10th October 2000
As the High Court in Edinburgh clarified that the hearing of the Lord Advocate’s Reference would be able to debate the central question – the legality of Trident – one of the respondents, Angie Zelter, has already taken the debate to the heart of the matter by demonstrating how Trident breaches the cardinal principles of international law.
Representing herself, the only lay person in the whole proceedings, Angie gave a confident presentation of the first part of her submission. She said that the proceedings would relate to whether there is a right for ordinary citizens to prevent innocent people from being murdered. She strongly refuted the Crown statement that she, Ulla Roder and Ellen Moxley were engaged in some kind of opposition or protest. They had acted to try to prevent preparations for war crimes.
Dealing with the reality of the Trident threat she said: “It was submitted at Greenock that the British Trident system is an immediate and ongoing danger to life on earth, a threat to international peace and specifically unlawful as a breach of the intransgressible rules of humanitarian law as expressed by the ICJ. I continue to submit that we are all still in imminent danger of extinction.”
Angie’s submission will continue tomorrow.