14th February 2017
Peace Action Wellington

For immediate release:

Nine charges dropped in farcical case against peace activists: case continues

Nine peace activists are this morning walking free from Wellington District Court after the Crown Prosecution were forced to drop their charges. Lawyers for the activists ripped apart the testimony of the first witness during cross examination before lunch on Monday February 13, shaking the foundation of the Crown's case. The trial will continue for the remaining six defendants who stood up against the Wellington Weapons Expo in 2015. The campaign against the arms trade will continue with a public petition hand in today at 6pm to Parliament with 4,000 signatures against the Weapons Expo.

The first day of the predicted week long trial saw the stand taken by Brian McGuinness, property owner at the TSB Arena where the Weapons Expo was held in 2015. McGuinness eventually admitted that there was a public easement around the TSB Arena after initially claiming that the area on which the protest was held was private. McGuinness also admitted that the police may not have been properly granted the authority to trespass protesters, shattering the Prosecution's case against most of those charged with trespass.

Two other peaceful protesters who had been charged with obstruction have also had their charges dropped. "This really shows that the police interfered with our right to freedom of speech in November 2015. We were arrested on public land while exercising our lawful right to protest. I'm glad to have been let off these charges today, but I'm going to keep coming to court to support everyone else who stood up against the arms trade. We all know who the real criminals are - it's not the peace activists, it's the arms dealers profiting from death and destruction" said Emma Cullen who had her trespass charge dropped today.

Laura Drew, whose charges still stand, is confident; "I'm proud to have stood up against people directly profiting from war. We were standing in solidarity with refugees and people in war-torn areas around the world whose lives are directly effected by the dirty deals made at the Weapons Expo."

Drew continues, "Thousand of people of across Aotearoa signed a petition opposing the Weapons Expo which we're going to hand in to Parliament tomorrow, demanding that the government stop supporting weapons dealers. A strong stand for peace means actively opposing war."

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