bomspotting in belgium- 450 arrested

on earth would u WANT to get arrested?
am not keen to go on actions where that is the, even a, goal of most participants.
maybe you have thought through reasons for wanting to play at prison, if so please share 'em, otherwise understand that despite the validity of the protest, not everyone will wanna go out to play with you next time...

getting arrested isn't all that bad. the threat of getting arrested is used by police to prevent people from protesting, so if you get comfortable with what being arrested means then you've removed one of their biggest weapons.

I've been on actions where the specific intention was to force the police into having to arrest to draw publicity towards the cause. I know it sounds a little unusual at first, but it doesn't mean that the people doing it are idiots, just that they've weighed up the consequences and come to the conclusion that getting arrested would actually be quite productive.

Obviously not everyone is up for getting arrested, which is why these actions are usually arranged in such a way that there are a number of non-arrestable roles. Some people choose to take the arrestable path, and all respect to them. It's not just 'playing prison', it's a serious tactic that it's hard for the authorities to counteract.

As one of the 5 persons who went to Bombspotting XL, I will attempt to explain the rationale behind the arrest scenario.

The weapons in Belgium are US nukes, held under the auspices of NATO. Belgium purports to be a nuclear-free country; I believe a recent survey showed that 78% of the population is opposed to the presence of weapons on their soil. Add to this recent ICJ rulings on the illegality of weapons, the widespread opposition to the War on Iraq (based initially at least on claims of WMD) and the percieved hypocrisy on the part of the Western nations (we can have weapons, but you cannot). There is also a meeting regarding the international Non-Proliferation Treaty in the coming months, and a discussion on WMD scheduled for next month in the Belgian Parliament.

In Belgium, any arrest deemed 'political' (ie direct-action) requires a jury trial, regardless of the act (however, criminal damage charges relating to a political purpose are one of the exemptions - so cutting a fence to enter a base is triable by a magistrate or similar). With such a high percentage of the population opposed to the presence of the weapons, the police are notoriously uneasy to allow a case to go to trial.

Of the 450ish (I believe it was closer to 500) arrests, most were 'administrative arrests' - ie processing then release with no charges. A limited number were 'judicial arrests' - those in which the arrested person will be charged.

With the Belgian media running the story as its number one or number two news item throughout the day, an action like this places massive pressure upon the government to alter their stance on WMD. We set out to get as many arrested as possible to put the maximum amount of pressure on the politicians to boot US nukes back across the Atlantic where they belong.

No charges were brought against any of the 5 British activists.

" the threat of getting arrested is used by police to prevent people from protesting"

Well no, it's the fear of going to have to go to court (particualry inconvinent if you happen to be arrested a long way from your home), all the hassle of a trial, and possibly facing time in jail at worst (which may be the case anyway if you are remanded in custody), as well as possibly having a criminal record (which can bar you from a lot of jobs nowadays).