PRESS RELEASE
17/10/22
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
- Three activists were found not guilty by District Judge Mark Wattam, who discharged their cases after Elbit Systems and the Crown Prosecution Service failed to provide the prove their case.
- In Bristol Magistrates Court this afternoon, the judge ruled that there was ‘no case to answer’ to the charge of aggravated trespass,
- The CPS and Elbit failed to prove that Elbit’s activity was either lawful or disrupted, and the defendants walked free after occupying the roof of the Bristol HQ of Israel’s largest arms firm, Elbit Systems, in November of last year.
Three activists have walked free from Bristol Magistrates Court, having been declared ‘not guilty’ by a judge who needed less than one day of a three day trial to rule that there was ‘no case to answer’ to the charge of aggravated trespass, and the three defendants, Lucky, Alfie, and Meg, have been discharged by District Judge Mark Wattam.
Last November, on the anniversary of the signing of the Balfour declaration, the three activists scaled the Bristol site of Elbit Systems, at 600 Aztec West, Elbit’s operations at the premises. These operations, we now know, involve the export of military equipment direct from the Bristol site to Israel.
The activists were being prosecuted for under section 68 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, for ‘disrupting lawful activity’. Elbit failed to prove that their activity at the Bristol site was lawful, while their witnesses and their statements to police attempted to conceal the fact that the site held active export licenses for the shipment of products to Israel. Elbit failed to put forward a single employee as a witness, Elbit’s only representation was the ex-police Head of Safety and Security for Elbit Systems UK, Martin Kelly, who joined their payroll only after the November action took place.
The defence meanwhile were instructed by Kelly’s solicitors, and were represented in court by Mira Hammad and Rosalind Burgin of Garden Court North Chambers, who exposed the flaws in the Crown’s case with ease. Outside the court, groups of supporters proudly flew Palestine flags throughout the day, drawing significant engagement from passing crowds and motorists and keeping moral high throughout the day.
The defendants said today:
“Today we stood up to Elbit Systems in court, forcing this murderous company to reveal to the public authorities the extent to which it lies to the public about its lethal dealings. Elbit was so invested in maintaining the falsehood that it does not export weapons of mass murder to Israeli defence forces that it was unable to marshal any convincing evidence, failing to answer questions effectively and leaving the judge with no choice but to dismiss the case. Elbit is guilty, and we won’t stop until their secrets are dredged to light and all their sites are shut down.“
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
Palestine Action is a direct-action network of groups and individuals formed with the mandate of taking direct action against Elbit Systems’ British locations at grassroots level, calling for them all to be shut down and for the British government to end its complicity in Israeli apartheid.
If you would like any further information on Palestine action, please contact info@palestineaction.org. For updates on upcoming trials, visit our website.
Press Release of the November 2021 Bristol action: https://www.palestineaction.org/bristol-balfour/
Press Release announcing the start of the trial: https://www.palestineaction.org/bristol-3-trial/
Martin Kelly, Elbit’s ‘security advisor’: https://english.alaraby.co.uk/analysis/aided-ex-police-israeli-drone-firm-woos-rural-britain?amp
ELBIT SYTEMS
Elbit Systems is Israel’s largest arms firm, with 8 remaining sites in Britain. They build weapons include drones, artillery and target acquisition software in Britain. All of which are marketed as “battle-tested” or “combat-proven”, as they’ve been tested on the captive population of Gaza.
Company profile on Elbit Systems: https://whoprofits.org/company/elbit-systems/
Role of Elbit drone in killing of four children playing on Gaza beach in 2014: https://theintercept.com/2018/08/11/israel-palestine-drone-strike-operation-protective-edge/
More on the death and destruction inflicted by Elbit’s drones upon Gaza: https://corporatewatch.org/elbit-systems-company-profile-2/
Elbit surveillance technology for Israel’s apartheid wall: https://www.facing-finance.org/en/database/cases/elbit-systems-surveillance-system-torch-for-the-separation-barrier-in-israelpalestine/