New trial for kelly in October.

national | anti-war / imperialism | news report

Saturday June 19, 2004 00:33

by paul o toole

pauljotoole at eircom dot net

Events in the case of the dpp vs. Mrs. Kelly.

Minutes before the first witness in the prosecution was to be called, in the re- trial of
peace activist, nurse Mary Kelly, her legal defense team abandoned her saying that they
‘no longer enjoyed the confidence or trust of their client’. A news camera man on the
steps of the courthouse was the first person to report the news to Mrs Kelly-not her
barrister.

A meeting ensued, then Mr. Brendan Nix S.C, Mrs.Antionette Simons B.L. and John
Devane solicitor, entered court to formally request their own dismissal and subsequently
walked out of court. Mrs Kelly remarked that ...‘this was actually the first time that I had
a meeting with all members of my own legal council present’.

Since the initial hung-Jury trial in July last year untill now, communication and
preperation were almost non existent according to Mrs. Kelly. This was evidenced in
court as judge Carrol Moran refused a subpoena to have the Attorney General Rory
Brady appear on the grounds that there were no less than five technical errors on the
subpoena application itself, including the wrong form to begin with and the wrong date.

Earlier, in another heated exchange , Mr. Nix S.C., told Mrs.Kelly that a new jury would
have to be sworn in if he had raised an objection to the prosecutions request to delay the
trial because their star witness ( the USAF pilot) missed his flight. I almost fell over
laughing when I heard this remark. The prosecution were granted more time to
accomodate their delayed star witness without any objection being raised by the defense,
while defense witness, Fmr. US. Attorney General Mr Ramsey Clarke was now unable to
give evidence because his schedule made him unable to stay past the weekend.

The general feeling from locals on the ground in Ennis was that Mrs .Kelly's action was justified. School kids wanted to meet her because they had heard about her non-violent direct action stopping a plane leaving the ground-at least temporarilly. Old people walked up to our gathering outside the courthouse grounds and simply voiced theirsupport. Some people stopped their cars in the middle of the street and ran over and uttered a string of profanity relating to G.W. Bush calling him... 'the new f***** Hitler, and that woman is in their trying to stop his war ...is rediculous'.

There has been a huge turnarround in general opinion amongst the public regarding the disarming of the plane in Shannon by Mrs. Kelly and after repair,again by the Pitstop-ploughshares. It would seem that people are generally getting the idea that stopping violence is what disarming this plane was all about.
The fact that the term violence is innapropriately being used in relation to an inanimate object is becoming clear to most if not all people. This is clearly the work of everyone but especially the people who have gone down to Ennis for weeks from Dublin and cork, Tralee and Galway groups to build awareness
If you are interested in celebrating resistance and becoming involved in a support group for the woman who stood up alone, to the US. military presence in Ireland dont hesitate. This case needs to be won for the sake of peace activists and anti-war groups in Ireland and internationally.

The story continnues ......in October. Be part of it

..

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Comments (4 of 4)

Just got back from a double protest gig.

by elfie - chomping sodden cigars.

Sat Jun 19, 2004 20:08

God is obviously neither an anarchist or a sin papales, or if he is, he doesn't answer CGT mobilisations. It's pissing rain. But then again it is possible God doesn't organise rain, and in this day and age it's the Devil's work.

Anyway, thought you'd like to know, a big Mary Kelly banner was evident in BCN this evening, with the words "Support Mary Kelly Peace Worker".

we await October.

CIAs handpicked judges will condemn Mary Kelly

by Henry Gibson

Sat Jun 19, 2004 20:47

I see the hand of the CIA in all of this. it is typiical CIA interferance in the judicial process of a sovereign nation.

CIA eh

by Phil Boylan

Mon Jun 21, 2004 00:13

I would doubt if the CIA are in anyway involved in this whole fiasco. Its much too small for them to be devouting any time from their busy schedules of 'rebuilding' Iraq and attempting to install puppet governmenst around the world. Its actually completely OTT to even suggest it.

As for ALL people finally getting the whole mis-use of the term Violence against the plane. Well I know myself and alot of other people see that the attack on the plane was VIOLENT. It caused damage to the plane, it was a violent act. Just because the plane is inanimate does not mean the act was thus non-violent. By that rationale, if I burn your house down and no-one is in there, its not a violent act. Car theft and vandalism are not violent acts, so goodbye most of the laws governing such cases.

While I am certainly not a big fan of Mary Kelly or the PP5, I do respect that they have the tenacity to stick to their guns. As for Mary Kelly losing her defence team, from what I have read on her site and from the reports that have filtered down, it would appear that her legal team felt that they were not in a good standing with their client and as such did not want to be humiliated in court. Whether the Black Pope or someone else was respsonible for this scenario, is really a mute fact. Either way, if Mary Kelly is going to get another legal team, then she needs to be up front and totally honest. She needs to explore her positions and be willing to take the advice of the legal professionals and not others, who are less qualified. If she had not met with the entire crux of her team before the case, then why did she not dismiss em and report the reasons to the court. Its her right to do so, if she feels she is not being properly represented. Its the courts obligation to then provide her with what assistance she needs to acquire such a leagl team that would properly represent her.

Either way good luck to her in October, however, I fear she will almost definitely get sent down now. This could also lead to problems with future cases involving 'NVDA'

Definition

Mon Jun 21, 2004 23:44

Viloence is the 'use of force intended to hurt or kill'. Obviously property rates the same or more to you so theres no point in argueing. However ,the law is based on human dignity first and foremost and not a piece of metal intended to hurt or kill.

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New trial for kelly in October.

Comments (4 of 4)