Smash EDO Commemorate the 6th Anniversary of the Invasion of Iraq

Smash EDO Press Release

17th March 2009

Smash EDO Commemorate the 6th Anniversary of the Invasion of Iraq while Seven Campaigners Stand Trial for Resisting Weapons Factory

The campaign against EDO MBM/ITT is holding an all night protest vigil at the EDO factory in Home Farm Road, Brighton from 4.30pm Thursday 19th to 10am Friday 20th to mark the sixth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.

The invasion of Iraq began on the night of 19th/20th March 2003. Since then over a million people have died as a result of the invasion and occupation. EDO have been making money out of the suffering of the people of Iraq. The company produce components for the Paveway III and IV, the most used missiles in the 2003-4 bombardment

Seven people are currently on trial for aggravated trespass in Brighton Magistrates court charged with locking on to the fence of EDO MBM/ITT on March 19th 2008 to commemorate the sixth anniversry of the invasion. They are arguing, in their defence, that EDO's business is not lawful. Paul Hills, Managing Direrctor of EDO, is currently being questioned at the Magistrate's Court over his companys' complicity in war crimes. The trial is scheduled to

Chloe Marsh, press spokesperson for the Smash EDO campaign, said "six years have passed since the UK and US, armed by companies like EDO MBM, invaded Iraq. Since then millions of lives have been ruined. The only people who have profitted out of the invasion and occupation are private companies like EDO MBM. We will keep on campaigning until EDO close down."

ENDS

For more Details call 07754135290

E-mail:  smashedopress@riseup.net

Notes for Journalists

The Company

From their base in Moulescoombe Brighton, EDO MBM/ITT, a unit of ITT corporation, manufacture vital parts for the Hellfire and Paveway weapons systems, laserguided missiles used extensively in Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and Somalia. EDO Corp were recently acquired by ITT in a multi-billion pound deal. ITT's links to fascism go back to the 1930s. The founder Sosthenes Behn was the first foreign businessman received by Hitler after his seizure of power.

The Campaign

There has been active campaign against the presence of EDO MBM in Brighton since the outbreak of the Iraq war. Campaigners include students, Quakers, Palestine solidarity activists, anti-capitalists and academics. Despite an injunction under the protection of harassment act (which failed) and over forty arrests the campaign is still going strong.Their avowed aim is to expose EDO MBM and their complicity in war crimes and to remove them from Brighton. They hold regular weekly demos outside the Moulescoombe factory on Wednesday's between 4 and 6.

THE FILM

On the Verge is an independent film about the SMASH EDO Campaign “In 2004 a group of Brighton peace campaigners began to bang pot and pans outside their local arms manufacturers EDO MBM in disgust of their part in the Iraq war. This has grown into the Smash EDO campaign, which has cost the company millions, been the subject of large scale police operations and has tested the right to protest in the UK.Using activist, police and CCTV footage plus interviews with those involved in the campaign, 'On The Verge' tells the story of one of the most persistent and imaginative campaigns to emerge out of the UK's anti-war movement and direct action scene.”

~ Indymedia.co.uk ~