Jury clears activists who broke into Brighton arms factory

The Guardian ^ | June 30, 2010 | Bibi van der Zee and Rob Evans

[rmlew]

Five activists who caused £180,000 damage to an arms factory were acquitted after they argued they were seeking to prevent Israeli war crimes.

The five were jubilant after a jury found them not guilty of conspiring to cause criminal damage to the factory on the outskirts of Brighton.

The five admitted they had broken in and sabotaged the factory, but argued they were legally justified in doing so.

They believed that EDO MBM, the firm that owns the factory, was breaking export regulations by manufacturing and selling to the Israelis military equipment which would be used in the occupied territories. They wanted to slow down the manufacture of these components, and impede what they believed were war crimes being committed by Israel against the Palestinians.

[rmlew]

So criminal activity, even such taht undermine British security, is acceptable so long as it is thought to undermine Israel.
The Left-Islamic alliance wins again.

[sockmonkey]

WTF? This is like bizarro world stuff.

[MontanaBeth]

Pray for Israel

[Dallas59]

Then the guys that blew up the buses in London on 7/7 should be acquitted and released immediately!

[MindBender26]

Prayer will not be enough.

All this, and of course Obama, is sending a clear message to Israel that they have no friends, except for their own fissionable weapons.

BTW, did the Peace Loons ever introduce any evidence that weapons or weapons components were being sent to Israel.... or is it ok to destroy, when you are wrong.... but thinking “good thoughts?”

[MaxMax]

I used to think it was a tyrannical Gov that was bringing the EU down, it's not.
It's the citizens who want total Gov control, and these jury actions prove it.

[piytar]

It’s garbage such as this that’s going to make me not really care when formerly Great Brittan becomes (more of) a Third World islamic cesspool...

[Pontiac]

So I would be justified in burning down a Mosque in order to prevent it from being used as a suicide bomb factory.

[rmlew]

The late Samuel Francis coined the term Anarcho-tyranny for America. It also describes the increasingly tyrannical Britain, where leftists and Muslim crimes are either unpunished or rewarded.

[Izzy Dunne]

The judge highlighted the testimony by Caroline Lucas, the Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, that "all democratic paths had been exhausted" before the activists embarked on their action.

So the MP is in favor of this too?

Wow.

Fodder for the Sheehan types, who, having "exhausted" their "democratic paths", decide that it's not good enough...

[rmlew]

So I would be justified in burning down a Mosque in order to prevent it from being used as a suicide bomb factory.
No. They are a protected group. You would be prosecuted for arson, terrorism and a hate crime. And you would likely be killed by a Muslim in jail.

[MontanaBeth]

The world has gone mad, prayer is the only thing I can really count on at this point and it can’t hurt to Pray for God’s people and their country.

[Pontiac]

No. They are a protected group.

Oh yah, I forgot, they are a special rights group.

[B4Ranch]

Now you are learning how to think the way you should!

[SunkenCiv]

The five admitted they had broken in and sabotaged the factory, but argued they were legally justified in doing so. They believed that EDO MBM, the firm that owns the factory, was breaking export regulations by manufacturing and selling to the Israelis military equipment which would be used in the occupied territories. They wanted to slow down the manufacture of these components, and impede what they believed were war crimes being committed by Israel against the Palestinians.

[Diogenesis]

SSDD

[dervish]

Hell in a handbasket. That’s the UK.

[Vanders9]

They believed that EDO MBM, the firm that owns the factory, was breaking export regulations by manufacturing and selling to the Israelis military equipment which would be used in the occupied territories.

WHAT? That is nonsense! Even if that allegation were true, surely that is a matter for the relevant export authorities? Since when did they get the right to enforce public law?

[sinsofsolarempirefan]

This is why juries can be a massive obstacle to justice. There is no objective assessment of the facts and the law, its about pandering to the emotions and prejudices of ordinary, tabloid-reading imbeciles...

There is no dispute that the law was broken, they admitted to doing it. But they voted ‘not guilty’ in a blatant act of jury nullification that completely disregarded the law...

[Vanders9]

Then the Judge should have overuled it. The judiciary is supposed to be independent - he should have told them straight that their “defence” is inadmissable - its no defence at all.