Acquittal Contagion Spreads

It's been a season of acquittals, whether the legitimate instrument of truth is a hammer, a pen, a banner, or a clear, loud voice. First the Loch Goil Ploughshares women in October, then in November, Hattie Nestle in Maine, and in December, the Bangor, Washington, banner holders and Alexander Nikitin in Russia.

Bath, Maine:
Hattie Nestle was on trial October 28 for heckling Secretary of War Cohen last April, when he launched an Aegis warship at Bath Iron Works, Maine. Her charge was disorderly conduct, but she argued that to shout "Stop the launch of this illegal weapon against God and humanity" and repeating "Murderers! Killers!" as police carried her from the ceremony was protected political speech. After hearing the evidence, the judge questioned the charge, saying "I think this kind of thing goes on in the halls of Congress every day." One month later, he issued his written judgment of acquittal, agreeing that "as annoying as the defendant's conduct was, it is an expression of a political belief and, therefore, is protected..."

Bangor, Washington:
Four members of Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action were found not guilty December 24 for their role in a nonviolent direct action at the Trident submarine base at Bangor, Washington, on August 9, 1999. It was alleged that their banner, which read "Bangor Closed - Trident Violates International Law," was an "unauthorized sign" purporting to imitate an "official traffic-control device which attempts to direct the movement of traffic."

The defendants, representing themselves, argued their First and Fourteenth amendment rights as well as their obligations under International Law to call their government to accountability to abide by treaties signed regarding nuclear weapons. Defendant Betsy Collins said "I have lived in Washington State all my life and watched it become trashed in the name of national defense. Are we any safer for this? Are we any more loved and respected around the world? The answer is no".

Judge Holman ruled that the defendants were exercising their "right to speak freely." The sign as such did not attempt to direct movement of traffic but instead gave information.

This is the third acquittal in Kitsap County in the last three trials for demonstrations held at Bangor by Ground Zero members, two jury trials and the latest before Judge Holman.

For more information, contact Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, 16159 Clear Creek Rd. NW, Poulsbo, WA 98370, (360)377-2586, info@gzcenter.org

St. Petersburg, Russia:
Alexander Nikitin, the former Russian naval officer first jailed in 1996 for nearly a year and then repeatedly prosecuted for espionage, was finally found not guilty by a St. Petersburg court on December 29. Nikitin's allegedly criminal action was his contribution to a report by the Norwegian environmental organization Bellona that documented toxic and radioactive pollution from the Russian and former Soviet Northern Fleet. His case eventually brought wide-spread international attention, indicating that the police-state tactics of the Russian FSB, successor to the Soviet state-police KGB, were little changed from the reins of state-sponsored repression each in turn inherited from the Czar's Tcheka. Nikitin's sources were all public records, the charges were based on secret decrees applied retroactively, and despite eight successive indictments, in the end what justice could be salvaged was finally secured. Nonetheless, the prosecutor has lodged an appeal with the Russian Supreme Court and requested a retrial before a different judge.

For the full story of Nikitin's four year ordeal and trials, log on to http://www.bellona.no/e/russia/nikitin/ or write the Bellona Foundation, Box 2141 Grunerlokka, N-0505 Oslo, Norway; email: bellona@bellona.no