Protesters in note of disapproval

Faslane is a focus for protests against Trident missiles

Anti-nuclear campaigners have staged an informal concert at the Court of Session in Edinburgh to protest against repeated legal rulings against them.

The 16 Trident Ploughshares campaigners sang a collection of anti-war songs specially written for the event.

They invited judges to listen to them in Parliament Hall but none did.

Earlier this year, five judges at the appeal court refused to quash breach of the peace convictions against Ploughshares campaigners.

Impromptu concert

Lawyers, court clerks and members of the public clapped loudly following the 14 anti-war songs.

But security guards were less impressed and complained at having been taken by surprise when the activists suddenly gathered together inside the hall and started singing at 1000 BST.

At the end the campaigners filed outside and delivered an impromptu concert in Parliament Square, to the amusement of passing tourists.

Veteran campaigner Jane Tallents, originally from Sheffield, said the action was part of an ongoing campaign against Britain's Trident nuclear weapons system, which is based at the Faslane naval base on the Clyde.

She said the aim was to highlight the need for an "just and wise" judiciary to condemn the hoarding of massive nuclear weapons by the British Government

The protesters believe that there is no greater crime than to threaten mass destruction whilst leaving all the underlying causes of conflict unresolved Jane Tallents

And she said the action was in protest over the treatment of anti-nuclear activists who are regularly prosecuted in the courts.

She said: "Every time this is put to the judges they just duck and we were trying to find a creative and peaceful way to express our frustration.

"Let us remember that the essence of the law is to protect the innocent from wrong-doing.

"The protesters believe that there is no greater crime than to threaten mass destruction whilst leaving all the underlying causes of conflict unresolved."

In May five top judges at the Appeal Court of the High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh refused to quash breach of the peace convictions for three protesters, including Ms Tallents, who now lives in Helensburgh.

The activists were found guilty of the public order offence during protests at the Scottish Parliament and the Faslane base between 1999 and 2002 and the judges ruled that their convictions should be upheld.