Eight arms trade protestors will appear in court this week , (1st and 2nd February) to answer charges of obstruction of the highway, following their actions during the installation of the DSEI Arms Fair in September last year. The members of Christian anti-war groups, the London Catholic Worker, Put Down the Sword and Pax Christi, were arrested on the NoFaithInWar day during a week of protest outside the Excel Centre in London’s docklands.

The defendants blocked the road, with the aim of creating a space for prayer and reflection, at the same time as preventing tanks and weaponry from entering the Excel centre. Four of the defendants suspended themselves from an access bridge and the others, using arms tubes and boxes, lay in the road. Meanwhile faith groups including Quakers, Pax Christi, Fellowship of Reconciliation and the Anglican Pacifist Fellowship, prayed and bore witness.

Nicholas Cooper (36), Sam Donaldson (29), Luis Durton, Tom Franklin (59), Henrietta Cullinan (56), Nora Ziegler (28), Chris Cole (53) and Joanna Frew (38) are among over 100 people who were arrested for peacefully protesting against the DSEI arms fair last September.

DSEI takes place every two years in London. It brings some of the world’s most oppressive regimes together with many of the biggest arms companies. It is organised by Clarion Events and the UK Government. Last year buyers included delegations from countries involved in conflict and human rights abusing regimes, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Pakistan and Azerbaijan. They were joined by over 1500 arms companies, selling weapons that ranged from rifles to tanks, fighter jets, battleships, missiles, surveillance and riot control equipment.

Defendant Tom Franklin,59, of Clifton Without, York said: “The DSEI arms fair is a key element in the promotion of war and crimes against humanity. Companies are selling weapons to regimes that are using them to kill civilians and torture and oppress. The government is promoting sales of weapons to some of the worst abusers of human rights such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Israel.”

Defendant Nora Ziegler, 28, writes “The reason I took part in blocking the DSEI arms fair was to publicly witness to my faith in God’s love and my refusal to put faith in the institutions of war and oppression. I want to challenge the myth that the arms trade and war are inevitable or necessary and do what I can, in the spirit of non-violence, to resist these evils.”

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Please contact Nora Ziegler at londoncatholicworker@yahoo.co.uk 07923697218 or Tom Franklin at tom@franklin-consulting.co.uk 07989948221

Further information on faith groups involved

londoncatholicworker.org

@LndnCathWorker

putdownthesword.wordpress.com

@PutDownTheSword

More information about the DSEI arms fair can be found at:

Stop the Arms Fair: www.stopthearmsfair.org.uk/about/dsei/

Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT): www.caat.org.uk