Rooftop occupation at Heckler & Koch
The six activists who blockaded the Nottingham-based arms company Heckler & Koch appeared at Nottingham Magistrate’s Court on March 17th and 18th on charges of aggravated trespass.
Five pleaded guilty and were ordered to pay between £40 and £195 each in costs and fines. The two with prior convictions were also served with 12-month restraining orders preventing them from entering Easter Park, the industrial park in which Heckler & Koch’s warehouse is situated.
The sixth activist pleaded not guilty. His trial will take place at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Thursday May 20th at 09:45. The arms company’s Managing Director will be called as a witness. A bail condition preventing the activists from associating with each other was lifted.
Saudi special forces on parade with H&K submachine guns, November 2008
Heckler & Koch is one of the world’s leading brands of small arms including assault rifles, submachine guns, pistols and grenade launchers. The company’s UK division consists of an international sales office and distribution depot in an unmarked warehouse on Nottingham’s Lenton Lane industrial estate.
Since 2007 the company has been the target of demonstrations about the unethical nature of its business. Heckler & Koch weapons continue to be supplied to armed forces that are known to commit human rights violations. It is because of this that the six activists decided to take direct action.
H&K Managing Director Mike Thornton
In the early morning of February 18th, four of them locked themselves to the gates using D-locks and home-made arm-tubes, while the other two climbed onto the roof and unfurled banners accusing the company of “arming repressive regimes”. This direct action effectively shut the company down for the day.
The Shut Down H&K campaign is calling for people to gather outside Nottingham Magistrates’ Court from 09:00 on the morning of the trial to support the defendant and to help raise public awareness of this ongoing anti-arms-trade campaign.
I really hope the trial can be got into the national media and we can McLibel it up to the max. We all know how much H&K love their presence in Nottingham to be advertised.
Meanwhile, the holding company is being sued, and its shareholders for alleged fraud.
See weblink:
http://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/iscroll/SQLData.jsp?IndexNo=603522-2009
Doesn’t the USA Delta Force and other special forces teams use HK weapons?
Police SWAT teams here seem to use them?
Isn’t’ Saudi Arabia a friend of Western States and regularly purchases arms and aircraft from the USA, Sweden, Great Britain, and Germany?
Ah yes, Saudi Arabia – one of the most repressive regimes in the world. What’s your point, asshole?