GM Campaigners Denied Trial
The Big Issue, 29 November- 5 December, 1999
Hopes for a public trail of the dangers of GM crops were dashed last week after Monsanto won a High Court appeal.
Protesters from anti-GM campaign group Genetic Snowball, say they will appeal to the House of Lords and, if necessary, the European Court of Human Rights. They had been served with injunctions by the GM giant last year, after digging up some of the company's crops. In April the High court ruled that the women had the right to have their defence heard and ordered a full civil court trial. Monsanto appealed against the decision.
The new ruling, which had wide-ranging implications for the British Legal system, means that the protesters face a permanent injunction and imprisonment without trial if that injunction is broken.
Kathryn Tulip, one of the defendants said: "The court failed to address whether there was an imminent danger in the release of genetically modified crops to the environment. The judges also failed to take into account Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights, which guarantees the right to a fair trial. In effect they have maintained that our rights under civil law are not equivalent to those under criminal law".
A spokesperson for Monsanto said that "We are pleased at today's ruling. By pulling up GM crops, protesters are depriving us of the answers which companies like Monsanto are being asked to provide. Instead of taking the law into their own hands, we urge all these groups to express their concerns to us through dialogue."
While it has so far managed to stop the GM issues being debated at a trial, next month Monsanto starts a new PR strategy aimed at overcoming its critics. Facilitated by the Environment Council, the company is funding the "National Stakeholder Dialogue on GMOs." Through this Monsanto hopes to persuade development and environmental groups to back genetic engineering. The move has been dismissed as a "cynical PR exercise" by GenetiX Snowball.
Andy Rowell
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