On 15th April 2016 eight activists were acquitted at Stratford Magistrates Court of seeking to obstruct one of the world’s largest arms fairs. On Tuesday 13th June 2017 the High Court will consider whether the decision was correct in law.
The case against the activists had been formally closed since November 2016 because of the failure of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to pursue the case. The case was reopened in March 2017, following an application by the CPS.
The forthcoming ruling of the High Court has been identified as of broader importance since it will likely concern availability of the legal defences of prevention of crime” to individuals that act to prevent war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The activists contend that in the absence of any meaningful intervention from the state, or in cases of state complicity, individuals must be free to act to prevent torture or the mass indiscriminate killing of civilians, without persecution.
On 15th April 2016, the eight activists were acquitted at Stratford Magistrates Court of seeking to obstruct one of the world’s largest arms fairs. They had been accused of Obstruction of a Public Highway by blockading roads to frustrate the setup of the DSEI arms fair in September 2015.
The activists successfully asserted that their actions were justified since they were seeking to prevent greater crimes including the promotion for sale of torture weapons, internal repression in Bahrain and the mass indiscriminate killing of civilians in Yemen, Palestine and Kurdistan.
On acquitting the activists, District Judge Angus Hamilton had held that there had been “clear, credible and largely unchallenged evidence from the expert witnesses of wrongdoing at DSEI and compelling evidence that it took place in 2015.”
Following the verdict, the CPS twice sought to appeal the acquittals, but was rejected by DJ Angus Hamilton on the basis that the CPS applications were “dishonest”, “frivolous” and “misconceived”. The CPS finally applied directly to the High Court seeking a judicial review of the activists’ acquittal.
The CPS does not dispute any of the facts found by the Magistrates Court as to wrongdoing at the arms fair and complicity of its regular invitees in ongoing war crimes. Rather, it contends that the judge should not have allowed this evidence to be heard. A full (one day) hearing has been listed at the High Court for Tuesday 13th June 2017. The activists oppose the CPS claim and will be represented at the hearing.
The activists’ acquittal at Magistrates Court represented a particularly damning indictment on UK arms policy since, unlike previous cases where activists were acquitted on the basis of preventing war crimes, it cannot be written off as a mere perverse verdict by an emotional jury. Rather, an experienced District Judge in an apparently impartial tribunal of fact found evidence of serious wrongdoing at DSEI after listening to many hours of expert testimony from internationally regarded experts at leading NGOs.
The DSEI (Defence & Security Equipment International) arms fair takes place every two years in London’s Docklands, and is jointly organised by Clarion Events and the UK Government. Buyers include countries involved in conflict and from human rights abusing regimes. Exhibitors attend from around the world, including most of the world’s largest arms companies.
Organisers and arms companies breached UK arms legislation in at least three of the last four DSEI exhibitions, and not once has any exhibitor or organiser been prosecuted.
Human rights observers were prevented from entering the last DSEI (in September 2015). The DSEI arms fair is set to return to East London this September. This case has served to fuel the increasing momentum against it. It is anticipated that resistance to it will be bigger than ever before.
In a joint public statement, the defendants’ campaign said:
“The CPS cannot dispute any of the findings of fact made at our trial concerning criminality at DSEI, or the high probability that weapons bought there would be used for war crimes. How could they, when every credible authoritative source only serves to confirm that the UK government and other repeat DSEI invitees such as Saudi and its coalition allies are solidly and persistently complicit in the mass indiscriminate killing of civilians?
“It is little wonder then, that the CPS should seek to prohibit the admission of such evidence in court on arbitrary procedural grounds, arguing that expert evidence should not have been allowed to be heard by the court at all. For us it is clear that there is not only a right – but also a profound responsibility – for each of us to do all we can to stop war crimes and crimes against humanity where they start.”
