In a repeat of previous incidents, the police assisted a GM farmer and Aventis in spreading missinformation about the decontamination of a GM trial site. The result of their 'mistake' was that the majority of the mainstream media reported that protesters had targeted the wrong field and while we have now pressured the Dorest Police Press Department to correct their media release, the damage is already done and most of the media reports will go uncorrected. The manufactured controversy over the identity of the field has diverted attention from the real issues.

Don't you just love the media?

Here's some more on the police retraction...

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ANTI-GM ACTIVISTS TARGETED RIGHT FIELD, BRITISH POLICE SAY
Agence France Presse English, Aug. 19/02 [via Agnet]

BLANDFORD, England - Police were cited as saying Monday that
environmental activists descended on the right field in southwest England when they destroyed genetically modified crops, , correcting their initial version of events.

The story explains that on Sunday, officers said that a group of up to 40 protesters, 14 of whom were arrested, had mistakenly thought that the farm they targeted near Blandford was growing genetically modified oil seed rape.

But on Monday, police issued a correction.

"Dorset police can now confirm that genetically modified trial crops, as well as non-genetically modified crops of oil seed rape, were damaged during the protest," police spokesman Stuart Cooper said.

----- eye witness account

Oooops! Police raid truth on GM trial

I was one of those 14 people arrested on the decontamination action at Hilton in Dorset covered by the Guardian with the headline "GM Protesters 'raid wrong field'".

I have found out that the Dorset Police HQ Press Service stated that we had damaged a crop of oilseed rape that was not part of a trial site. I have asked my solicitor to take appropriate action and I will be complaining to the Police Complaints Authority.

Also it seems to be very bad reporting on the part of Andrew Clennell of The Guardian who has written a very confused article warranting some complaints.

Is this yet another attempt to sideline the main issue? The issue is that this GM trial site contained an unlicenced seed with added risks to human health and people took the responsible action of decontaminating it. Activists started a process of decontamination on the GM farm-scale trial site at Hilton in Dorset. 14 of us were arrested and held in custody for 8 hours while the Directors of Bayer remain free.

Rowan Tilly