Trident Ploughshares activists returned again to the Faslane nuclear submarine base in mid-February for three days of "Block 'n' Roll" nonviolent actions. Even as the date approached, local Scottish courts were still dealing with some of the 385 people arrested at last February's "Big Blockade."

The inconsistencies that have marked disposition of scores of cases before several different magistrates continued. For example, among those refusing to pay fines, Joy Mitchell, a retired teacher, had payment waived when she returned to court (a first in this campaign), but Ellen Moxley was sentenced to two weeks, and Ludwig Appeltans to a week in jail (serving half that, as British prisoners typically do).

A week before "Block & Roll," seven anti-Trident activists blocked a dockyard gate in Plymouth on February 3. They were among 300 people to protest the refitting of HMS Vanguard, and call instead for decommissioning of the first of Britain's four-boat Trident fleet. They were released later in the day, charged with obstruction.

Two days later, more good news came with the decision of Edinburgh prosecutors to admit defeat and drop breach of peace charges against the last four of eleven people arrested for hanging anti-Trident banners and shouting slogans from the gallery of the Scottish Parliament last April. The charge of breaching the peace is regularly challenged by defendants from Faslane and nearby Coulport sub base because testimony demonstrates that the requisite "distress and alarm" have not resulted from the defendants' actions. In the first six Edinburgh trials, the court had agreed there was no case to answer, or had failed to convict on the charge. The crown is appealing the first Faslane acquittal based on this defense, but more acquittals have since occurred there as well.

BLOCK 'n' ROLL

About 500 rallied at the Faslane gates on February 11 to begin the winter action. Blockades by several affinity groups kept all the gates closed for several hours. One hundred and thirteen arrests were reported.

The peace activities hardly slowed before dawn the next day, when the main gate was again blocked. A second day of spirited resistance ensued, with international participation and the arrest of several clergy and members of the Scottish Parliament over the course of the action.

Among those arrested on the third consecutive day of blockading was Nora Barnes and her eight-week old son, Murray. "I didn't intend to get arrested today, but I just felt I had to do something as I stood there with Murray in my arms and thought of all the babies who would be murdered if Trident were ever used." Barnes was charged with breach of peace, and she and her son were quickly released from custody at the base gate as police had no facilities for the baby.

Being Ash Wednesday, the Adomnan of Iona affinity group held a service in memory of all victims of war and terror. Small paper Tridents were burned for the ash to mark crosses on the foreheads of the Anglican faithful. Even the police were visibly moved by the liturgy and song incorporated into the acts of nonviolent resistance.

Nearly 200 arrests were made over the three days of action, most for breach of peace. Among several people jailed overnight until their initial court appearances, Trident Ploughshares co-founder Angie Zelter was held as a "persistent offender." In court February 14, she accused the court of "abuse of process" because peaceful citizens were still being charged with disorderly conduct while the courts ignore evidence that the British state was continually engaged in bombing and institutionalized terrorism. A hearing on the abuse of process question was set for March 11.

Ulla Roder, acquitted along with Zelter and Ellen Moxley in a now-famous 1999 Trident Ploughshares disarmament trial at Greenock, Scotland, was also jailed after the blockade. The three women represented Trident Ploughshares in December to receive the Right Livelihood Award, presented annually by the Swedish parliament to honor and support those offering practical and inspiring answers to the most urgent challenges facing society.

The imprisoned laureate will remain there until her trial March 25, having refused to accept or reject a bail condition she sees as a human rights violation. The prosecutor had asked for a special condition excluding Roder from Argyll and Bute, the local authority with jurisdiction at Faslane. To accept the condition, Roder claimed, would be to restrict her own right to gather at Faslane and engage in nonviolent protest. To reject the condition would be tantamount to sending herself to prison until trial.

Updating the Trident Ploughshares actions at Aldermaston Nuclear Weapons factory in southern England last May, three people were convicted January 9 of cutting fence there. Expert testimony about the health impact of low-level radiation and contamination from Aldermaston found attentive magistrates' ears. They ordered compensation and court costs be paid, plus 18 months conditional discharge.

For more information, contact Trident Ploughshares, 42-46 Bethel St., Norwich, Norfolk, NR2 1NR, England, +44 08 45 45 88 366, email: tp2000@gn.apc.org web: www.tridentploughshares.org.

A new Trident Ploughshare prisoner support page has been created at www.motherearth.org/nuke/tp/prisoners.htm. Current prison addresses for Trident Ploughshares, support information and support group links can be found there. Letters of support should be sent to Ulla Roder, HMP Cornton Vale, Cornton Road, Stirling, FK9 5NY, Scotland UK.