The last remaining Bristol EDO Decommissioner on remand, Elijah (James) Smith, is in the midst of a frenzy of court activity these current few weeks. Indeed the court appearances for a variety of cases is hard to keep up with. In fact, we think it’d make far more sense to just let the guy out and write-off all the cases, doesn’t our injustice system have better things to waste their money on? Like corrupt politicians, or murdering arms corporations? Obviously not in this class society!
So first up, James is now back at Lewes prison, and seems likely he may be there until 5 November. He had a bail/custody hearing this week down in Brighton, and surprise, surprise, they didn’t let him out!
So write to him, and dont let the bastards grind him down: Elijah Smith, VP7551, HMP Lewes, 1 Brighton Rd, East Sussex, BN7 1EA (and that is his correct prison ID number).
Next week we believe James, and others, have an appeal hearing arising from an old Smash EDO carnival case. The week after, probably 26/27 October, the 6 Bristol Decommissioners, plus the 3 Brighton folks caught up in the case, have a pre-trial hearing for their main case. That case is now due probably in mid-May 2010, having been deferred on the request of defence solicitors due to delays in prosecution paperwork – and we gotta say we think its pretty shit the case is deferred, is it really to the defendants benefit, or just more money for the legal team? The legal team after all will not have spent 16 months on bail or on remand by then!
On 5 November, the adjourned Raytheon 3 case (which includes James) returns to Yate magistrates court for a committal hearing. All 3 defendants subsequently where involved in the EDO decommissioning, however the 2 cases are entirely separate, and any attempt by the prosecution to join the 2 different cases together is a purely political move in an attempt to build a conspiracy case. We’ve said it before, but cant the state, cops and politicians deal with the fact that successful cock-ups do happen?
It seems likely James may not actually need to appear at Yate cos its largely legal arguements, and in any case on 6 November he is due at Maidstone court – this relates to a charge that he threatened the boss of EDO during a previous court case. So lets get that straight, James verbally threatens the EDO boss in public and gets taken to court, whilst the EDO boss helps manufacture weapons that are used to kill innocent people, and gets to make a nice little earner. British justice? Fuck off!
Are you following all this? Well there will no doubt be more…
In the meantime, help keep up the pressure on EDO and the other dealers in death, and help put a smile on the faces of the defendants, cos remember they cant go within a zillion miles of anything to do with EDO. From the 17 October onwards for a couple of weeks there’s a variety of anti-EDO/anti-militarist/defendant support events. For the latest details check the Smash EDO site, and the Bristol Decommissioners site (note Smash EDO’s details of Bristol events is now out of date as of today). And remember, support all the defendants, and those in prison.