chris coverdale has been studying international war law for several years (although a was a business consultant in former times). over those years he has put together substantial evidence of war crimes committed by members of the british government, the attorney general, and many other establishment figures, and has mounted a tireless campaign to bring them to justice.

if the war on iraq is as many believe illegal, then under british law (enshrined in the 2001 'international criminal court act) it is not possible to help fund the war machine without committing the crime of 'conduct ancillary to war crime' and others.

chris coverdale has withheld his tax payments on this basis for many years now, asking the courts to show him how under british law he can avoid committing this offence. the matter has never been properly tried in court with all legal arguments raised, but instead he has been bankrupted and threatened with imprisonment by the state.

still he has fought on, and has become one of the founder members of a new organisation 'make war history' which aims to spread a 'civil obedience' movement of withholding tax and bringing the illegal war machine to a stop.

members of 'make war history' have at last successfully presented evidence to the metropolitan police, and last december the police began an investigation of tony blair and anthony goldsmith based on evidence provided by chris coverdale and others.

a press conference called by chris, labour mp john o'donnell, ex-mi5 annie mahon, and others announced the police investigation earlier this year, but the met press office refuses to admit any such investigation is taking place, even though chris has been given a crime number by the police and has been interviewed over many hours on at least two occasions by the 'terrorism and war crimes unit'.

this morning, he was arrested by police on the non-payment charge, and seemingly unnecessarily he is being held overnight before appearing at wimbledon magistrates court in the morning.

for more info on 'make wars history' see their uk website and join the mailing list at  http://www.makewarshistory.org.uk/
and their international site at
 http://www.makewarshistory.net