Letter

In response to Vive la resistance! The heroes who oppose genocide

Seeds of hope

Further to Eugene Doyle’s recent article regarding French Resistance in WWII, and the heroes who oppose genocide, there are seeds of hope with several legal precedents in the United Kingdom.

Back in 1996, the Ploughshare Four were found not guilty of criminal damage to a Hawk warplane bound for East Timor at the Warton aerodrome in Lancashire. Their actions were considered reasonable under the Genocide Act 1969

More recently in January 2017, the Reverend Dan Woodhouse, a Methodist minister in Leeds and Sam Walton, a Quaker, were arrested at the same site attempting to disarm warplanes bound for Saudi Arabia, and were charged with criminal damage.

In October 2017, Woodhouse and Walton appeared at Burnley Magistrates court and Reverend Woodhouse claimed stopping warplanes would save lives. Both were found not guilty, after successfully contending that they acted for the greater good.

Bernard Corden Spring Hill, QLD

— Bernard Corden from Spring Hill, Brisbane