"The fight against genetically modified foods is a fight that goes well beyond the simple world of farming. It is the future of humanity which is at stake" -- Jose Bove, 5th Sept. 2000
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ngin was mentioned in the Greenpeace court case this morning as an information source so...
*Agweb rattled: 'Greenpeace trial a "bully pulpit" '
*Massive demo against GMOs in Foix, France
*Four French activists on trial for GM crop destruction
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*Agweb rattled
They demanded prosecutions - now they don't seem quite so glad!
http://www.agweb.com/news/news.cfm?id=11492&service=27
10:48 AM - Sep 6, 2000 EDT
9/6 Greenpeace trial a "bully pulpit" for anti-GMO gospel
By Pro Farmer Editors
The ongoing trial of 28 Greenpeace activists in Norwich, England, has created a global pulpit for defendants to preach their belief systems to the world. These scenes are part of activist strategy -- use the court and media mechanisms to advance a cause.
We doubt if the court's conviction, if any, will result in any jail time. A similar case in France, reported on AgWeb yesterday, featured the defendants escorted to the courtroom accompanied by a crowd chanting and drumming for the defendants' release.
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Go to http://perso.wanadoo.fr/g.r./politique2b.htm
for a report in French of the massive demonstration against GMOs in Foix, France on 5th September 2000 and a very nice picture of Jose Bove
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9/5 Four French activists on trial for GM crop destruction
By Pro Farmer Editors
Agence France-Presse
http://www.agweb.com/news/news.cfm?id=11441&service=27
FOIX, France, Sept 5 -- Anti-globalisation campaigners gathered in the southern French town of Foix Tuesday for the trial of four environmental activists accused of destroying a plantation of genetically modified oil-seed rape last year.
The four, all members of the Green Party or the radical farmer's union Peasant Confederation (CP), were escorted to the court by a crowd of several hundred supporters to the sound of reverberating tom-toms.
They are accused of taking part in a protest in June 1999 at Gaudies in the Ariege department, in which around 300 people dug up around a hectare of rape, then set it on fire.
Among those present Tuesday was the star of the anti-junk food crusade, left-wing activist and small farmer Jose Bove, who was sentenced to a month in jail in July for ransacking a half-built MacDonald's restaurant.
"The fight against genetically modified foods is a fight that goes well beyond the simple world of farming. It is the future of humanity which is at stake," he told a press conference.