GANDALF trial
From Free net encyclopedia
Template:NPOV Template:Animal liberation movement GANDALF was an acronym (Green Anarchist aND ALF) for the 1997 UK trial of the editors of Green Anarchist magazine, as well as two prominent British supporters of the Animal Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front Supporters Group.
Overview and background
Starting in 1995, the Hampshire police under "Operation Washington" began a series of at least 56 raids, which eventually resulted in the August to November 1997 Portsmouth trial of Green Anarchist editors Steven Booth, Saxon Wood, Noel Molland, and Paul Rogers, as well as the ALF UK press officer Robin Webb and Animal Liberation Front Supporters Group newsletter editor Simon Russell.
The defendants organised the GANDALF defence campaign. Three of the editors of Green Anarchist — Molland, Saxon Wood and Booth — were jailed for conspiracy to incite. All three were released on appeal. The presiding judge at the original trial was Justice David Selwood.
Since the collapse of the state's case against the GA 'editors', GA have discovered that despite their manipulation of the Gandalf Defendants Campaign, they had less support than before the trial. E.g. SchNEWS who were prepared to testify for them in court have now removed all reference to them from their website and described them as "rightwing idiots". Counter Information have also issued a statement particularly attacking Steve Booth's offensive article 'The Irrationalists'. Here Booth argued in favour of attacks on the public such as the Oklahoma bombing and the AUM sarin attack where a deadly poison was spread through the Tokyo public transport system. Booth has since renounced the views he expressed in The Irrationalists. Generally Molland and Wood were not regarded as holding the more controversial views at one time espoused by Booth and Rogers. Rogers published a pamphlet Grassy Noel with an unsubstantiated attack on Molland for being a police informer.