World news

Spybase accused found not guilty

Excellent St Patrick's Day news - a not guilty verdict after two hours in the Waihopai spybase trial. Verdict came out at 5:45 when I was out. Story from Stuff is here.Ploughshares media release is here.

The trio, associated with the Ploughshares movement, readily admitted attacking the Waihopai spybase, but said they were driven by a belief that the satellite caused human suffering and their actions to shut it down, if only temporarily, were lawful. While I haven't seen a report of the summing up, it appeared the defence of a "claim of right" held. In other words, if the men believed they were acting lawfully, even if they were mistaken in that belief, this will lead to an acquittal.

If you think the Crown will appeal - not a chance there's a slim chance - but there's probably more chance of these guys popping the other dome at Waihopai spybase, which is unlikely as the point has been made..