Three activists pleaded not guilty at Wrexham Magistrates Court to charges of criminal damage over £30K against chemicals manufacturer Solvay in Wrexham. The three were charged over a year and a half after they scaled the roof of Solvay, sprayed paint across the factory and allegedly dismantled infrastructure [1]. The action was supported by Welsh Underground Network. Their next court hearing will be a pre-trial preparation hearing on the 13th October at Mold Crown Court.
Solvay, who operate the Wrexham site, provide materials and adhesives for UAV Tactical Systems Ltd [2] – a subsidiary of Elbit Systems, who provide 85% of Israel’s drone fleet. Specifically, Solvay products are used in the production of the Watchkeeper drone, at UAV Tactical Systems’ factory in Leicester. The Watchkeeper drone is modelled directly on the Hermes 450 combat drone, which was developed through ‘battle-testing’ on Palestinians, and then sold on the international market to a number of Western governments [3].
Solvay were also involved in the development of the MQ-9 Reaper Drone (a long endurance hunter-killer UAV), which is a backbone of imperialist long-distance combat and repression [4]. Britain has used such drones in Afghanistan and Syria, Australia uses them to surveil refugee crossings and the US have used them extensively – as part of repressive border operations, in military operations in Yemen. There is also evidence of Solvay involvement in Elbit-Adani’s (India) production of Hermes 900 drones [5], and the company also received widespread attention for an environmental catastrophe caused in Argentina – with their operations contributing to the lead and chlorine poisoning of children [6].
When commenting on their upcoming trial, the three activists said:
“As Israel continues to decimate Palestine and it’s people, it remains of the utmost importance to actively oppose such injustice. We will maintain our innocence and continue to fight whilst blood remains on the hands of companies like Elbit and Solvay. Our charges show we must take action into our own hands as the British state is interested only in criminalising us, rather than the freedom of Palestine.”
ENDS
Palestine Action is a network of groups and individuals established to take direct action against properties owned by Israel’s biggest arms firm Elbit Systems. The mission is to shut Elbit down and end all British complicity in the illegal colonisation of Palestine.
Website: https://palestineaction.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Pal_action
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pal_action/
NOTES TO EDITORS
[1] https://www.palestineaction.org/solvay-wrexham/
[2] https://www.airframer.com/aircraft_detail.html?model=Elbit_Hermes_450
[3] https://www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/3794
[5] https://www.aviatorsbuzz.com/blogs/adani-defence-aerospace/