On Monday, 2 September, anti-nuclear campaigners based in the Burghfield Disarmament Camp just outside AWE Burghfield in Berkshire will blockade all two gates of AWE Burghfield in a nonviolent action of civil disobedience. The action will begin at 7am, with an open end.
Activists from Trident Ploughshares and Action AWE established the Burghfield Disarmament Camp early on Sunday early morning on MOD land just outside AWE Burghfield in Berkshire, the UK’s nuclear warhead maintenance and assembly plant [1]. They have been joined by anti nuclear campaigners from Belgium, Germany, Finland, Spain, and other European countries.
“On Monday, we will take nonviolent action to disrupt the normal running of AWE Burghfield, to protest against the UK’s Trident nuclear weapon system, and the plan to renew Trident at a cost of £100 billion“, says Andreas Speck, press spokesperson of Action AWE. “We need to resort to civil disobedience, as the democratic process is not functioning. Although a decision on Trident renewal will supposedly only be made during the next parliament, already new billions of pounds are being spent to upgrade the facilities at AWE Aldermaston and here at AWE Burghfield – thus creating facts and preempting a decision by parliament“.
“With our action we want to increase the preasure on candidates for the next parliament to commit themselves to voting against Trident renewal“, adds Angie Zelter of Trident Ploughshares and Action AWE. “We are convinced that the renewal of Trident can still be stopped if and when people take nonviolent action. We are here to encourage people to raise their voice, to take nonviolent action and be counted. Peace is too important to leave it to politicians.”
Since Sunday, MOD police has repeatedly warned the protesters that they are in breach of AWE Burghfield byelaws, which prohibit camping in controlled areas around the site. MOD police demanded names and addresses from campers, and repeatedly entered the camp to obtain the names and addresses, capturing the warning and the response on video – a tactic protesters condemned as “invisible repression” and “arrest on the cheap” [2]. The activists refused to leave and vowed to fight any prosecution in court, refering to the decision of the High Court in a case brought by the Aldermaston Women’s Peace Camp against the almost identical byelaws for AWE Aldermaston [3].
ENDS
Notes to editors:
[1] Media are invited to visit the camp at AWE Burghfield. The exact location of the camp is between The Mearings and the fence of AWE Burghfield (near http://osm.org/go/eushcNSlx-?m) and press should ring Action AWE Press on 0845 458 8367.
[2] See the earlier press release from 26 August 2013: http://actionawe.org/arrest-on-the-cheap-at-awe-burghfield-summer-disarmament-camp/
[3] The judgement ([2009] EWCA Civ 23) is available at http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2009/23.html