Stuart Weir (Cambridge, Democratic Audit): On 22 May a jury at Bristol Crown Court acquitted two protesters, Toby Olditch and Philip Pritchard, on charges of criminal damage, after they had broken into RAF Fairford and attempted to disable American B52 bombers just before the 'shock and awe' offensive against Iraq began.
The defence argued that they were acting to prevent war crimes against the people of Iraq, and that even a few days delay in flights would have allowed more Iraqi citizens to escape to safety. This has been a long ordeal for the two protesters - they were first tried for the same offence in October 2006 - but they made impressive witnesses: patently honest, sincere and informed. Pritchard's evidence on the evils of cluster bombs and shells strengthened by depleted uranium, which scatter bomblets and radioactive toxins with a life of billions of years, was chilling. Defence counsel asked Pritchard: had they run or walked within the base? Pritchard replied that they had walked steadily, to lessen the chances of guards shooting at them.
The prosecution's focus on criminal damage was designed to exclude issues of the legality of the invasion and international law on war crimes. However, they tried to argue that the two men should have made use of their rights within a democratic nation as a means of protest. But a combination of the two men's knowledge, and a briefing from Democratic Audit on the government's manipulative, dishonest and improper processes leading to war, frustrated this.
Once again, the case demonstrates the value of jury trial. Juries will take the 'wider' view and apply their own values in such cases, even if courts try to exclude such considerations.
OurKingdom will be publishing a Democratic Audit history of protests, however small or large, that had a national impact during the Blair decade. What kind of index is it of Britain's democratic temperament? We would like to invite users to participate in making sure it is complete and accurate. If you have details of a protest, such as that undertaken by Olditch and Pritchard, please email jon.bright@opendemocracy.net.
