a few other articles on this case on indymedia:
The Corporate Academy and the George Fox 6:  https://publish.indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/09/323729.html

Reflective gathering for activists and those on the peripheri of the Academy:  http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/09/323642.html

The George Fox 6 Webite:  http://www.free-webspace.biz/GeorgeFox/

The George Fox 6 online petition:  http://www.petitiononline.com/gfox6/

Students Face Jail after Leafleting Campus - court next week
-- Lancaster Magistrates Court, Monday 26th September 2005 at 0900 --

Supporters' Group 01524 383012,  georgefox6@linuxmail.org

Students, lecturers and local people will be turning up at Lancaster magistrates court to support six Lancaster students and graduates facing jail after handing out leaflets on campus 12 months ago. The peaceful demonstration at a conference last year lasted only three minutes and was held in protest at a campus meeting of arms dealers and GM companies. The six are accused of Aggravated Trespass and will appear before Lancaster Magistrates on the 26th September 2005.

The case of the six students and graduates being charged with the support of their own university has won support from Human Rights watchdog Liberty, the Council for Academic Freedom and Academic Standards, the lecturers' union AUT, the National Union of Students, local Quakers and academics from all over the world. There has even been calls for an academic boycott of Lancaster University published in the Times Higher Education Supplement.

The six students and graduates held a peaceful protest at a conference held by Lancaster University to discuss privatisation and commercialisation of university research. The six students and graduates handed out leaflets and held up banners at the meeting and the university decided to press charges of Aggravated Trespass against the six. They now face being sentenced to up to three months in jail for their peaceful protest.

Lancaster Students' Union has called upon the university to drop the charges and to uphold the "highest ethical standards" when choosing their links to businesses - a move which has caused unease among mandarins at Lancaster University. The union's president Dwayne Branch said: "Lancaster University has a whole page on its website dedicated to student activism, telling the story of days gone by when students held protests against Vietnam, blockaded university house and stood up for what they believed in. It's unfortunate today that the university can only pay lip service to student activism. It's unfortunate today that when students hold peaceful protests and their own campuses, they are charged with trespass. The union has voiced its concern to university about its actions and will continue to encourage our members to speak out about the injustices in our society."

The six have also found support on a worldwide scale - academics from universities all over the world have signed a petition asking Lancaster University to rethink its position. Dr Stuart Parkinson, director of Scientists for Global Responsibility - a UK association of over 600 scientists - said: "Military and corporate involvement at universities is a very real ethical concern. Universities such as Lancaster need to find constructive ways to engage with these issues rather than resorting to strong arm tactics to stifle protest. Otherwise public confidence in the accountability of the academia as a whole will justifiably be eroded."

Doug Jewell, Campaigns Co-ordinator for Liberty said today: "These people must not become martyrs for freedom of speech - people's right to defend their views is a fundamental right and an integral part of democracy."

George Haigh from the Supporters Group said: "by taking the six to court the university has put its own ethics on trial. By attempting to gag their criticism, the university has only drawn attention to its close connections to the producers of weapons of mass destruction, and companies attempting to force feed us GM food and GM medicines."

The case is due to be heard at Lancaster Magistrates Court on the 26th September 2005.

quite a while ago when i was at uni this sort of action would have been seen to be almost compulsory - that is if the uni ever had the nerve to let the conference take place in the first place. It has pricked my conscience and annoyed me that much that I will go to the court to support.

how long will it be before radical action is something you do every election? (*conspiracy theory warning*) i see it as part of the wider attempts of the government to isolate us, separate us from politics and feed us on a diet of fear through the murdoch media and hence make us all Mcshite eating nykee wearing wage slave drones

Thanks for waking me up! now where is that cctv that been P*ssing me off?