Events

——Upcoming events——

Appeal date set:

Members of the climate 9 have been granted leave to appeal against conviction and sentence on Breach of the charges. The appeal will be heard at the Court of Appeal on June 7th 2011 in Edinburgh. All support gratefully received.

Launch of Climate 9 documentary and book in May:

Climate 9 are having a launch party for the exciting new documentary recording the events surrounding the trial. This will take place in mid-May….. details to follow… don’t forget to check back!

————-Past Events————-

Film and Discussion Night run by Primal Screen

Thursday 24th June

Abderdeen Trade Union Council 22a, Adelphi, Abderdeen at 7pm.

The Climate9 in Court

Monday 14th June

Come and support the Climate9 on the first day of the trial. It is important that we have a big support to help the 9 in their first days in front of a jury.

Assemble outside Aberdeen Sheriff Court 9am Monday 14th June. Bring banners, friends and smiles. The court can be found here.

Court starts at 10am. The trial will be in court 1 and there is a public gallery, so come inside and show the judge that you are behind the Climate9

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Official launch of the Climate9 public campaign- defending grassroots climate action in the face of political failure.

Launched in Aberdeen and London!!!

ABERDEEN

The Aberdeen “Climate9 launch” is a public meeting in advance of the trial on why the legal and political system needs to change in order to stop runaway climate change and protect our future.

Time: Friday 4th June, 7pm

Place: Music Hall (upstairs meeting room)

Speakers will include:

► John Stewart, Chair of Airportwatch

► One of the Climate9 defendants

► Debra Storr (Green party member)

Followed by discussion

LONDON

Speakers include top human rights lawyer Gareth Peirce, Civil Rights Activist Suresh Grover with more to be announced

Thursday June 3^rd, 6.30-8.30pm

The Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS University, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG.

RSVP info@climate9.com

The evening will feature top civil rights and climate justice advocates and lawyers, speakers from the Climate9 Defence Committee, details of the case from the lawyers, discussion on direct action and using the courts to call for real justice and a chance to meet the activists

Speakers to Include:

Gareth Peirce: Leading Human Rights Lawyer and Civil Rights Champion currently protecting the young Manchester men from torture abroad. In a career of more than 30 years, she has appeared for, among others, the Guildford Four, the Birmingham Six and the families of the victims of the Marchioness river boat disaster.

Suresh Grover: Leading Civil Rights and Anti – Racist Activist and founding member of The Monitoring Group: leading exponent of family led empowerment and justice campaigns in the UK. Over the past 25 years TMG have many led campaigns to help families including those of Blair Peach, Kuldip Singh Sekon, Ricky Reel, Micheal Menson, Stephen Lawrence, Zahid Mubarek and Victoria Climbie.

Matthew Todd: Editor of Attitude, Britain’s best selling gay magazine, and advocate for diverse action on runaway climate change.

John Stewart: The Independent’s ‘Britain’s leading environmentalist’ and spokesman for campaign group AirportWatch

Liz Hosken: Advocate for social and ecological justice, Liz co-founded and is Director of the Gaia Foundation, working with a global network of pioneers and visionaries.

Jenny Griffiths: “Climate Defence to Protect the Public Health” from the Climate and Health Council.

Dr. Geoff Meaden: Principal Geography professor and key witness at the well-renowned ‘Kingsnorth6’ climate trial.

The Climate9 Defendants: Josie Hanson, Jimmy Kerr, Bill Boggia, Dan Glass, Tilly Gifford, Mila Karwowska, Jonny Agnew, Mark Andrews, Kate Mackay

The Climate9 Family Spokesperson and defendants

Other speakers include: spokesperson for ‘Nottingham 114’: The UK’s first pre-emptive arrest charge on people before any laws are broken to protect the planet.

It would be great to see you there!

And Don’t Stop There! Organise events and actions relevant to you and your community on climate change and in support of the Climate9. If you want a supporter of the Climate9 or one of the defendants to come email info@climate9.com. Use the attention of the trial to highlight the need for necessary action to stop irreversible climate change in your community!

Event: climate ceilidh, Heathrow, 2009.

Climate9 Appeal News: June 7th 2011 at Edinburgh High Court

FOR UPDATES SEE http://www.climate9.com/newsie/
June 7th 2011 at Edinburgh High Court

An appeal to better judgement

Today defendants Tilly Gifford and Dan Glass from the Climate 9 had their appeal heard at Edinburgh Appeal Court against the conviction they received last summer for Breach of the Peace.

The conviction related to a direct action taken in March 2009 where the Climate 9 shut down Aberdeen airport and directly stopped 107 tonnes of emissions from contributing to man-made climate change. They played golf in a cage on the taxiway to highlight the fact that the airport's expansion will serve to deliver Donald Trump's super-rich golfer pals to his contentious course at Balmedie Estate.

Following a two week long trial in August 2010, which was the first jury-led climate change trial in Scotland, all 9 defendants were convicted of Breach of the Peace for their role in the protest. Dan and Tilly made the decision to appeal against the conviction as they hold firm to the belief that the action they took was justified, proportionate and necessary in the face of catastrophic climate change.

Appellant Dan Glass said “the Scottish legal system defines breach of the peace as an activity "causing fear and alarm to the ordinary and reasonable person, and which threatens serious disturbance to the community. I can't think of a better way to describe climate change. Sometimes, we believe, the law must be challenged to protect our fundamental freedom of expression and to disrupt lawful activities that are harming the prospects of future generations. Furthermore it’s the role of as democracy to protect the voices of the minority aswell as the majority”

The appeal has reached its final stages after months of anticipation and against a backdro0p of severe climate change, as recent estimates suggest an unthinkable 4 degree temperature rise by 2080. During the 4 hour hearing this morning the court heard a strong case from the defence, who argued that the jury wasn’t given any sense of this grave context regarding both the importance and urgency of the protest.

Appellant Tilly Gifford said “The judge presented a choice to the jury between 'breach of peace' and 'freedom of expression' without any context. This is simply not good enough. The jury should be given the serious climate change context of the situation relating to the case, otherwise the inference is completely abstract from reality.”

The appeal verdict will be heard within the next 6 weeks in a final court hearing. A date is not yet set. If it is successful it will set an important precedent for future protest cases, through actively defending freedom of expression and supporting the legitimacy of the right to protest given the governments inaction to effectively tackle climate change. It would be the first legal case in Scotland to engage with the severity of climate change that we face and challenge the ‘business as usual’ attitude that the aviation industry is taking in its expansion plans.

Plane Stupid spokesperson Joe Ryle said “Aviation remains the fastest growing source of CO2 emissions in the UK and we cannot let this go unchallenged. However the heart of this debate is about our fundamental right to protest and whether we are prepared to tolerate greater disruption to business as usual in the face of climate change.”