Sixteen people who protested for peace at the 2015 New Zealand Defence Industry Association (NZDIA) Weapons Conference will next week appear in Wellington District Court. The protesters who took part in a non-violent blockade outside the conference have plead not guilty. A week of ongoing resistance to the arms trade will be held during the week of court; including an anti-Weapons Conference petition hand in to Parliament and a vigil for asylum seekers held in Australian offshore detention.
In November 2015, 27 people were arrested over two days for protesting the NZDIA’s annual Weapons Conference at which global arms dealers such as Lockheed Martin, Babcock and Thales as well as local arms manufacturers such as MAS Zengrange exhibit and network with other arms dealers and military purchasers. The peaceful blockade aimed to hinder the business of war.
“All of us are firmly of the view that the crimes going on at the weapons conference were the ones inside the where the companies were busy making deals to sell more weapons. The people blockading took non-violent direct action to stop the proliferation of death and destruction. We on the other hand were exercising our right to freedom of protest. It’s a travesty that we were arrested – protests happen every week, yet in this instance the police have pursued proceedings against peace activists in a trial set down for a week” said Peace Action Wellington member and arrestee Laura Drew.
The charges for the 16 remaining arrestees are for obstruction and trespass and all have entered a plea of not guilty. Lawyers Michael Bott, Chris Tennet & Daniel Vincent are representing the 16 in court, with others choosing to defend themselves, in a process which is due to run for a week between the 13-17th February. “We’d like to thank the peace and justice community for their support in funding our defense,” continued Drew.
Peace Action Wellington and the arrestees are still committed to anti-war and arms trade activism and have therefore planned a Week of Ongoing Resistance. There will be an anti arms trade demonstration outside Wellington District Court on the first day of proceedings and Tuesday 14th will see a petition with 4,000 signatures opposing the NZDIA Weapons Conference presented to Parliament. On Friday Peace Action will partner with the Double the Quota campaign to hold a vigil outside the Australian High Commission on the anniversary of Iranian asylum seeker Reza Barati’s death on Manus Island.
“We recognise that the issues of war and refugees are inextricably linked and stand in solidarity with those fleeing war to seek safer and better lives,” Drew continues “We’re determined to keep up the struggle against the arms industry. Last year’s blockade of the Weapons Conference in Auckland was extremely successful with many arms dealers locked out – we’re going to continue our campaign and stop the Weapons Conference and the wars it feeds once and for all.”
