Six Palestine Action activists were in court in the Midlands this morning after being held for around 40 hours by police. Their homes were also raided and searched yesterday evening. The protesters had occupied the roof of UAV Engines Ltd in Shenstone, a subsidiary of Elbit Systems which manufactures drones used by the Israeli military against civilians in occupied Gaza.
All six have been charged with more than £50,000 worth of criminal damage after allegedly shutting the factory down for the day, smashing windows and other fixtures, and pouring and spraying red paint over the building to represent the blood of Palestinians.
The activists believe their actions are lawful as they say Elbit breaks international law and is complicit in war crimes. Activists who occupied the same Shenstone factory had their case dropped at the last moment when Elbit refused to produce documents for the court.
