Six protesters who demonstrated outside Northwood HQ are fined
9:02am Friday 6th November 2009 in News
Six protesters who appeared in Watford Magistrates' Court yesterday have been found guilty of seriously disrupting the community.
Katrina Alton, Stephen Barnes, Gabriel Carlyle, Maya Evans, Milan Rai and Angela Zelter were charged for their part in a “die-in” protest outside Northwood Headquarters earlier this year.
Their actions were considered a “serious disruption to the life of the community”, as defined in section 14 of the Public Order Act.
Milan Rai, 44, said: “Those who were in court were allowed to express their opinions and make their case which we appreciated.
“The police were as lenient with us as they could be within their way of thinking.
"It was a police decision not to let us get to the gate where we would have been a lot less disruptive.”
Members of Justice Not Vengeance, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the Catholic Worker Movement protested two years after the bombing of a wedding party in Haji Nabu, Afghanistan.
Mr Rai added: “All of the defendants feel we were not only morally but legally right, so we can't help but be disappointed that the court couldn't see the bigger picture.”
Each member was fined £50 plus £305 in costs.
