Annika Spalde, Ann-Britt Sternfeldt, and Stellan Vinthagen acted in support of the Trident Plowshares 2000 campaign last September and attempted to disarm HMS Vengeance in the construction dock at Barrow-in-Furness.  While the judge told jurors much of the permitted testimony about international law was not admissible, it apparently had some effect.

Vinthagen said, “We are really impressed that a jury of ordinary citizens from a town so dependent on weapons production refused to find us guilty, in spite of them being told by the judge that that was their only option.”

The government later decided to retry the case, and a new trial date of October 11 was set. The judge has said that he will seek the view of the Attorney General on the application of the 1996 ruling by the International Court of Justice to Britain’s nuclear weapons.

The three Swedes remain charged with conspiracy to commit criminal damage.  Jailed after the September action, they were released  January 21 without bail and on fewer conditions, pending trial.

The three prepared for trial and spoke publicly about their action and the Trident Ploughshares 2000 campaign.   On March 18, they broke one of the few conditions on their release by deliberately failing to make a fortnightly report to the Liverpool police station.

On March 21, they returned with 20 supporters to the Barrow shipyard (incidentally breaking another condition) to ask the workers and security forces to help continue the disarmament of the Trident nuclear weapons program.  The three were arrested and again remanded to custody, where they remained until the conclusion of the recent trial.  The defendants are now free to return to Sweden, where public interest in their case remains high.

For more information, contact Swords into Plowshares, c/o 179 Ribbleton Avenue, Preston PR2 6AA, UK. Email: plowshares@hotmail.com
http://www.plowshares.se/bnb/english.htm