November 12, 2006
TRIAL DATE SET - MAY 29, 2007
TRIAL DATE SET
May 29, 2007 is the date that has been set for the trial of the Pine Gap 4.
Two weeks have been set aside for the trial (by jury) to be held in the Northern Territory Supreme Court at Alice Springs in front of Justice Sally Thomas.
In the meantime our legal team is still pursuing several legal matters in relation to the use of the Defence (Special Undertakings) Act 1952. This legal process will continue ahead of the trial with the next hearing set down for January 10, 2007, in which we are able to appear by phone.
Since our last report, the five people who were arrested at Pine Gap during the Peace Convergence protest on October 7, 2006 have appeared in court.
The five (Jamie Ford from Alice Springs, Tracey Makamae frm Yepoon, Carl Johnston from Alice Springs, Edward Cranswick from Adelaide and Sam Land from New Zealand) were charged with failing to cease to loiter and obstructing traffic.
Four of the five pleaded guilty while the fifth, Edward Cranswick from Adelaide stated that he did not respect the jurisdiction of the court as it did not represent the will of the Australian people but that of the occupying power, the United States.
The magistrate adjourned Edward’s case to February 5, 2007.
The other four defendants stated that their actions were in protest against the United States’ Government and the involvement of Pine Gap in the war in Iraq.
Jamie Ford brought to the attention of the court that the CIA who operates Pine Gap is well known for international human rights abuses such as selling arms to Iran in the 1980s, Training terrorists such as Al Qaeda and supporting brutal regimes such as the Taliban and inciting war in Latin America. He also stated that the US advocate the use of torture and incarceration without charge and that Pine Gap was linked to Raytheon, the worlds 5th largest arms dealer.
“These are the reasons that as a citizen of Alice Springs I am disgusted to have such an installation in my region.” Jamie told the court.
Jamie, Tracy, Carl and Sam were fined $280 each for the offences. Those present in the courtroom said all five represented themselves very well and spoke with deep conviction about the reasons for their action – well done guys!!!
We now want to give full support and solidarity to Edward as he continues the legal process for his charges. We’ll keep you posted on Edward’s hearing and ways you can support him.
So now we have a trial date to mark in our diaries, we invite you to come be with us in Alice Springs from May 29, 2007 for what we hope will be a major transformative peacemaking event as well as a trial!
Before then we will continue raising awareness about the trial and fundraising for the legal defense fund. Please let us know if you are able to help out by hosting a meeting or fundraising event, or have any ideas for us. You can email to: pinegap6@yahoo.com.au
More news as it comes to hand.
Thanks to all for your support thus far….!