11 December 1997 Edition
British courts target eco-activists
By Robert Allen
Animal rights campaigner Barry Horne has become the latest victim of the British establishment's war on eco-activists.
Following a jury trial which has been described as ``laughable'' by his supporters, Horne was last week sentenced to 18 years after being found guilty of arson and recklessness which could endanger life.
Using circumstantial evidence and spurious associations the British police contrived a case against Horne, according to his support group, simply ``to take him out''.
On Wednesday 12 November Horne, a 45 year old from Northampton, was found guilty on 14 charges relating to the 1994 campaign by the Animal Rights Militia against companies involved in animal vivisection. Incendiary devices were planted in several shops, including Boots, all over England causing considerable damage. In the Isle of Wight the damage was estimated at £2.6 million.
The police case against Horne was based on a six week survelliance which, claim the lawyers representing the British state, saw him purchase bomb-making equipment and plant two devices in shops in Bristol in 1995 - a year after the Isle of Wight bombings.
After the trial, which included a two day course in making firebombs, the jury returned unanimous verdicts. Yet the prosecution was unable to provide a single witness or evidence that directly linked him to the bombings. The judge, Simon Darwall-Smith, had told the jury that Horne was the only person suspected of these bombings.
On 5 December Darwall-Smith, who said Horne was an ``urban terrorist'', went through the motions and the activist joined the growing number of eco-prisoners. Last month three editors of the English journal Green Anarchist were jailed for three years each for reporting the Animal Rights Militia's anti-vivisectionist 1994 campaign.
Horne's lawyers are appealing the conviction, arguing that the judge misdirected the jury by telling them that he was the sole suspect. The Barry Horne Support Group believe that Horne is the latest victim of a campaign by the British police to take out people who can challenge the state's role in protecting animal rights abusers. ``We think it's laughable that they've convicted him for this,'' said a spokesperson for the Support Group, who added pragmatically, ``they've changed the tactics against animal rights activists''.
Horne's sentencing is the heaviest an animal rights activist has ever received but the arduous task facing his Support Group and animal rights groups is overcoming the censorship that has accompanied this case and their attempts to highlight animal vivisection. A notice has been slapped on the British media, preventing them from reporting the Horne case and a journalist on an English national newspaper was relieved of her duties after daring to mention the campaigner's name.
Horne, who was arrested in July 1996 in Bristol's Broadmead shopping centre, has attempted to draw attention to his plight by embarking on hunger strike. In January when he was held in Bullingdon jail he went on a 35 day hunger strike. And in August, while held in Bristol, he went 46 days before an agreement was reached to meet an animal rights delegation.
Now his Support Group must find ways of highlighting what they see as a deliberate strategy by the British state to marginalise animal rights activists. ``The Barry Horne Campaign is now being run in parallel with the anti-vivisectionist campaign,'' said a spokesperson for the Support Group, ``to get justice for Barry and highlight the abuse of animals.''
Horne's Support Group are also establishing links with other groups around the planet who have suffered oppression, injustice and censorship.
Animal rights campaigner Barry Horne has become the latest victim of the British establishment's war on eco-activists.
Following a jury trial which has been described as ``laughable'' by his supporters, Horne was last week sentenced to 18 years after being found guilty of arson and recklessness which could endanger life.
Using circumstantial evidence and spurious associations the British police contrived a case against Horne, according to his support group, simply ``to take him out''.
On Wednesday 12 November Horne, a 45 year old from Northampton, was found guilty on 14 charges relating to the 1994 campaign by the Animal Rights Militia against companies involved in animal vivisection. Incendiary devices were planted in several shops, including Boots, all over England causing considerable damage. In the Isle of Wight the damage was estimated at £2.6 million.
The police case against Horne was based on a six week survelliance which, claim the lawyers representing the British state, saw him purchase bomb-making equipment and plant two devices in shops in Bristol in 1995 - a year after the Isle of Wight bombings.
After the trial, which included a two day course in making firebombs, the jury returned unanimous verdicts. Yet the prosecution was unable to provide a single witness or evidence that directly linked him to the bombings. The judge, Simon Darwall-Smith, had told the jury that Horne was the only person suspected of these bombings.
On 5 December Darwall-Smith, who said Horne was an ``urban terrorist'', went through the motions and the activist joined the growing number of eco-prisoners. Last month three editors of the English journal Green Anarchist were jailed for three years each for reporting the Animal Rights Militia's anti-vivisectionist 1994 campaign.
Horne's lawyers are appealing the conviction, arguing that the judge misdirected the jury by telling them that he was the sole suspect. The Barry Horne Support Group believe that Horne is the latest victim of a campaign by the British police to take out people who can challenge the state's role in protecting animal rights abusers. ``We think it's laughable that they've convicted him for this,'' said a spokesperson for the Support Group, who added pragmatically, ``they've changed the tactics against animal rights activists''.
Horne's sentencing is the heaviest an animal rights activist has ever received but the arduous task facing his Support Group and animal rights groups is overcoming the censorship that has accompanied this case and their attempts to highlight animal vivisection. A notice has been slapped on the British media, preventing them from reporting the Horne case and a journalist on an English national newspaper was relieved of her duties after daring to mention the campaigner's name.
Horne, who was arrested in July 1996 in Bristol's Broadmead shopping centre, has attempted to draw attention to his plight by embarking on hunger strike. In January when he was held in Bullingdon jail he went on a 35 day hunger strike. And in August, while held in Bristol, he went 46 days before an agreement was reached to meet an animal rights delegation.
Now his Support Group must find ways of highlighting what they see as a deliberate strategy by the British state to marginalise animal rights activists. ``The Barry Horne Campaign is now being run in parallel with the anti-vivisectionist campaign,'' said a spokesperson for the Support Group, ``to get justice for Barry and highlight the abuse of animals.''
Horne's Support Group are also establishing links with other groups around the planet who have suffered oppression, injustice and censorship.