Smash EDO Press Release - 10 Still in Custody over EDO Protest

Ten people are still in custody after being arrested at the Smash EDO Carnival Against the Arms Trade yesterday. They have not been charged and are awaiting interview at Hollingbury Custody Centre in Brighton.

The police can hold them for up to 24 hours before applying for an extension.

Over 600 people turned out to march against the Brighton bomb factory yesterday, many coming from as far away as Newcastle, Glasgow, Manchester and Bradford.

Press Spokesman, Andrew Beckett, said ‘Sussex police used batons, pepper spray and police dogs in an attempt to stop protesters reaching the factory. Ten people are still in custody and scores were injured, many hospitalised.’

Smash EDO Press Spokeswoman Chloe Marsh said ‘Yesterdays demonstration was a resounding success. Hundreds of people from Brighton and around the UK turned out to show EDO MBM/ITT that we would not tolerate war profiteers in our community. Sussex police attempted to cordon the demonstration in to a small pen in Home Farm Road. Despite this protesters reached were able to reach the EDO factory. The demonstration is an example of the determination of campaigners to shut down EDO MBM/ITT

Notes for Journalists:

THE CARNIVAL AGAINST THE ARMS TRADE

The Level is a public park south of Union Rd in Central Brighton.

More info about the Carnival and a flyer for the event can be found at www.smashedo.org.uk/carnival

Notes for Journalists

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.”

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.”