Bryan Law and Graeme Dunstan, the two peace activists charged with doing willful damage to an Australian Army Tiger helicopter during the Talisman Sabre war games last year, will appear in Rockhampton Court at about 11 am TODAY Thursday 10 May 2012.
The pair have made no plea and expect the appearance in the Magistrate's Court will result in a "hand up committal" to stand trial in the District Court at a future date.
On 21 July 2011 Bryan Law entered the Rockhampton air base on his tricycle and smote the newly made helicopter with a garden mattock. The blow made a small hole in a carbon fibre door and effectively disabled the machine.
The Defence Department claim the cost of repair to be $180,000.
Mr Law and Mr Dunstan undertook the action in the spirit of the biblical prophesy (Isaiah 2:4) to "turn swords into ploughshares and spears into pruning hooks" and would be pleased to see the helicopter permanently disabled.
"it is a death machine which will otherwise be deployed to Afghanistan and used to kill some of the poorest people on Earth who have dared to resist an invasion of the armies of some of the richest peoples on Earth," said Mr Dunstan who assisted Mr Law in the action by opening the gate to the airfield.
"We are eager for the opportunity to put our case for acting thus to a jury of our peers," he said.
While on bail, neither Mr Law nor Mr Dunstan have been unforthcoming in their peace activism.
Both were part of a team of faith based peace witnesses who, on 26 April, went to the gate of the HQ Joint Operations Command, the high security base near Canberra where Australia's war on Afghanistan is directed and delivered a notice to quit to the base commander.
"Troops out of Afghanistan. No more US wars!"
During the action Mr Law was arrested and charged with trespass. Hear an edited audio recording of the action including Law's arrest speech.
Photo opportunity
Messrs Law and Dunstan will be outside the Rockhampton court with flags and banners bearing witness for peace from 10 am and, after the hearing, they will conduct a short public Speak Out there using the Peacebus PA.
Further information
www.rockytigerploughshares.com.au
Bryan Law, Cairns Peace by Peace,
Graeme Dunstan, Peacebus.com,