Statement from Raytheon Nine as court date set
red letter | 12.09.2006 10:09 | Palestine
Statement from Raytheon Nine as court date set
There was a large and lively protest outside the courthouse
The Raytheon Nine appeared in court today and were remanded on continuing bail to appear again in court on 12 October.
The demonstrators stormed the Derry base of US arms manufacturer Raytheon on Wednesday 9 August, barricading themselves into the building. Raytheon produce software for Guided Missile Units used by Israel’s army in its assault on Lebanon.
Before the hearing civil rights activist Eamonn McCann, one of the nine, read out the following statement on behalf of the group outside Derry Courthouse before remand hearing.
"We want to thank everyone who has come here this morning to associate themselves with us. We associate ourselves with you and with all in Derry who have been appalled by the war in the Middle East and the suffering on all sides, inflicted especially and most cruelly in recent weeks on the Arab people of Lebanon and Palestine. We are a small part of the great movement around the world calling for an end to the malign involvement in the region of the western powers, particularly the US and Britain.
"The nine of us stand together behind the action taken at Raytheon on 9 August. We hold that we had a legal right and a political and moral duty to do what we did. We will not face the court as the accused, but as the accusers. We shall endeavour to expose the illegal and immoral record of arms companies like Raytheon in fuelling the war for the sake of profit
"We send greetings to the peace campaigners who have been maintaining a vigil at Raytheon’s missile headquarters in Tuscon, Arizona, and who have this morning conveyed their solidarity with us. We thank the members of the Fife Anti-War Coalition, who are picketing the Raytheon plant at Glenrothes today to show their support for us. We salute Margaret Jones and Paul Milling, who have gone on trial this week at Bristol Crown Court for resisting war crimes at RAF Fairford.
"We thank all those who have expressed support for us, from various political parties and from none.
"The whole world is watching, not this case in Derry but the world-wide phenomenon of which this case is part, the global resistance to war and imperialism, the real international community which represents the last best hope of humankind."
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There was a large and lively protest outside the courthouse
The Raytheon Nine appeared in court today and were remanded on continuing bail to appear again in court on 12 October.
The demonstrators stormed the Derry base of US arms manufacturer Raytheon on Wednesday 9 August, barricading themselves into the building. Raytheon produce software for Guided Missile Units used by Israel’s army in its assault on Lebanon.
Before the hearing civil rights activist Eamonn McCann, one of the nine, read out the following statement on behalf of the group outside Derry Courthouse before remand hearing.
"We want to thank everyone who has come here this morning to associate themselves with us. We associate ourselves with you and with all in Derry who have been appalled by the war in the Middle East and the suffering on all sides, inflicted especially and most cruelly in recent weeks on the Arab people of Lebanon and Palestine. We are a small part of the great movement around the world calling for an end to the malign involvement in the region of the western powers, particularly the US and Britain.
"The nine of us stand together behind the action taken at Raytheon on 9 August. We hold that we had a legal right and a political and moral duty to do what we did. We will not face the court as the accused, but as the accusers. We shall endeavour to expose the illegal and immoral record of arms companies like Raytheon in fuelling the war for the sake of profit
"We send greetings to the peace campaigners who have been maintaining a vigil at Raytheon’s missile headquarters in Tuscon, Arizona, and who have this morning conveyed their solidarity with us. We thank the members of the Fife Anti-War Coalition, who are picketing the Raytheon plant at Glenrothes today to show their support for us. We salute Margaret Jones and Paul Milling, who have gone on trial this week at Bristol Crown Court for resisting war crimes at RAF Fairford.
"We thank all those who have expressed support for us, from various political parties and from none.
"The whole world is watching, not this case in Derry but the world-wide phenomenon of which this case is part, the global resistance to war and imperialism, the real international community which represents the last best hope of humankind."
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