Seeds of hope
Seeds of Hope was a plowshares group of women who totally demolished a Hawk fighter jet in England. As they stated in the explanatory video film left in the aircraft after the action, they wanted to inspire hope instead of violence and greed, hence the name. The group was also called the Warton Four.[1]
Direct action
On the 29 January 1996, Andrea Needham, Joanna Wilson and Lotta Kronlid - known as the 'Ploughshares Four' - broke into the British Aerospace factory, Warton, Lancashire, and caused £1.7m worth of damage to BAe Hawk number ZH955, a training aircraft that was to have been supplied along with 23 other jets to the New Order regime of Indonesia.
Trial
Accused of causing, and conspiring to cause, criminal damage, with a maximum ten-year sentence, they argued that what they did was not a crime but that they "were acting to prevent British Aerospace and the British Government from aiding and abetting genocide". Meaning the one taking place in East Timor. They were acquitted by the jury.[2]
References
- ↑ Movement for the Abolition of War - SONGS WITH 'AN ATTITUDE' ABOUT WAR p. 12
- ↑ Campaigners face jail for raid on military jet - Home News, UK - The Independent