In addition Greenpeace’s U.S. office has signed a written civil
consent decree that it will not participate in protests that break
the law at specified U.S. military installations, which support
national missile defense. The environmental group vows that the
agreement will not hinder its campaign objectives.
“Greenpeace will honor this agreement and still continue to
identify threats to the environment and tell the truth about those
threats in a non-violent way,” said John Passacantando, Executive
Director of Greenpeace in the United States. “Greenpeace will not
change its targets or its objectives in any of its campaigns
including nuclear disarmament.”
All 17 defendants pled guilty to a single misdemeanor charge of
conspiracy to enter a military base, which carries a potential jail
term of up to six months. Greenpeace will pay $150,000 in damages
incurred as a result of the protest. The dates for the defendants
to receive formal sentencing have been tentatively set for January
18, 2002 for some and April 15, 2002 for others.
The 15 activists, who come from the United States, Australia,
Canada, Germany, India, Sweden, New Zealand and the United Kingdom,
went to Vandenberg on July 14, 2001 to engage in a peaceful protest
against a test of the national missile defense program. During the
protest, Greenpeace activists swam ashore with “Stop Star Wars”
banners while other activists protested under the flight path of
the missile, delaying the test for 40 minutes. The two journalists
who documented the protest reside in the United States and the
United Kingdom.
“Greenpeace’s foremost concern was
to insure these individuals were not charged with felonies for
simply trying to right a wrong by peacefully bearing witness to a
program that greatly endangers global security and breaks
international treaties and laws,” continued Passacantando. “This
agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s office will not deter Greenpeace
from peacefully and vigorously lending its voice to the global
opposition against Star Wars, nor will it deter us from pursuing
any of our other campaigns to secure our planet. For 30 years we
have used peaceful protest to protect the planet and that will
remain unchanged.”
