Conspiracy” Q U.d.a. Men Get 2 Years, Lr.a. Get

One of the most dangerous developments in the British legal system over the past few years has been the increasing use of the laws against conspiracy. The main point of the conspiracy laws is not that you are charged with committing an illegal act, but that you talked about or planned to do something illegal. A Conspiracy trail then becomes a purely political trial, the evidence being not what you did or did not do but instead it is what you talk about, who your friends are, what you believe in. Your political views become part of the “evidence” against you.

This law has become a more and more effective weapon of the ruling class over the past few years. In conjunction with a greatly expanded secret police — the Special Branch — it has been used has aisO Deen Every day television screens bombard us with propaganda from the professional pacifists of the British and Irish ruling classes. The latest target of the Cruise O’Briens and the Cosgraves is ‘ALL men of violence’ — drawing no distinctions between revolutionary fighters and sectarian thugs.

One of the chief targets of the propagandists is the campaign of economic bombing. It ignored the fact that the campaign is waged against property and not-people, that it diverts the manpower of the British army to guarding duties and away from their main job of oppressing anti-unionist workers. And that it costs the British millions of pounds. The propagandists’ only concern is that the explosions are being caused by ‘men of violence’.

With this in mind it is worth examining the blast in the Nypo Chemicals Plant at Flixborough last month. The blast was one of the biggest explosions ever in the British Isles. It was in the ““Kiloton” range, the equivalent of one thousand TONS of T.N.T. and with the same force as a tactical Nuclear weapon.

The blast was heard 30 miles away. It killed 29 workers; flattened the 20 acre site; devestated tiie nearby village of Flixborough and injured another 100 people. After the explosion a huge cloud of poisonous gas rolled across the countryside.

This devastation was not caused by ‘mad bombers’ or by ‘men of violence’. It was caused by a ‘respectable company’ going about it’s normal business of making a profit.

A white-wash enquiry has been set up by the British government. Already it’s inquiries have narrowed down to the welding in of a 2 ft. diameter pipe. The report of the inquiry will be published shortly. It will serve only to confuse and cover up the real issue involved. Imagine heating petrol in a pressurecooker on a red-hot stove. Well supporters of Irish republicanism.

The case of the Coventry Seven shows how effective this Act can be. Father Fell, a Coventry priest, and a group of his parishioners were charged with Conspiracy. The evidence against them consisted of the fact that they held meetings about Northern Ireland, that Father Fell had documents and maps, that they had campaigned for aid for Northern Ireland and that they had been heard to talk generally about bank robberies.

For these henious crimes they were sentenced to an average of 8 years in jail.

Let us examine also the case of the Luton Three. The evidence against them was that one of them had a shotgun, that they were all members of Sinn Fein, that they had been active in support of the Irish struggle, IRA unit and of bank robb were sentenced to 9 years. The third Special Branch.

This isn t an isolat = Kenneth Lennon was set free, and was later shown to have been an agent provocateur in the pay of the But surely the law is impartial? The sentences may be savage, the evidence may be vague, but surely this applies to all cases? — Let us examine the case of the 9 U.D.A. mén tried on conspiracy. The case arose out of pictures in the English Press showing armed U.D.A. men training in Yorkshire. The men were shown drilling with modern weapons including rifles and sten guns. They were charged with conspiracy and were brought to court. This time the evidence was not vague. There was the collection of weapons and the fact that the 9 men pleaded GUILTY to the charge. They received a sentence of — 2 years each.

the U.D.A. was caught with some guilt. of his followers trying to import £500,000 worth of arms. He was found not guilty.

The reason for this travesty of justice can be seen in the defence offered by the lawyer for the 9 U.D.A. men. He said that these men were not subversives. They were Loyalists and had acted as they had out of a feeling af intense loyalty for the Queen and the British way of life. The light sentences show that the Judge accepted_the argument.

This shows clearly what Marxists have always said. Under our present legal system there is only one unforgivable crime — the crime of opposing and trying to take power from the small group of money men who own and control the wealth of Ireland and Britain.

We in the Peoples Democracy are guilty of that crime. We hope more and more people will join us in our North and using their own army and police force to jail republicans. How much greater should our disgust and anger be when we see that they do it in defence of capitalism and imperialism — in defence of a system which every day endangers millions of workers lives in factories and mines, and condemns their families to lives of misery and ill-health in fei) aa aLazt at Flixdcrough nmr uit way Ul propiems.