U.S. Bases

Last May, a British magistrate fined Lindis Percy £200 for violating a section of the Public Order Act. It was charged that her practice of standing vigil at U.S. military bases and stations holding an American flag (even upside down) with the words "Stop Star Wars" written upon it had offended the guest soldiers. The High Court on December 21 reversed the judgment, because it gave "insufficient weight" to the "right to freedom of expression."

The original judgment had done little to deter Percy's activism. She has since been arrested at at least half a dozen other bases. Many of her arrests are open challenges to bye-laws that benefit the American bases but violate British commoner's rights. At one point, she was charged with theft of an American flag, the second that she has, in protest, openly brought down from its pole at a military base and sought to return to the U.S. Ambassador, its rightful owner.

On February 19, she was convicted of aggravated trespass at Fylingdales last September 9, and fined £200 plus £200 costs. In an atmosphere of acknowledged "robust policing," Percy and Anni Rainbow, who shares with her coordination of the Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases (CAAB), were arrested February 26 on the same charge during their weekly vigil at NSA Menwith Hill Station. The two women were jailed overnight before release. On March 1, Percy was arrested again on the same charge at USAF Croughton, and jailed for 11 days before being bailed on condition not to enter any U.S. or British military base, and to sleep at her home address.

For more information, contact CAAB, 8 Park Row, Otley, West Yorkshire, LS21 1HQ, England, U.K. +44 (0)1943 466405, email: anniandlindis@caab.org.uk web: www.caab.org.uk.