On April 30 at 6:00 a.m. in the morning morning three Christian activists from "Ploughshares Aotearoa" entered the Waihopai Spy Base in New Zealand and used sickles to deflate one of the two 30 metre radomes covering satellite interception dishes. The members then built a shrine and prayed for the victims of the war with no end - the so-called 'War on Terror' led by the U. S. Empire which also controls the New Zealand taxpayer funded Waihopai spy base.Samuel Peter Frederick Land, 24, of Hokianga, Adrian James Leason, 42, a teacher from Otaki and Peter Reginald Leo Murnane, 67, a Dominican friar from Auckland, were arrested by police who are considering charging the men with sabotage under the Crimes Act, an offence which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years' jail.
Damage to the radome is estimated at more than $1 million.
The three have been granted bail and released and have a June 9 pre-depositions hearing.
Supporters rallied outside the courtroom in Blenheim on May 5 and yelled "What do we want? Waihopai Closed''.
The action has brought worldwide attention to the fact that the U.S. spy satellite base in based in New Zealand and should be a positive boost to the long standing campaign against the base by
the Anti-Bases Campaign in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
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