Citizens of Ithaca, NY will join protestors at over 100 points in the world on Saturday, October 13. to protest plans to develop national missle defense, space weapons and nuclear power in space. Critics fear that such steps would encourage nuclear proliferation, increasing the risk of nuclear war. People will be gathering at 2 PM at the Ithaca Commons to march along the Sagan Planetwalk to the Science Center -- we'll return to the Commons at 3:30 to hear speakers including Linda Holzbaur (Green candidate for Ithaca City Board), Chip Cagnon, Paul Houle and others.
On 14th July, fifteen Greenpeace volunteers and two photographers entered the exclusion zone at Vandenberg Airbase in California to carry out a peaceful protest against President Bush's Star Wars missile test. This group, who came from all over the world, successfully delayed the test by forty minutes and, in doing so, truly reflected the growing global opposition to the Star Wars programme.
The "Star Wars 17" now face incredibly severe charges and could face jail sentences of up to six years. The trial date is now set for the 20th November. It is crucial that we continue to send messages of concern at the harshness of the charges, to the US government, prior to this date.
Fifteen Greenpeace activists and two journalists are facing up to 6 years in jail following peaceful action during a missile test on July 14 at the Vandenburg 'Star Wars' Airforce Base in California.
These incredibly harsh charges are a clear indication of President Bush's dictatorial approach to aggressively deploying Star Wars.
Everyone involved in the action did a very have brave thing. They were prepared to put themselves in the firing line of the missile to try to stop not just this test, but the whole Star Wars program.
Greenpeace wants to see a nuclear free future. Peaceful protest should not be on trial here, rather it should be George Bush and Star Wars.
The charges are: Conspiracy to violate a safety zone, and failure to adhere to the Commander's instructions. The first is a Class D felony charge which carries a maximum of 6 years jail term. It could also carry a fine of up to $250,000. The second charge is a misdemeanour carrying a maximum one year jail term and a maximum $5,000 fine. Both sentences would be served at the same time.
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http://cybercentre.greenpeace.org/t/s/aas/e?a=StarWars_em&s=blue2
