Two charged with nuke sub break-in
17nov02
POLICE have charged two anti-nuclear activists with criminal damage after
they allegedly broke into a naval base and boarded a nuclear submarine, the
British defence ministry and Navy have said.
Petter Joelson from Sweden and Elisa Silvennoinen from Finland have been
remanded in custody to appear before magistrates in Plymouth, south
England, on Monday, a defence ministry spokeswoman said.
"They got onto the outer casing of the submarine and broke a fire alarm
box," a royal navy spokeswoman said earlier of the pair, who were found
inside the Devonport base in Plymouth at about 11.30pm on Friday (1030
Saturday AEDT).
They were caught at dock nine, where the Trident submarine HMS Vanguard was
undergoing a re-fit.
The break-in caused minor damage to a perimeter fence and a fire alarm.
A statement released by Trident Ploughshares - a group that campaigns to
disarm British Trident nuclear weapons - said its activists had entered the
naval base, showing defence ministry security to be "woefully inadequate".
"It beggars belief that, during a time when the prime minister himself has
warned the country to be on high alert over possible terrorist attack, it
has been possible for people to break into the Trident submarine complex
with little difficulty," said the opposition Liberal Democrat defence
spokesman, Colin Breed.
HMS Vanguard is the first of four Vanguard-class submarines to undergo a
two-year re-fit.
It joined six other nuclear-powered submarines at the Plymouth base in
February.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,5504339%255E1702,00.html
Half built subs have been found in Columbia and Thailand and Al Qaida is
reputed to have the capacity.The ghost of Captain Nemo seems to be looking
on with a illuminated smile on his dial.Mitsubishi powered mini-sub's
attacked in Sydney harbour in WW2.
