[JNV Press Release] Peace Demo Wedding Party Die-In at London Military Base, Marking Afghan Massacre

[Justice Not Vengeance]

Press Release
26 May 2009
Contact:  0845 458 2564 (Gabriel Carlyle), 07973 484 202 (Maya Evans)
or 07980 748 555 (Milan Rai).

WEDDING PARTY TO "DIE-IN" AT UK MILITARY BASE, MARKING AFGHAN MASSACRE

27 May 2009: Anti-war protesters wearing wedding dresses and suits
will stage a 'die-in' at "HMS Warrior" - the British military base in
Northwood, north London, which commands British forces in Afghanistan–
tomorrow, on Wednesday 27 May 2009.

The action - the first large-scale civil disobedience against the war
in Afghanistan - will take place in the wake of the 4 May massacre in
which as many as 120 civilians, including dozens of women and
children, were killed by US/NATO airstrikes in Afghanistan’s Farah
province [1].

27 May 2009 is the second anniversary of the attack on a wedding party
at Haji Nabu in Afghanistan in which 47 civilians were killed by US
bombing, one of many wedding parties to have been massacred by US/NATO
action.

Maya Anne Evans, the first person to be convicted for demonstrating
without police permission in the vicinity of Parliament, will be
taking part in the die-in [2].

She said in advance: '68 per cent of people in Britain want all
British troops home from Afghanistan [3], but we're still there and
we're putting more troops in - at the request of President Obama. The
blood of Afghan brides and grooms is on our hands, thousands of Afghan
civilians have been killed by US/NATO bombing - this has to stop, and
that's why I will be taking part in nonviolent civil disobedience at
Britain's Afghan war headquarters on 27 May 2009.'

The organisers of this demonstration organised a similar die-in at
Northwood on 19 January 2003 when 400 protesters blocked the main gate
of HMS Warrior (which is a land-based headquarters) for eight hours,
and 70 people were arrested for sitting down in the road.

Organising groups include: Voices in the Wilderness UK, Justice Not
Vengeance (members of which were previously in ARROW, which helped to
organise the 2003 event), and the London and Oxford Catholic Workers.

Among the organisers is Milan Rai, the first person to be convicted of
organising an unauthorised demonstration in the vicinity of Parliament
under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act - for which he served
a short prison sentence, after refusing to pay a fine [2].

FOR MORE INFO CONTACT:
07980 748 555 (Milan Rai), 0845 458 2564 (Gabriel Carlyle) or 07973
484 202 (Maya Evans). http://www.stopbombingafghanistan.org

NOTES

[1] ‘120 die’ as US bombs village, Independent, 7 May 2009,
http://tinyurl.com/cfxfe7

[2] Maya Evans and Milan Rai were arrested in October 2005 for reading
out the names of Iraqis and British soldiers who had died as a result
of the war in Iraq, opposite the Cenotaph. In December 2005 Maya Evans
was convicted of participating in an “unauthorized” demonstration
within 1km of Parliament. See: “MPs condemn arrest of woman who spoke
out”, Daily Mail, 8 December 2005 (http://tinyurl.com/zoep7)

[3] In a 31 October - 2 November 2008 ICM/BBC poll, 68% of the British
public said that all British troops should be withdrawn