10 months inside without trial

10 months ago, on 18 January 2009, Elijah Smith A former British Soldier was arrested in Brighton. He had spent the previous night decommissioning the EDO/MBM/ITT factory in Brighton, in an attempt to stop it providing parts for weapons being used by the Israeli army to bomb civilians in Gaza. Nobody was injured or harassed during their action, which was one of property damage. He and his co-defendants did not resist arrest.

resisting war crimes is not a crime

Exactly 10 months on and Elijah Smith is still on remand. Yes that's right – 10 months in prison without trial. And it looks as if he is likely to remain in prison until the trial actually starts, probably on 17 May 2010, by which time he’ll have spent 16 months on remand.

Elijah is currently at Bristol prison, please write to him in solidarity: Elijah Smith VP7551, HMP Bristol, 19 Cambridge Rd, Horfield, Bristol, BS7 8PS

He will be there until late November. On 30 November/1 December he and the other Decommissioners will be at Brighton courts for a ‘case management’ session relating to their trial next May. At the same time, Elijah and another decommissioner, also known as the Raytheon 2 (previously the Raytheon 3, but 3rd defendant’s charges dropped), will have that case discussed at the same court – the prosecution are trying to have the Raytheon and EDO cases linked, and a decision is due on that then. Elijah faces a third court case, currently set for 2 August 2010, which relates to alleged threatening comments he made to the EDO/MBM CEO during a previous court hearing.

will
Homepage: http://www.decommissioners.co.uk

Comments

Hide the following 10 comments

Solidarity

20.11.2009 09:13

Yeah, let's get writing and also get ourselves down to Barclays:

http://www.smashedo.org.uk/target-barclays.html

pen pusher

One hundred thousand for smash edo mayday 2010

20.11.2009 10:29

Lets make sure we get at least one hundred thousand out on the streets for the smash edo mayday day of action in 2010. We will make the state wish it never tried to prosecute the EDO decomissioners.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=62623201953&ref=search&sid=1287837819.1598959353..1

Smash EDO

re: Mayday Smash EDO day of action

20.11.2009 12:54

Why wait for a specific named day when cops are out in full force, monitoring everyone, making mass arrests? That smacks of symbolic gesturing, perhaps even a fear of actually succeeding. We end up fighting police (the paid intermediaries) rather than striking at our targets.
You can achieve so much more in small affinity groups (lots of them!), working in secret and not 'claiming' actions.
I'm not saying that the good work done (allegedly m'lud) by Elijah Smith and friends isn't worthy of praise - it is. It's inspired others to get involved. Only that until we are massive numbers, we need to stay safe, keep heads down, be effective, stay free and therefore useful.

anon

Because we have such a long run up to Mayday 2010

20.11.2009 16:27

Mayday 2010 in Brighton is important because we have got such a long run up until this event which will be ever so massive. We are expecting large numbers of activists from Europe to attend this event as well. You talk of the cops being out in force and making mass arrests. Well I don't fancy their chances against Italian and German hardcore anarchists. If the cops try to take on this demo then they will bite off more than they can chew. Start networking for Mayday now, the sooner we start the bigger this will be.

Smash EDO

100,000 - Oh yes at the very least

20.11.2009 16:49

Hmmm - not sure that Smash EDO really knows what he's talking about - The next big mobilisation is in fact on January 18th - the remember Gaza demo.

By all means fantasise away - but at least try to make it a bit more interesting -

Andrew Beckett's Damp Squib
Homepage: http://www.smashedo.org.uk

Brighton Mayday 2010 still on track though!

20.11.2009 17:00

Brighton Mayday 2010 is still on track though and will be far bigger than any other anti-arms trade demo before or since. This one is being networked via the internet to anarchist groups across Europe anarchist groups in France, Germany, Italy and Greece have been contacted and told to come to Brighton. Just wait and see the Brighton Mayday 2010 event will be massive!

Smash EDO

yeah but no but..

20.11.2009 23:00

Just think of the 2 million that marched in London. A wonderful and ultimately fuckin useless symbol. I don't care (well, I do actually) how many people get together for Mayday or how 'hardcore' they may be. You cannot win in terms of force against a state that has at its disposal, the law, police, the army, weapons and anything else they feel like throwing at us. How we can be effective though is by surprise, creativity, secrecy, non-hierarchy, lateral thinking. That's something state forces are crap at and don't understand. That requires much more intelligence and determination than just massing up in front of the cameras and looking hard.
Come on - we can do what they cannot!

anon

100,000?

20.11.2009 23:39

100,000? Judging from past support you'll be lucky to get 1,000. Stop kidding yourself, you're just making the campaign look like an inflated joke.

A more reliable target would be somewhere between 1,000-3,000.

I think it's safe to say that the comments by 'Smash EDO' aren't from the campaign itself. Nobody in their right mind would boast that they've invited hardcore anarchists from Germany and Italy who the cops wont be able to arrest. Comments like this are justifications that the police can use to boost officer numbers and repressive tactics on the day.

Serious

Hardcore anarchists have been invited from Italy, France, Germany and Greece!

21.11.2009 11:54

Invites have been sent out to anarchist websites in Italy, France, Germany and Greece. By the way I am amazed at the amount of defeatism on this website. Didn't a few thousand hardcore Republicans in Ulster bring the whole might of the British state to a standstill during the 1970s and 1980s?

100,000 impossible ? - All it takes these days to promote a massive demo is a lot of time and effort on the internet. Who ever is posting contrary comments on this page is obviously working for the state and is trying to persuade people not to come to Mayday 2010 in Brighton.

Smash EDO

oh wot iz zis?

21.11.2009 15:08

ooh la la, ze rost boefs are really tantalizing uz!

'aard kore fronch man