You can't lock up a sunrise...

Posted by bex — 2 March 2007 at 3:58pm - Comments

Part of the Trident: we don't buy it tour blog

The Arctic Sunrise at Faslane On the Trident: we don't buy it ship tour

After nearly a week of being impounded at Faslane nuclear weapons base, the Arctic Sunrise is now free! At 10 am this morning the ship was towed by two police tugs to the mouth of the Clyde, and the crew allowed back onboard. The challenge for us now is to make our way around the coast to London in time for a rendez-vous with London Mayor Ken Livingstone next Tuesday. The Sunrise will anchor close to Tower Bridge, and Ken will be helping us promote the 'Trident: we don't buy it' message ahead of the House of Commons vote on Trident replacement - now scheduled for March 14th.

It's been a long - and oddly tiring - week. The ship impounded, the captain in court, potentially facing two years in prison, and the crew without their ship - which is a workplace and a home to them. The news about when we can get back on the ship has changed every day, at the whim of the Ministry of Defence. It's been frustrating; there's so much work to be done ahead of the parliamentary vote on whether to replace Trident in a fortnight's time, and while we've been trying to get our ship back, the clock has been ticking.

But this morning, the mood's upbeat again; in a couple of hours, the crew will be back on board, the Captain will be on the bridge and we'll be speeding to London as fast as we can...

Legal update

1)
The 18 volunteers who were arrested in our inflatable boats and canoes have had further charges levied against them
i) Breach of by laws (the original charge)
ii ) Breaching Her Majesty's Peace
They can be forced to appear in court – the prosecution have 6 months to decide whether to go ahead with the prosecution

2)
The Procurator Fiscal is impounding all three inflatables and four canoes.It is his attitude that these are evidence - we are arguing that they are not. The Procurator Fiscal is entitled to hold them until; legal proceedings begin. If our volunteers are convicted, he can ask the court to order that our boats be forfeit - this would mean either destruction or sale at a public auction.

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