Peace Walkers Arrested at Nuclear Bomb Factory

Four participants in an 86-day walk from Dublin to London for a nuclear-free future have been arrested today at AWE (Atomic Weapons Establishment) Aldermaston in Berkshire. They were protesting against the ongoing expansion at the facility.

The walkers were arrested just after lunchtime at the Aldermaston base, after a 10-mile walk beginning in Theale, on the outskirts of Reading. Upon reaching Tadley Gate, the walkers assembled for a vigil when some members of the party decided to sit down and link in front of the gate in order to block incoming and out-going construction traffic. It was a symbolic gesture of defiance against the might of the state and military-industrial complex. Officers from Thames Valley police and the MoD, acting as accomplices to the base’s illegal preparations for nuclear war, swiftly prised the peacekeepers apart before handcuffing them and dragging them off to a waiting van.

One of the arrested, Daniel Viesnik, 32, from London, who has walked the full 825 miles from Dublin, says:

"The UK government’s decision to spend tens of billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money upgrading the Trident system is illegal, immoral and will further destabilize global security. The ongoing proliferation of activities at AWE Aldermaston to enable the development of the next generation of nuclear warheads, in direct contravention of our obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, only serves to highlight the total hypocrisy of my government, of which I am deeply ashamed."

Today’s action was carried out in solidarity with Block the Builders, who have been carrying out regular blockades at Aldermaston since last year, in opposition to the ongoing construction of the new multi-million pound Orion laser system at the site.

Liana and Aleta Johannaber, sisters from the United States, say:

"As Americans, we are here to represent the growing number of concerned citizens from home who oppose the deadly nuclear weapons industry and all travesties of war. We believe in a world free of these weapons. As world citizens, we are here to put pressure on the UK’s government to uphold the Non-Proliferation Treaty. As daughter’s of peace keepers in the United States, we feel it is our obligation to be active in the movement towards nuclear disarmament and stand in solidarity with all those doing the hard work of creating a more just and equitable world."

Bernie Meyer, The American Gandhi, states:

"The Trident System symbolizes human failure to care for the earth and the living the living species of creation. The system is a massive failure of humans to get along together and nurture life together." We must reverse our way of thinking and acting.

Notes for editors

1. The Footprints for Peace walk from Dublin to London for a nuclear-free future, organized by Kerrie-Ann Garlick and Marcus Atkinson from Australia, set off from the Irish capital 11 weeks ago, on 13 May and will reach London in time for the 62nd anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima on 6 August. The aim is to raise public awareness of the perils of the nuclear industry, from the mining and enrichment of uranium through to nuclear power, weapons and waste.

The walk has called in at a number of important nuclear facilities, including the Faslane nuclear submarine base and Dundrennan depleted uranium weapon test range, both in Scotland; Sellafield nuclear reprocessing facility and the BAE Systems nuclear submarine shipyard at Barrow-in-Furness, both in Cumbria; Menwith Hill US spy base and Fylingdales in Yorkshire, both implicated in nuclear missile defense and the US "Son of Star Wars" programme; and the Rolls Royce Raynesway plant in Derby, involved in making the reactor cores for the Trident and other nuclear submarines.

For further information contact:
Marcus Atkinson @ 07807727201