Anti Arms Trade Campaigners on Trial in Worthing Magistrate's Court

Four campaigners against Brighton based arms manufacturer EDO/MBM, a subsidiary of ITT, are to appear in Worthing Magistrates Court today. The four anti-arms trade protestors were arrested on the 22nd February 2008 (see previous press release, www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/southcoast/2008/02/391986.html), after supergluing themselves to EDO’s factory in Fishergate. The four protesters have pleaded not guilty and do not accept that EDO/MBM, which produces bomb components used in the bombings of Palestine, Iraq and Afganistan, is acting lawfully.

Chloe Marsh, Spokesperson for the Smash EDO campaign said 'EDO MBM/ITT are the real criminals. The weapons components that they manufacture are used to commit war crimes in Iraq and Palestine.'

The trial is scheduled for three days.

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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 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.”