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30-Mar-2005

Pit Stop Ploughshares judge orders retrial after accusations of bias

by: Stephen Hancock

Dublin:

After a week of presiding over the trial of the Pit Stop Ploughshares in Dublin's Four Courts, Judge Frank O'Donnell dismissed the jury after admitting that that his actions could be perceived to be biased. He ordered a retrial for October.

On 3 February 2003 the Pit Stop Ploughshares five - Karen Fallon, Deirdre Clancy, Nuin Dunlop, Ciaron O'Reilly and Damien Moran - disarmed a US Navy C40 plane in a hangar at Shannon Airport, County Clare, Ireland (see PN 2458). Two years later, on Monday 7 March, they finally went to trial. One hundred and fifty supporters gathered for a silent vigil outside Dublin's main post office. Wearing placards with the names of Iraqi civilians, US and British soldiers killed in the war and occupation, we then processed in silent single-file to the nearby Four Courts, where we took it in turns to attend the proceedings or maintain a presence in front of courts. This rhythm of vigil, procession, attendance, vigil was the daily template for the rest of the week.

The quality and quantity of international support was high - twenty Catholic Workers and ploughshares folk from the US, and disarmament activists from Sweden, Netherlands and Britain. In the evenings food was served at a nearby church, with time to reflect and natter, followed by a variety of meetings and events, including presentations by Kathy Kelly of Voices in the Wilderness US, Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit, Kelly Dougherty of Iraq War Vets Against the War, Nobel Laureate Marriead Corrigan-MacGuire and Dennis Halliday. On the Friday night there was an Irish-Cuban ceilidh.

The prosecution tried hard to rob the action of its context. For example, none of the photos shown to the jury indicated that the disarmed plane was a military one, nor were there any photos of the shrine that the defendants had created in the hangar Often at such trials, it is as if, deep down in their well-trained legal guts, prosecuting lawyers - and judges - fear that if twelve ordinary people are allowed to follow the links between military hardware and human suffering then the military-friendly state is in trouble.
The defence case began on Thursday 10 March with Ciaron O'Reilly taking the stand, where he remained for four hours. The five activists, represented by barristers Hugh Hartnett SC (with Giollaiosa), Brendan Nix SC and Michael Higgins SC wanted to argue that, as allowed under Ireland's Criminal Damage Act, they had "acted to preserve the life and property of another".

The prosecution countered that the action was not a serious attempt to intervene to preserve life and property but a publicity stunt by egotists for a broader anti-war agenda. However, the first five interventions in O'Reilly's testimony were made by the judge not the prosecutor, and when the prosecutor finally made an objection the judge responded, "I've been waiting for you."

When O'Reilly's testimony finished, the defence called retired RAF Commander Oxley, OBE as an expert on logistics. The judge disallowed Oxley's testimony without hearing it and then ruled out the defendants' legal defence without hearing any further submissions. He also accused O'Reilly's four co-defendants, who had not yet testified, of trying the introduce an anti-war agenda into his court. The defence counsel moved for a mistrial and Friday was spent in legal arguments. Finally, on Monday 14 March the judge ruled a mistrial on the basis that his actions could be perceived by a reasonable observer to be biased.

Meanwhile, in and around the court house there was a great meeting of hearts and minds. Old and new friendships were enjoyed, new ideas and actions floated over pints of Guinness, and informal debates about protest and resistance were engaged in. Irish indymedia acted as a great catalyst throughout.

At the end of the trial the defendants issued a statement saying, "We have been sustained by the solidarity of others and inspired by the continued nonviolent resistance to this war. We go back to trial in October for an act of disarmament and conscience..[and] in memory of 100,000 Iraqi, 1600 US & British war dead and behalf of those doomed to kill and be killed unless we bring this war to an end." I travelled to Dublin with low energy and out of a default sense of movement solidarity, but returned greatly renewed and reconnected, remembering yet again what fantastic ad hoc resistance communities form around trials, and touched by the experience of solidarity as an enriching, reciprocal process.