[R-G] Peace activists get suspended sentences, probation for protest at military factory

[Anthony Fenton]

Peace activists get suspended sentences, probation for protest at  
military factory
December 10, 2008
Bob Mitchell
Staff Reporter
http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/551623

Ten peace activists were given suspended sentences today after being  
found guilty of trespassing on the property of a Burlington company  
that makes military guidance systems for missiles.

Justice of the Peace Ken Dechert also placed the accused, most of whom  
are either senior citizens or middle-aged men and women, on a year's  
probation that prevents them from staging a similar demonstration.

"It's an outrageous decision," said Matthew Behrens, who was among  
those found guilty of trespassing two years ago on the property of a  
company known as L-3 Wescam on the North Service Rd., which makes hi- 
tech optical surveillance equipment for military purposes, including  
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"By putting us on probation, the judge has sent a message that this  
company has the right to violate international law and trespass on the  
rights and lives of others in Afghanistan and Iraq and if you speak  
out, you will go to jail," Behrens said outside the courtroom.

Five of the 10 accused appeared in court today.

After Dechert delivered his nearly two-hour judgement, all of the  
defendants asked that no punishment be given to them, including one  
woman who stood and sang a British peace song.

". . . you can't shut my mouth when I sing," Kirsten Jones, 71, of  
Toronto sang, referring to the fact the protesters said they only  
wanted to speak with company executives to get them to stop  
manufacturing military weaponry the day of their arrests.

In convicting them, Dechert ruled that their "justification defence"  
for their actions of Nov. 20, 2006 didn't override the company's legal  
right to prohibit people on its property.

At their trial earlier this year, various defendants testified that  
they "honestly believed" they had an obligation under either  
international law or God's will to seek a non-violent way of trying to  
convince the company to stop producing weaponry.

Even though they were told in advance not to cross a spray-painted  
line on the company's property, they did so in an attempt to speak  
with company officials, court heard.

Halton Police arrested them after they sat on the ground and refused  
to leave the premises.

It was their belief the production of the hi-tech optical military  
surveillance systems used in unmanned drones made Wescam a party to  
war crimes and crimes against humanity.

It was their defence that based on the terms of the Nuremberg  
principles, they had the right under international law to defy the  
wishes of the company.

Dechert could have imposed a fine of up to $2,000 but he told the  
defendants that he didn't think a fine would "serve any purpose" as a  
punishment.

He said there was no doubt their reasons for trespassing were driven  
by their "strong moral" and in some cases "religious convictions" but,  
nevertheless, they broke the law.

While Dechert believed "they honestly believed" they had a "moral  
obligation," they didn't have any "legal interest" in the property  
that would allow them to defy the company's right to prohibit them  
from entering the property.

Behren described today's decision as being "dangerous" in the sense  
that if Wescam decided they didn't want "Jews on their property" they  
could order them removed because their rights as "legal land owner"  
trumped other rights.

Behrens said the peace activists have tried to meet with company  
executives for six years without any success.

"The probation order effectively says we can't have a dialogue with  
Wescam because the minute we set foot on their property, whether we're  
carrying a picket sign or not, we will be booted off and charged," he  
said.

Today's verdict came more than two years after their arrests and on  
the 60th anniversary of Human Rights Day.

Dechert noted there was no damage done to any property and nobody was  
injured and "true to their peaceful convictions" they didn't struggle  
when arrested.

About 40 people actually participated in the noon-hour protest that day.

Some of the defendants are members of a group known as Homes not  
Bombs, a collection of peace and social justice groups and individuals  
from across southern Ontario.

Court heard today how one of the defendants, David Milne, 61, of  
Bellville said at trial how he was "compelled by God" to seek a  
meeting with company executives the day of the protest.

Also convicted today were Gail Lorimer, Francis Barningham, Margaret  
Panter, Behrens, Daniel Hilton, David Marshall, James Smith and Thomas  
York.