Prestwick protesters arrested for boarding US plane

Press Association
Aug. 07, 2006

Police arrested seven anti-war protesters today after campaigners boarded a US plane at a Scottish airport to search for weapons bound for Israel.

Two men and a woman were in custody after getting on what is understood to be a military plane at Prestwick airport, Ayrshire, in the early hours.

Police confirmed that a further four people - two men and two women - were arrested at the airport, near Glasgow, at around 3.30am.

The anti-nuclear campaign group Trident Ploughshares said its activists had boarded a US plane while carrying out an investigation into the British government's involvement in the transport of arms to Israel.

The group named the members involved in this morning's action as Marcus Armstrong, 46, from Milton Keynes, Chris Bluemel, 35, from Southampton, and Angie Zelter, 55, from Norfolk.

Sarah Lasenby, 68, from Oxford, Douglas Shaw, 56, and Jean Oliver, 48, both from Biggar, South Lanarkshire, and Matt Bury, 50, from Somerset, also took part in the investigation, it said. They were expected to appear in court tomorrow.

Four people were arrested at the airport yesterday after breaking through security fencing and running onto the main runway.

The latest incidents follow protests last weekend when two flights carrying hazardous material were diverted to RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the body responsible for policing the transit of flights through civilian airports, said yesterday that it had given permission for the two US flights to stop at Prestwick last weekend but not for any others.

"We have not issued permission for the carriage of any dangerous cargo to Israel," a spokesman said.

Last month, President Bush apologised for having failed to ask permission from the British government for a plane carrying bombs bound for Israel to land at Prestwick airport.












All original InformationLiberation articles CC 4.0



About - Privacy Policy