Vegan Chef and Catholic Priest on Trial for Anti War Protest at Party Conference

Peace activists Maya Anne Evans (27), convicted in 2005 for reading the names of British soldiers killed in the Iraq war opposite Downing Street and Fr Martin Newell (41) convicted of the Jubilee Ploughshares action are both standing trial this Thursday 2.30pm in Bournemouth Magistrates for ‘Obstruction of the Highway’ after protesting at the start of the Labour Party Conference on Sunday.

The two took part in civil disobedience with 30 others outside the Labour Party Conference, staging a sit-down protest to demand a U-turn in British foreign policy, six protestors wearing a specially made “U Turn for Peace” T Shirt were arrested in total.

Maya Anne Evans says: “We know from the polls that – contrary to Government policy – majorities of the British public are opposed to Trident renewal and the arming repressive regimes, and want to see all British troops withdrawn from Iraq and Afghanistan.

“In Gordon Browns speech at the conference he stated to continue the current line in foreign policy as regards Iraq and Afghanistan. This aggressive foreign policy will increase the threat of terrorism in this country and will be responsible for the further death toll of hundreds of thousands of individuals in these countries”.

Maya Anne Evans currently has a warrant out for her arrest for the unpaid fine resulting from the Cenotaph protest in 2005, on the grounds of free speech Evans refuses to pay the fine and as a consequence faces a possible two week prison sentence.

Fr Martin Newell says: “According to recent reports British war planes have dropped more bombs on Iraqi targets in the past month than in the whole of the previous three years, British troops in Afghanistan have called in US airstrikes hundreds of times in recent months. These are Brown’s bombs”.

www.U-TurnForPeace.org

Contact: Maya Anne Evans 07973 484 202/ Martin Newell 07931 221 965

Maya Anne Evans
07973 484 202

Justice not Vengeance
0845 458 9571