Trident Ploughshares 2000 Continues

COULPORT, Scotland --In the wake of the acquittal of the "Trident Three" at Greenock Sheriff court, Trident Ploughshares activists gathered for a weekend of disarmament actions at Coulport. The mid-November gathering aimed to disrupt the work of the nuclear weapons bases and to encourage military and civilian personnel involved in Trident to consider their position under international law.

On Nov. 15, Ploughshares activists in Scotland blocked the gates for over an hour at the Royal Naval Armaments Depot in Coulport where Britain's Trident nuclear warheads are stored.

On Nov. 21, protesters at Balloch, near Loch Lomond halted a convoy delivering Trident nuclear warheads to bases on the Clyde. Some activists climbed on top of the truck and others locked themselves to the underside.

On Nov. 23, two Trident Ploughshares activists were arrested inside the VSEL dock at Barrow-in-Furness and appeared in Barrow Magistrates Court on a charge of conspiring to commit criminal damage.

The "Trident Three" acquittal by Sheriff Margaret Gimblett in Greenock is helping people realize that Trident is deployed and actively threatening genocide. Citizens have a legal right to take peaceful and accountable direct action against it. Activists in Scotland are looking forward to Feb. 14, when they expect to have hundreds of people ready to act to uphold the law.