A demonstration is planned at 9am on Monday 16th February outside Brighton Magistrate's Court, Edward Street, in support of 8 people charged with the 'decommissioning' of EDO MBM. A hearing is scheduled to take place to commit the case to the Crown Court.

On January 17th, at the height of the Israeli bombing campaign in Gaza, 6 people broke in to the EDO MBM/ITT premises in Mouslecoomb and smashed computer equipment and machinery. EDO MBM/ ITT manufactures components for the F 15 and F 16, used by the Israeli military against the people of Gaza

In recorded messages taped before the decommissioning the campaigners said they were no longer prepared to accept the export of British weapons to Israel see  http://www.indymedia.org.uk/media/2009/01//418836.mpg

The defendants will argue that they have 'lawful excuse' for what they did due to war crimes being committed with EDO MBM/ITT equipment by Israel.

Chloe Marsh, spokesperson for the campaign against EDO said, 'The actions of these people should be celebrated. While the people of Gaza were being slaughtered the British government refused to censure Israel and Brighton and Hove Council ruled that discussion of EDO MBM/ITT could not be held at council meetings. In these circumstances all that is left is for ordinary peole to act to end this company's complicity in war crimes.'

8 people have so far been charged with Burglary and Criminal Damage and those who entered a plea said they were not guilty. Two people remain on remand at Lewes prison. One person, a Brighton resident, has been given bail conditions preventing him from coming within a ten mile radius of Brighton.

The CPS said the company estimated the cost of material damage at £250,000 before any loss of business was taken into account. The threshold of £10,000 is required to justify a Crown Court jury trial.

For more Details call 07754135290
E-mail:  smashedopress@riseup.net

Notes for Journalists

The Company

EDO MBM Technologies Ltd are the sole UK subsidiary of huge U.S weapons manufacturer EDO Corp.From their base in Moulescoombe Brighton, EDO MBM manufacture vital parts for the Hellfire and Paveway weapons
systems,laserguided missilesused extensively in Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and Somalia. EDO Corp were recently acquired by ITT in a multi-billion pound deal. ITT's links to fascism go back to the 1930s. The founder Sosthenes Behn was the first foreign businessman received by Hitler after his seizure of power.

The Campaign

There has been active campaign against the presence o f EDO MBM in Brighton since the outbreak of the Iraq war.Campaigners include students, Quakers ,Palestine solidarity activists, anti-capitalists and academics. Despite an injunction under the protection of harassment act (which failed) and over forty arrests the campaign is still going strong.Their avowed aim is to expose EDO MBM and their complicity in war crimes and to remove them from Brighton. They hold regular weekly demos outside the Moulescoombe factory on Wednesday's between 4 and 6.

THE FILM

On the Verge is an independent film about the SMASH EDO Campaign “In 2004 a group of Brighton peace campaigners began to bang pot and pans outside their local arms manufacturers EDO MBM in disgust of their part in the Iraq war. This has grown into the Smash EDO campaign, which has cost the company millions, been the subject of large scale police operations and has tested the right to protest in the UK.Using activist, police and CCTV footage plus interviews with those involved in the campaign, 'On The Verge' tells the story of one of the most persistent and imaginative campaigns to emerge out of the UK's anti-war movement and direct action scene.”