Background info’ on U.S. B61s bombs in Europe, and nonviolent resistance (from John LaForge, Nukewatchinfo.org
“Why Not Pay Fines Imposed for Actions Against Nuclear Threats?” Dec. 16, 2022,
“Horrifying ‘Small’ talk about Nuclear Weapons,” Nov. 7, 2022,
https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/11/07/horrifying-small-talk-about-nuclear-weapons/
“No One Is Paying Attention to Your Protests”, July 15, 2022,
https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/07/15/no-one-is-paying-attention-to-your-protests/
“Reducing Tensions, Building Trust, De-Escalating,” April 29, 2022,
https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/04/29/reducing-tensions-building-trust-de-escalating/
“US and NATO Nuclear Lunacy Still Raving,” Dec. 24, 2021,
https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/12/24/us-and-nato-nuclear-lunacy-still-raving/
“Novel Appeal Filed with the European Court of Human Rights in Nuclear Weapons Protest Case,” Nov. 15, 2021, https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/11/15/novel-appeal-filed-with-the-european-court-of-human-rights-in-nuclear-weapons-protest-case/
“US Peace Activists in Germany Join Call for Withdrawal of US Nuclear Weapons,” July 16, 2021
“Germany: US Nuclear Weapons Shamed in Nationwide Debate,” Sep. 18, 2020,
https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/09/18/germany-us-nuclear-weapons-shamed-in-nationwide-debate/
“US Air Force Veteran Could Face ‘20 Days for 20 Bombs’ -- for Protest Against US H-Bombs Stationed in Germany,” August 7, 2020, https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/08/07/usaf-vet-could-face-20-days-for-20-bombs-for-protest-against-us-h-bombs-stationed-in-germany/
“Gerd Büntzly, Crime Fighter,” January 25, 2019,
https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/01/25/gerd-buntzly-crime-fighter/
“The Eye of a Tornado,” July 27, 2018,
https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/07/27/the-eye-of-a-tornado/
“18 Protesters Cut into German Air Base to Protest US Nuclear Weapons Deployment,” July 20, 2018, https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/07/20/103839/
“What Kind of Nuclear Attack Would be Legal?” Dec. 7, 2017,
https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/12/07/what-kind-of-nuclear-attack-would-be-legal-2/
“Nobel Peace Prize Goes to Abolitionists While US Conducts Nuclear War Games,” Oct. 27, 2017,
“Top German Politicians Want US Nuclear Weapons Out,” Sept. 9, 2017,
“Activists Challenge US Nukes in Germany; Occupy Bunker Deep Inside Nuclear Weapons Base,” July 21, 2017,
“Wild Turkey with H-Bombs: Failed Coup Brings Calls for Denuclearization,” CounterPunch, July 28, 2016
“Undeterred: Amid Terror Attacks in Europe, US H-bombs Still Deployed There,” CounterPunch, June 17, 2016
“Nuclear Weapons Proliferation: Made in the USA,” CounterPunch, May 27, 2015
“US Defies Conference on Nuclear Weapons Effects & Abolition,” Dec. 15, 2014
“German ‘Bomb Sharing’ Confronted with Defiant ‘Instruments of Disarmament’,” Aug. 9, 2013
___________
“Belgium debates phase-out of US nuclear weapons on its soil”, Euractive online, Jan. 17, 2020,
“Black and white at last: U.S. nuclear weapons lie in Belgium”, De Morgen, July 16, 2019, https://www.demorgen.be/nieuws/eindelijk-zwart-op-wit-er-liggen-amerikaanse-kernwapens-in-belgie~b051dc18/
“B61-Life-Extension-Program: Costs and Policy Considerations,” The Stimson Center, Aug 2016
Ö ä ü ö
RZ Cochem-Zell Seite 15, 10 January 2023
Protest action: US peace activist goes to prison
John LaForge had entered the Büchel airbase and does not want to pay the fine
by Dieter Junker
■ Hamburg/Büchel. On Tuesday, the US-American John LaForge will serve a 50-day prison sentence in Hamburg. He had been sentenced by the Koblenz Regional Court to a fine of 50 daily rates for two counts of trespassing and damage to property because he had repeatedly entered the Büchel air force base in 2018 as part of protest actions by the peace movement to demonstrate against the US nuclear weapons stored there. As he refused to pay the fine, he was given this substitute custodial sentence.
According to the peace movement, this is the first time that a US-American has gone to prison for a "go-in action" in Germany. The American peace activist had lodged a constitutional complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe against the verdict of the Koblenz District Court on December 9, 2021, as the criminal chambers had refused to hear expert witnesses who had proven the production of weapons of mass destruction and the proliferation of nuclear weapons to be a violation of international law. He also claims that the policy of nuclear deterrence constitutes a "criminal conspiracy", citing a justifiable state of emergency in his protest. A decision from Karlsruhe is still pending, but in recent years the Federal Constitutional Court has rejected all constitutional complaints against convictions for such protests by opponents of nuclear weapons.
66-year-old John LaForge from the US state of Minnesota is one of the leading representatives of the American anti-nuclear group "Nukewatch". This organization is also a member of the nationwide support group "Abolish nuclear weapons - start with us", which includes the campaign "Büchel is everywhere! Free of nuclear weapons now". This campaign has been organizing numerous protest actions in Büchel since 2016.
The US activist refuses to pay the fine "For me, paying the fine would be a symbolic admission of guilt. That's why I'm continuing my protest in prison. International law is above German law and should have been enforced. Now it is time for the Federal Constitutional Court to stop avoiding this conflict and finally take up the matter," explains John LaForge.
In recent years, anti-nuclear activists have repeatedly been fined by the courts for such go-in actions. Between 1998 and 2019, 13 activists went to prison because, like John LaForge, they refused to pay the fines.
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