Peace Activists VS The Weapons Conference

By Emma Cullen

PledgeMe.Project

Community,

NZ $4,236 pledged


61 people pledged


Closed


NZ $4,000 minimum target


100 100% Complete

This campaign was successful and closed on 02/01/2017 at 5:00 PM.

Make a Pledge

About

Peace Activists VS The Weapons Conference

Project 2016-11-27 16:37:04 +1300

How can you help?

Thanks to everyone who has pledged so far! We are blown away by your support. Any extra funds we raise above $4000 will go towards the legal costs so please continue to share and donate.

Share this campaign, make a pledge on this page or if you prefer, donate directly to the PAW legal bank account.

PAW Legal
38-9014-0516981-03

We also have a page with a few other ways you can help. https://peaceactionwellington.wordpress.com/how-you-can-help/

What Happened?

In November 2015 hundreds of people protested against the Weapons Conference at a blockade organised by Peace Action Wellington. It was a peaceful, fun two days through which we aimed to stop and disrupt arms dealers from profiting from war. The police arrested 27 people over the two days - some in the non-violent blockade on public property (outside the Wellington City Council owned TSB Arena), some for asking why their friends were being arrested and others for just being there!

The police said we would just be in the cells for a few hours and would be released without charge. However, they did charge us and 16 of us are still being taken to court.

These court proceedings have been dragged out for over a year but the 16 of us, who are facing minor charges of obstruction and trespass, will now be taken to trial in February 2017. This will be a week long trial, held by the Crown rather than police prosecutor and with more than 30 witnesses being called by the police. All for standing up against the weapons trade.

protest2

Who Are We?

We are students, teachers, lawyers, filmmakers, office workers, labourers, engineers, mums and dads.
We choose to stand up for something we believe in and exercise our right to protest. We believe in community action as a way to create positive change in our communities. Being dragged through a lengthy court case as a result has been a long, exhausting, difficult and expensive struggle.

protest3

What will the money be used for?

The funds raised will go towards legal costs which include: a contribution for our lawyers - who recieve no legal aid funding for this work - and for costs incurred during court (eg. travel, food, and a hardship fund given the defendants will not be able work that week).

More background on the case can be found here: https://peaceactionwellington.wordpress.com/not-guilty-court-updates/

And a round up of the two day of protests can be found here: https://peaceactionwellington.wordpress.com/2015/11/19/blockade-timeline/

protest1

Where to now?

This court case has not slowed down the movement against the arms trade or desire for peace through justice here in Aotearoa. This year the Weapons Conference was moved to Auckland to coincide with the NZ Navy events that included a flotilla of warships. Auckland Peace Action organised a Week of Peace over 13-20 November 2016 in response with one event being a blockade of the Weapons Conference. The same tactics of non violent direct action were implemented at the protests in Auckland that had been used in Wellington the year before. The police were violent and intimidating in both cities but only felt the need to mass arrest people in Wellington. The Week of Peace was a huge success and many strong connections have been made. You can read about it here https://aucklandpeaceaction.wordpress.com/2016/11/20/peace-through-justice/

You can keep up to date with the court case and other happenings on Peace Action Wellington's website, Facebook or Twitter.

Thank you for your support. Please share our Pledge Me campaign far and wide. 

 

Comments

Updates 5

Court costs win so where to next?

14/04/2017 at 9:05 AM

Kia ora

You might have caught the news a while back that we won our case against police for costs. We have been awarded a small amount of money back (well they said they would give it to us but it hasn't arrived yet!). You can read all the details here:

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/327380/protesters-win-case-against-police

Some of this money has been used to reimburse further costs to activists from the court proceedings. We have decided to spend any leftover money on future campaigns against the Weapons Expo. It seems likely that it's coming back to Wellington this year so we have been working on the campaign already.

If you would like to be part of this you can get in contact at [email protected]

Otherwise you can keep track of what we are up to via

our website: peacewellington.org

our facebook: www.facebook.com/peaceactionwellington

our twitter: https://twitter.com/PeaceActionWGTN

Handing in the petition calling for an end to the Weapons Conference.

[In February handing in a petition at parliament calling for an end to the Weapons Conference]

Thanks once more for your support and solidarity, it means a lot.

Peace Action Wellington

 

 

 

Court starts tomorrow!

12/02/2017 at 11:06 AM

We have spent the last week organising and sending your rewards so hopefully you will all recieve them in the next week if you don't have them already :)

 

Court starts tomorrow! We will be doing daily updates on our website, facebook and twitter.

https://peaceactionwellington.wordpress.com/not-guilty-court-updates/

https://www.facebook.com/peaceactionwellington/

https://twitter.com/PeaceActionWGTN

 

If you are in Wellington there are a bunch of events happening that you can support.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1288828194517719/

Kick off Court
Monday 13th Feb, 9am, Wellington District Court
Let's kick off proceedings in style with a rally outside the entrance to Wellington District Court. Bring an anti-war or 'Not Guilty' sign!

Stop the Weapons Conference: petition delivery
Tuesday 14th Feb, 6pm, Parliament
Join us to deliver a petition calling for an end to the Weapons Conference. Signatures were gathered by both PAW & our sister organisation Auckland Peace Action & we'll be handing this in to the government to tell them that arms dealers and weapons deals are not welcome in Aotearoa.

Vigil for Reza Barati - Refugees Welcome
Friday 17th Feb, 8am, Australian High Commission
https://www.facebook.com/events/397716520581494/
Join Doing Our Bit & PAW for a vigil and sit-in outside the Australian High Commission. Reza Berati was escaping persecution from Iran. He was on a boat headed for Australia. Instead of seeing if he was really seeking protection, the Australian government locked him up on Manus Island. He was murdered there on February 17, 2014 because the Australian government would not protect his life. Come and show your solidarity and disgust at the Australian government's treatment of refugees fleeing war.

Solidarity Shared Kai
ALL WEEK: Monday 13th - Friday 17th, c. 1-2pm, Wellington District Court
Come and share kai at lunchtime if you're in the city. Lunchtimes will be dictated by the court but are generally around 1-2pm. Feel free to bring along some snacks to share if you can (Vegan treats especially appreciated!).

Come to Court
ALL WEEK: Monday 13th - Friday 17th, c. 10am - 5pm
Feel free to come along to the court itself! It may be boring at times but your presence will be much appreciated by the arrestees. Let's pack out the courtroom! Please don't actively protest during the court proceedings as this could affect the judge's decisions & drag all this shit out even longer. If you have volunteered and been confirmed as a witness, court rules say that you cannot see any other court proceedings before your testimony is heard.

If you would like to be on the Peace Action mailing list, where we send out updates about upcoming events you can sign up here

And if you can't make it to any of the events, your messages of support are most welcome. Thanks!

Thank you and Rewards

13/01/2017 at 4:39 PM

Beach

Thanks again to everyone who pledged and shared this campaign. We'll start sending out your rewards and updating you on the upcoming court case at the start of February. Hope you're all enjoying the summer.

Love and rage from the arestees

Thank you! We hit our target already but let's not stop there.

15/12/2016 at 5:53 PM

Wow! We are so heartened by your support. Reaching our $4000 target in a week is more than just your financial backing, it's also a morale boost that our wider community believes in us. So thank you to everyone who pledged and shared the campaign so far. We set $4000 as our target because we thought that was an achievable amount, really though we need more money than this to cover all the legal costs. So if you can, keep sharing this far and wide!

In other equally wonderful news, one of the activists had their charge dropped by the police on Monday.

1 down 15 to go!

Pics of some of the Smashing Rewards you can get!

06/12/2016 at 10:59 PM

Maybe this makes choosing a reward easier...?

The 'Stop the Weapons Conference' Zine = $13+

Zine

Peoples History Posters = $15+

PH1 PH2 PH3 PH4 PH5 PH6 PH7 PH8 PH9

Super Sincere Alternative Cards = $18+

Productivity card Fall in Love card Dance card Many Happy Returns card Props card Getting Out Card

Peace Action Ale or Action for Peace Ale = $20+

Ale

Herbal Tea Blend for PMS/Anxiety with Handmade Zine = $25

Tea and Zine Tea

Raging Political Slogan Tshirt = $30+

Tshirts

'Go Home' Screen Printed Poster = $50+

Go Home

Randall the Evil Arms Dealer Print = $88+

Randall

 

 

    Pledgers 61

    Tom Anderson
    26/12/2016 at 1:18pm
    Anonymous pledger
    23/12/2016 at 11:39am
    Anonymous pledger
    20/12/2016 at 7:18pm
    Anonymous pledger
    16/12/2016 at 3:36pm
    Abi King-Jones
    16/12/2016 at 9:06am

    "Kia kaha friends! Thank you for your dedication to peace. "

    Anonymous pledger
    14/12/2016 at 1:08pm

    "Solidarity from Australia - will be following the court proceedings and hoping for the best. Thank you for standing up for what is right!"

    carrie dobbs
    14/12/2016 at 8:13am
    Anonymous pledger
    13/12/2016 at 1:48pm
    Stephen Jarvis
    12/12/2016 at 11:18am
    alison
    10/12/2016 at 4:41pm

    "do you have an internet banking option?"

    Dave O'Brien
    10/12/2016 at 1:34pm
    Jenny Hodgen
    10/12/2016 at 7:22am
    SIan
    09/12/2016 at 10:59pm
    Piet Rad
    09/12/2016 at 5:21pm

    "Forget the reward = happy to help out."

    Anonymous pledger
    09/12/2016 at 5:10pm
    Jen Wilson
    09/12/2016 at 4:05pm

    "Bless you all! "

    Linda Hill
    09/12/2016 at 1:53pm
    Anonymous pledger
    09/12/2016 at 11:29am

    "You have my full support. I do not agree how this government treats non violent protesters. I believe in your cause. "

    Anonymous pledger
    09/12/2016 at 10:50am
    JANFRIE WAKIM
    09/12/2016 at 10:09am

    "Thank you for taking action. I hope your convictions are quashed as you deserve."

    Anonymous pledger
    09/12/2016 at 10:00am
    Anonymous pledger
    09/12/2016 at 9:28am
    Kevin Hackwell
    09/12/2016 at 8:58am

    "Best wishes for the court case. I'm sure it will go well."

    Anonymous pledger
    09/12/2016 at 5:57am
    Bill Rosenberg
    08/12/2016 at 10:23pm
    Anonymous pledger
    08/12/2016 at 9:25pm
    Heather McNaughtan
    08/12/2016 at 8:14pm
    Robin Gwynn
    08/12/2016 at 8:04pm
    Steffan Browning
    08/12/2016 at 7:30pm
    Llewelyn Summers
    08/12/2016 at 7:24pm

    Followers

    Followers of Peace Activists VS The Weapons Conference

    Peace Activists VS The Weapons Conference

    Project 2016-11-27 16:37:04 +1300

    How can you help?

    Thanks to everyone who has pledged so far! We are blown away by your support. Any extra funds we raise above $4000 will go towards the legal costs so please continue to share and donate.

    Share this campaign, make a pledge on this page or if you prefer, donate directly to the PAW legal bank account.

    PAW Legal
    38-9014-0516981-03

    We also have a page with a few other ways you can help. https://peaceactionwellington.wordpress.com/how-you-can-help/

    What Happened?

    In November 2015 hundreds of people protested against the Weapons Conference at a blockade organised by Peace Action Wellington. It was a peaceful, fun two days through which we aimed to stop and disrupt arms dealers from profiting from war. The police arrested 27 people over the two days - some in the non-violent blockade on public property (outside the Wellington City Council owned TSB Arena), some for asking why their friends were being arrested and others for just being there!

    The police said we would just be in the cells for a few hours and would be released without charge. However, they did charge us and 16 of us are still being taken to court.

    These court proceedings have been dragged out for over a year but the 16 of us, who are facing minor charges of obstruction and trespass, will now be taken to trial in February 2017. This will be a week long trial, held by the Crown rather than police prosecutor and with more than 30 witnesses being called by the police. All for standing up against the weapons trade.

    protest2

    Who Are We?

    We are students, teachers, lawyers, filmmakers, office workers, labourers, engineers, mums and dads.
    We choose to stand up for something we believe in and exercise our right to protest. We believe in community action as a way to create positive change in our communities. Being dragged through a lengthy court case as a result has been a long, exhausting, difficult and expensive struggle.

    protest3

    What will the money be used for?

    The funds raised will go towards legal costs which include: a contribution for our lawyers - who recieve no legal aid funding for this work - and for costs incurred during court (eg. travel, food, and a hardship fund given the defendants will not be able work that week).

    More background on the case can be found here: https://peaceactionwellington.wordpress.com/not-guilty-court-updates/

    And a round up of the two day of protests can be found here: https://peaceactionwellington.wordpress.com/2015/11/19/blockade-timeline/

    protest1

    Where to now?

    This court case has not slowed down the movement against the arms trade or desire for peace through justice here in Aotearoa. This year the Weapons Conference was moved to Auckland to coincide with the NZ Navy events that included a flotilla of warships. Auckland Peace Action organised a Week of Peace over 13-20 November 2016 in response with one event being a blockade of the Weapons Conference. The same tactics of non violent direct action were implemented at the protests in Auckland that had been used in Wellington the year before. The police were violent and intimidating in both cities but only felt the need to mass arrest people in Wellington. The Week of Peace was a huge success and many strong connections have been made. You can read about it here https://aucklandpeaceaction.wordpress.com/2016/11/20/peace-through-justice/

    You can keep up to date with the court case and other happenings on Peace Action Wellington's website, Facebook or Twitter.

    Thank you for your support. Please share our Pledge Me campaign far and wide. 

     

    Comments

    Court costs win so where to next?

    14/04/2017 at 9:05 AM

    Kia ora

    You might have caught the news a while back that we won our case against police for costs. We have been awarded a small amount of money back (well they said they would give it to us but it hasn't arrived yet!). You can read all the details here:

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/327380/protesters-win-case-against-police

    Some of this money has been used to reimburse further costs to activists from the court proceedings. We have decided to spend any leftover money on future campaigns against the Weapons Expo. It seems likely that it's coming back to Wellington this year so we have been working on the campaign already.

    If you would like to be part of this you can get in contact at [email protected]

    Otherwise you can keep track of what we are up to via

    our website: peacewellington.org

    our facebook: www.facebook.com/peaceactionwellington

    our twitter: https://twitter.com/PeaceActionWGTN

    Handing in the petition calling for an end to the Weapons Conference.

    [In February handing in a petition at parliament calling for an end to the Weapons Conference]

    Thanks once more for your support and solidarity, it means a lot.

    Peace Action Wellington

     

     

     

    Court starts tomorrow!

    12/02/2017 at 11:06 AM

    We have spent the last week organising and sending your rewards so hopefully you will all recieve them in the next week if you don't have them already :)

     

    Court starts tomorrow! We will be doing daily updates on our website, facebook and twitter.

    https://peaceactionwellington.wordpress.com/not-guilty-court-updates/

    https://www.facebook.com/peaceactionwellington/

    https://twitter.com/PeaceActionWGTN

     

    If you are in Wellington there are a bunch of events happening that you can support.

    https://www.facebook.com/events/1288828194517719/

    Kick off Court
    Monday 13th Feb, 9am, Wellington District Court
    Let's kick off proceedings in style with a rally outside the entrance to Wellington District Court. Bring an anti-war or 'Not Guilty' sign!

    Stop the Weapons Conference: petition delivery
    Tuesday 14th Feb, 6pm, Parliament
    Join us to deliver a petition calling for an end to the Weapons Conference. Signatures were gathered by both PAW & our sister organisation Auckland Peace Action & we'll be handing this in to the government to tell them that arms dealers and weapons deals are not welcome in Aotearoa.

    Vigil for Reza Barati - Refugees Welcome
    Friday 17th Feb, 8am, Australian High Commission
    https://www.facebook.com/events/397716520581494/
    Join Doing Our Bit & PAW for a vigil and sit-in outside the Australian High Commission. Reza Berati was escaping persecution from Iran. He was on a boat headed for Australia. Instead of seeing if he was really seeking protection, the Australian government locked him up on Manus Island. He was murdered there on February 17, 2014 because the Australian government would not protect his life. Come and show your solidarity and disgust at the Australian government's treatment of refugees fleeing war.

    Solidarity Shared Kai
    ALL WEEK: Monday 13th - Friday 17th, c. 1-2pm, Wellington District Court
    Come and share kai at lunchtime if you're in the city. Lunchtimes will be dictated by the court but are generally around 1-2pm. Feel free to bring along some snacks to share if you can (Vegan treats especially appreciated!).

    Come to Court
    ALL WEEK: Monday 13th - Friday 17th, c. 10am - 5pm
    Feel free to come along to the court itself! It may be boring at times but your presence will be much appreciated by the arrestees. Let's pack out the courtroom! Please don't actively protest during the court proceedings as this could affect the judge's decisions & drag all this shit out even longer. If you have volunteered and been confirmed as a witness, court rules say that you cannot see any other court proceedings before your testimony is heard.

    If you would like to be on the Peace Action mailing list, where we send out updates about upcoming events you can sign up here

    And if you can't make it to any of the events, your messages of support are most welcome. Thanks!

    Thank you and Rewards

    13/01/2017 at 4:39 PM

    Beach

    Thanks again to everyone who pledged and shared this campaign. We'll start sending out your rewards and updating you on the upcoming court case at the start of February. Hope you're all enjoying the summer.

    Love and rage from the arestees

    Thank you! We hit our target already but let's not stop there.

    15/12/2016 at 5:53 PM

    Wow! We are so heartened by your support. Reaching our $4000 target in a week is more than just your financial backing, it's also a morale boost that our wider community believes in us. So thank you to everyone who pledged and shared the campaign so far. We set $4000 as our target because we thought that was an achievable amount, really though we need more money than this to cover all the legal costs. So if you can, keep sharing this far and wide!

    In other equally wonderful news, one of the activists had their charge dropped by the police on Monday.

    1 down 15 to go!

    Pics of some of the Smashing Rewards you can get!

    06/12/2016 at 10:59 PM

    Maybe this makes choosing a reward easier...?

    The 'Stop the Weapons Conference' Zine = $13+

    Zine

    Peoples History Posters = $15+

    PH1 PH2 PH3 PH4 PH5 PH6 PH7 PH8 PH9

    Super Sincere Alternative Cards = $18+

    Productivity card Fall in Love card Dance card Many Happy Returns card Props card Getting Out Card

    Peace Action Ale or Action for Peace Ale = $20+

    Ale

    Herbal Tea Blend for PMS/Anxiety with Handmade Zine = $25

    Tea and Zine Tea

    Raging Political Slogan Tshirt = $30+

    Tshirts

    'Go Home' Screen Printed Poster = $50+

    Go Home

    Randall the Evil Arms Dealer Print = $88+

    Randall

     

     

      Tom Anderson
      26/12/2016 at 1:18pm
      Anonymous pledger
      23/12/2016 at 11:39am
      Anonymous pledger
      20/12/2016 at 7:18pm
      Anonymous pledger
      16/12/2016 at 3:36pm
      Abi King-Jones
      16/12/2016 at 9:06am

      "Kia kaha friends! Thank you for your dedication to peace. "

      Anonymous pledger
      14/12/2016 at 1:08pm

      "Solidarity from Australia - will be following the court proceedings and hoping for the best. Thank you for standing up for what is right!"

      carrie dobbs
      14/12/2016 at 8:13am
      Anonymous pledger
      13/12/2016 at 1:48pm
      Stephen Jarvis
      12/12/2016 at 11:18am
      alison
      10/12/2016 at 4:41pm

      "do you have an internet banking option?"

      Dave O'Brien
      10/12/2016 at 1:34pm
      Jenny Hodgen
      10/12/2016 at 7:22am
      SIan
      09/12/2016 at 10:59pm
      Piet Rad
      09/12/2016 at 5:21pm

      "Forget the reward = happy to help out."

      Anonymous pledger
      09/12/2016 at 5:10pm
      Jen Wilson
      09/12/2016 at 4:05pm

      "Bless you all! "

      Linda Hill
      09/12/2016 at 1:53pm
      Anonymous pledger
      09/12/2016 at 11:29am

      "You have my full support. I do not agree how this government treats non violent protesters. I believe in your cause. "

      Anonymous pledger
      09/12/2016 at 10:50am
      JANFRIE WAKIM
      09/12/2016 at 10:09am

      "Thank you for taking action. I hope your convictions are quashed as you deserve."

      Anonymous pledger
      09/12/2016 at 10:00am
      Anonymous pledger
      09/12/2016 at 9:28am
      Kevin Hackwell
      09/12/2016 at 8:58am

      "Best wishes for the court case. I'm sure it will go well."

      Anonymous pledger
      09/12/2016 at 5:57am
      Bill Rosenberg
      08/12/2016 at 10:23pm
      Anonymous pledger
      08/12/2016 at 9:25pm
      Heather McNaughtan
      08/12/2016 at 8:14pm
      Robin Gwynn
      08/12/2016 at 8:04pm
      Steffan Browning
      08/12/2016 at 7:30pm
      Llewelyn Summers
      08/12/2016 at 7:24pm

      Followers of Peace Activists VS The Weapons Conference

      This campaign was successful and got its funding on 02/01/2017 at 5:00 PM.