ONE of the ‘Trident Two’ imprisoned for three weeks after a protest at the Coulport nuclear bomb base on the Clyde is to appeal against her incarceration.
Sixty-six-year-old Angie Zelter, a veteran peace campaigner, is due to challenge a decision to deny her bail in court early this week. She was jailed on remand after she refused to agree a condition banning her from going within 100 metres of Coulport or the nearby nuclear submarine base at Faslane.
Her imprisonment, and that of fellow campaigner, Brian Quail (78), have prompted a storm of protest, and led to an online petition to free them reaching over 3,500 signatures by Friday. Remand before trial is usually reserved for people considered to be a risk to others.
The two were arrested on July 12 after they locked themselves together with others to block an access road to Coulport. They were charged with breach of the peace, an accusation that is due to be assessed in court on August 3.
Speaking from Saughton prison in Edinburgh, Zelter argued that in the past some courts have upheld the right to take direct action against Trident on the grounds that the weapon is illegal. This had been reinforced by a decision by 122 countries earlier this month to back a United Nations treaty banning nuclear weapons.
“So at this time it is even more important that we stand at the gates of the places where those weapons are held and demand that the Government listen to the majority world and start the process of disarmament now,” she told the Sunday Herald.
“We welcome support from all those who stand with us and for disarmament and we will take our arguments to every court, government body, and high street, until the UK and the world is rid of these terrible weapons.”
The SNP MSP Bill Kidd, Co-Convenor of the Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party Group on Nuclear Disarmament, backed calls for Zelter and Quail to be released. “I’m very unhappy indeed about the imprisoning of two very decent people, neither of whom pose any threat whatsoever to the peace and livelihoods of the citizens of this country,” he said.
“They have, through a non-violent action, been peacefully engaged in demonstrating against and raising awareness of weapons of mass destruction being trafficked through Scotland by the Westminster government.”
He added: “I am calling for all concerned citizens to sign the petition to free Angie and Brian and to learn from them about how to care about others first and foremost, whatever the threat to themselves.”
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