BEGIN:VCALENDAR PRODID;X-RICAL-TZSOURCE=TZINFO:-//com.denhaven2/NONSGML ri_cal gem//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN VERSION:2.0 BEGIN:VEVENT DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20100201T133000 DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20100201T133000 CATEGORIES:aldermaston,anti-militarism,npt,nuclear,peace DESCRIPTION:

I am due to appear at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court ( Courtroom 95)\, 51 Holloway Road\, London N7 8JA at 2pm on Monday 1st Fe bruary\, 2010 in relation to an unpaid fine of £\;50 and costs of & pound\;465 resulting from a peaceful symbolic sit-down protest outside t he Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston\, Berkshire in July 2007\ , during the Footprints for Peace International Walk towards a N uclear-Free Future from Dublin to London.

You can read a press release from the original action here:
http://portland.indymedia.o rg/en/2007/08/363054.shtml

You can read a report of my trial at Newbury Magistrates' Court in March 2008 here: http://www.indymedia.org.u k/en/2008/03/393416.html

You can read extracts from my letter to the court of 7 December 2009\, explaining why I won't cough u p\, below.

I expect I may be handed a prison sentence of up to 2 8 days (or "community payback"?) as I do not intend to pay the fine or c osts. I have never been to prison before. Support inside and outside the court building (from 1.30pm) would be welcome.

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Cheap plug for Aldermaston Big Blockade\, Februa ry 15th
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Just over two weeks to go! This should be a cra cking day. Get yourselves down there and block the nukes\, or cheer on y a mates!
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More details:
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http://www.peacenews.info/issues/2516/25161 507.html
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http://block awe.blogspot.com
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http://www.tridentploughshares.org/article1577
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Cheap plug for Footprints for Peace Walks

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After three long anti-nuclear walks in Europe over the past three years\, from Dublin to London in 2007\, from London to Genev a in 2008 and from Geneva to Brussels in 2009\, this year Footprints for Peace will walk from the Y-12 nuclear weapons complex in Oak Ridge\, Te nnessee to the United Nations in New York\, starting on 11 February and arriving on 1 May\, in time for the five-yearly Nuclear Non-Proliferatio n Treaty (NPT) Review Conference.
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More details of the NPT walk c an be found here:
http://footprintsforpeace.tripod.com/E10/NPT/npt_walk .htm
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A walk in Scotland is also planned in the summer:
http://footprints.footprintsforpeace.net/scotland/scotland_p eace_walk.htm
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Peace\,
Dan Viesnik
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Letter to Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court\, 7 December 200 9:
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Dear Sir / Madam\,
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I write i n regard to outstanding penalties totalling £\;515 (imposed on 7 Ma rch\, 2008) which have been transferred to London North West and North C ourts from West Berkshire Magistrates' Court. I have been advised by the Administration Team of the Central Accounting Office\, HMCS London in t heir letter of 18 November 2009 to communicate with this Court directly.
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As previously stated in writing to the respective fines offices \, I have given the matter plenty of consideration and have thus arrived at the decision that as a matter of conscience I shall not pay the outs tanding sum\, either as a lump sum or by instalment. My wholly unnecessa ry\, disproportionate and unjust prosecution\, conviction and penalty fo r "obstructing the highway" arose from my participation in an entirely p eaceful symbolic sit-down protest in opposition to what I consider to be the illegal\, immoral and criminally irresponsible maintenance and deve lopment of weapons of mass murder and destruction\, namely Trident nucle ar warheads\, and supporting infrastructure at the Aldermaston atomic de ath factory (also known as Atomic Weapons Establishment) in West Berkshi re. The event in question took place on 27 July\, 2007 as I walked nearl y 900 miles from Dublin to London via Belfast and Glasgow for a nuclear- free future with an international group called Footprints for Peace. I w as doing nothing more that day than peacefully carrying out my moral dut y to protect humanity and life on planet Earth from the grave threat of nuclear annihilation and radiation exposure. My strength of feeling on t his issue is such that I am prepared to face imprisonment rather than pa y the fine\, despite never having experienced prison before. I initiated a case-stated appeal to the High Court against my conviction\, but even tually withdrew for reasons that do not concern this Court. In my experi ence the courts in general appear to be deaf to arguments of morality\, conscience and common sense\, especially in politically-sensitive cases such as this\, with the result that true justice is often sacrificed in favour of appeasing the Establishment.
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Than king you kindly in advance for your patience and understanding. I antici pate that I shall soon be brought before the Court at which time I may b e committed to prison\, so I shall prepare myself mentally for such an e ventuality. Please use the above address for any further correspondence.
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Yours sincerely\,
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Mr Daniel Viesnik
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URL:http://london.indymedia.org/events/4253 SUMMARY:Peace activist to be jailed on Monday? LOCATION:
Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court (Courtroom 95)\, 51 Hollow ay Road\, London N7 8JA
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Map: http://tinyurl.com/yeq8q9t
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COMMENT:More info at http://london.indymedia.org END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR