Women face charges after base protest

Press, 7 December 1988, Page 3

Women face charges after base protest

By

RODGER KINGSBURY

in Blenheim

Seven women protesters who barricaded themselves in the security guards 5 office at the satellite communications intercept base in the Waihopai Valley yesterday morning appeared in the District Court at Blenheim in the afternoon on charges of wilful damage and being unlawfully in a building.

They were remanded on bail without plea to December 15. A condition of their bail is that they do not enter the Ministry of Defence base. The women are members of a group that staged a protest camp in the valley from May until September and have since continued to campaign against the base in different parts of the country. A spokesperson for the group said they drove a large van through the open gate of the base about 9.30 a.m. and immediately took over the unoccupied security guards’ office. They were equipped with planks of wood, hammers and nails, and used these to board up the windows and door. Once securely barricaded inside, they used a telephone to call a number of politicians and the

news media. They attempted to phone the Prime Minister, Mr Lange, but had to be content with telling his secretary why they . were protesting. One of the women, Ms Liz Franklin, said the group wanted the Government to acknowledge the probability that information collected by the base would be used to extend foreign influence and cause destabilisation in the Pacific. She said that the women believed that with the deteriorating economic situation and increasing unemployment, it was unacceptable that Government funds be used for such unproductive and potentially dangerous projects. “It is time Mr Lange responded to the views of the New Zealand public instead of wasting money

on needless facilities such as the spy base and frigates,” Ms Franklin said. Soon after the call to Mr Lange’s office, staff at the base cut the telephone line but did not succeed in disrupting communications entirely. After working out how to work a hand-held two-way radio in the office, the women used this to make known the reason for their protest to those outside. The radio was also used to communicate with the police when they arrived soon after 10 a.m. They told the police they would stay inside the office until the telephone was reconnected and they could speak to Mr Lange. After investigating ways of entering the building, police used crowbars to break down the barricades and the women were dragged and carried out to the police van. ■