodist minister acquitted of BAE criminal damage

[Tony Gosling]

<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-41763568>'Greater 
good' pair cleared of BAE criminal damage

In the 1990s this would have topped the BBC News 
bulletins - now just a tiny mention online - 26 Oct 2017
<https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/27/quaker-and-methodist-minister-acquitted-of-bae-criminal-damage-after-greater-good-defense.html>
Story image for Sam Walton and Rev Daniel Woodhouse from CNBC


<https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/27/quaker-and-methodist-minister-acquitted-of-bae-criminal-damage-after-greater-good-defense.html>Quaker 
and Methodist minister acquitted of BAE criminal damage ...


Judge finds 'impressive and eloquent' Christian peace activists not guilty

https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/33682
    *  October 26th, 
2017 
<https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/https://www.indcatholicnews.com/search/Peace>Peace, 
<https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/https://www.indcatholicnews.com/search/Sam%20Walton>Sam 
Walton, 
<https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/https://www.indcatholicnews.com/search/Rev%20Daniel%20Woodhouse>Rev 
Daniel Woodhouse, 
<https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/https://www.indcatholicnews.com/search/Activists>Activists, 
<https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/https://www.indcatholicnews.com/search/BAE%20Systems>BAE 
Systems<https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/https://www.indcatholicnews.com/search/>, 

Sam Walton and Rev Daniel Woodhouse have been 
acquitted today after breaking-in to BAE Systems 
factory to 'disarm' Typhoon fighter jets. These 
jets are being used by Saudi-led forces in the 
ongoing bombardment of Yemen. The UK has licensed 
£3.8 billion worth of arms to Saudi Arabia since 
the bombing began in March 2015.

This afternoon, Reverend Daniel Woodhouse and Sam 
Walton, a Quaker activist from London, were found 
not guilty at Burnley Magistrates Court, 
following their arrest for trying to disarm 
Typhoon fighter jets at BAE Systems' site in 
Warton, Lancashire on 29 January 2017.

Their aim had been to stop the jets, which had 
Saudi markings painted on them, from going to 
Saudi Arabia where they would be used to support 
the ongoing bombing of Yemen. Sam and Daniel 
successfully argued that their intention was to 
save innocent lives and prevent war crimes, by 
physically disabling the warplanes.

The two campaigners broke in via a fence on the 
perimeter of the site, and got within five feet 
of the warplanes before being stopped by BAE security.

The court heard evidence about the scale of the 
brutal bombardment, and the many serious 
accusations of war crimes that have been made 
against the Royal Saudi Air Force.

In delivering comments on his judgement District 
Judge James Clarke said: "They were impressive 
and eloquent men who held strong views about what 
they were doing and what they wanted to achieve. 
They impressed me as being natural in their 
delivery and honest throughout their evidence
"

"I heard about their belief of BAE's role in the 
supply of aircraft to Saudi Arabia. I heard about 
their beliefs regarding the events in Yemen, that 
they include the death of civilians and the 
destruction of civilian property, and the basis 
for their belief that this amounted to war crimes..."

"However, having considered in full the defence 
under sec 5 Criminal Damage Act 1971, I find the defendants not guilty."

Since the bombing of Yemen began in March 2015, 
the UK has licensed £3.8 billion worth of arms to Saudi Arabia, including:

£2.6 billion worth of ML10 licences (Aircraft, helicopters, drones)
£1.1 billion worth of ML4 licences (Grenades, 
bombs, missiles, countermeasures)
£572,000 worth of ML6 licences (Armoured vehicles, tanks)

In a joint statement, Sam and Daniel said: "We 
did not want to take this action, but were 
compelled to do so in order to stop the UK 
government's complicity in the destruction of 
Yemen. Thousands of people have been killed in 
the brutal bombardment, while companies like BAE 
Systems have profited every step of the way.

This vindication from the Courts is further 
evidence of the hypocrisy and moral bankruptcy 
that underpins so much of UK foreign policy. It 
is time for the government to stop putting arms 
company profits ahead of human rights. We do not 
regret taking action, and would do it again in a 
heartbeat. The only thing we regret is that we 
were not able to finish the job."
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 From South America, where payment must be made with subtlety, the 
Bormann organization has made a substantial contribution. It has 
drawn many of the brightest Jewish businessmen into a participatory 
role in the development of many of its corporations, and many of 
these Jews share their prosperity most generously with Israel. If 
their proposals are sound, they are even provided with a specially 
dispensed venture capital fund. I spoke with one Jewish businessmen 
in Hartford, Connecticut. He had arrived there quite unknown several 
years before our conversation, but with Bormann money as his 
leverage. Today he is more than a millionaire, a quiet leader in the 
community with a certain share of his profits earmarked as always for 
his venture capital benefactors. This has taken place in many other 
instances across America and demonstrates how Bormann's people 
operate in the contemporary commercial world, in contrast to the 
fanciful nonsense with which Nazis are described in so much "literature."

So much emphasis is placed on select Jewish participation in Bormann 
companies that when Adolf Eichmann was seized and taken to Tel Aviv 
to stand trial, it produced a shock wave in the Jewish and German 
communities of Buenos Aires. Jewish leaders informed the Israeli 
authorities in no uncertain terms that this must never happen again 
because a repetition would permanently rupture relations with the 
Germans of Latin America, as well as with the Bormann organization, 
and cut off the flow of Jewish money to Israel. It never happened 
again, and the pursuit of Bormann quieted down at the request of 
these Jewish leaders. He is residing in an Argentinian safe haven, 
protected by the most efficient German infrastructure in history as 
well as by all those whose prosperity depends on his well-being.
<http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fspitfirelist.com%2Fbooks%2Fmartin-bormann-nazi-in-exile%2F&h=eAQErj17O>http<http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fspitfirelist.com%2Fbooks%2Fmartin-bormann-nazi-in-exile%2F&h=eAQErj17O>://spitfirelist.com/books/martin-bormann-nazi-in-exile/   
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