UK Anti-War protester, Lindis Percy, jailed

international | anti-war / imperialism | other press Monday January 29, 2007 01:55 by Mocha - Cosantoiri Siochana

"Appeared in court with her right arm in plaster after breaking it while trying to evade arrest at the base"

According to the Independent (UK) : "Magistrates have jailed Lindis Percy, 64, after she failed to pay fines and court costs relating to a protest outside the United States Signal Intelligence Station, in Harrogate, North Yorkshire". The pensioner undertakes weekly vigils at the US intelligence station. She formed the Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases (CAAB) in 1992 and was sent to jail in March 2003, as the invasion of Iraq began.

Though her protests have resulted in 12 prison sentences before, including a four-and-a-half-month spell in Holloway jail, Percy was adamant that she was not guilty of the crime that led to Friday's court appearance: wilful obstruction of the highway outside Menwith Hill, on 10 and 31 January last year.

Lindis

According the Independent : "The case has raised new questions about the judiciary's inclination to jail protesters who appear to offer no threat to the public. They also include the climate-change protester Irene Willis, 61, who was jailed for 21 days for refusing to pay a fine for demonstrating outside the US air base at Lakenheath.

Percy, a trained midwife and nurse, has a history of embarrassing the authorities. Previous protests, which have resulted in her being arrested more than 150 times, have included breaching Buckingham Palace security and climbing its gates in October 2003, ahead of a visit by George Bush. In June, she confronted the former president George Bush Snr as he addressed business leaders in Yorkshire.

Her imprisonment comes ahead of another case before Harrogate magistrates. The campaigners Helen John and Sylvia Boyes were arrested a year ago under a little-noticed clause in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act for offences which carry a possible 12-month prison term".