Alliant Techsystems Found Guilty
of Violating
International Law
at Peoples' Trial.
by Sue Ann Martinson
In an open air Peoples' Trial on April 24, 2000, a local manufacturing firm, Alliant Techsystems, was found guilty of breaking International Law for the manufacture of weapons containing depleted uranium (DU), a nuclear waste and poison substance used in weapons of mass destruction.
Prosecuting attorney John LaForge of NukeWatch, based at Anathoth Community, in Luck Wisconsin, presented an ironclad case, citing Article VI of the US Constitution regarding violations of US Treaty law, the Hague and Geneva Conventions, and the Nuremberg Charter.
Testimony was offered by Susu Jeffrey, Donna Howard, Derek Burrows, Mary Vaughan and Kenneth Harland Masters.
Alliant Invited,
Refuses to Testify
In the face of such weighty evidence, Alliant refused to speak in their own defense when Jane McDonald, CSJ, crossed the street to ask them if they wished to take the megaphone - Jane risking arrest by the Hopkins Police, who had been called in to protect the villains from the likes of such fierce nonviolent people as the Alliant Techsystems weekly vigilers.
The jury, consisting of the vigilers, several of their children and grandchildren who were playing on the sidewalk and other interested parties found Alliant Techsystems guilty of the manufacture of weapons prohibited by International Law on all counts and in all degrees as charged.
DU, used in Iraq in 1991 and more recently in Yugoslavia, disburses in a 25-mile radius from wherever it is dropped. It also effects the soldiers who handle it, as evidenced in the Gulf War Syndrome. Noted scientist Roslie Bertell has recorded the cancerous effects of DU, on civilians, especially on women and children, long after its initial use. Alliant has supplied the DoD with over 17 million DU shells.
Presiding Judge William Barnett, who was gruff but fair, sentenced Alliant Techsystems to Peace Conversion with Job Security effective immediately!
The trial participants then adjourned for brunch before their scheduled trial in District Court that afternoon.
