On March 28, 2017, a group of activists successfully stopped a Boeing 767 that was on track to deport 60 people from taking off. They did this by tying themselves to the airplane in Stansted airport and refused to budge until the authorities dragged them into custody.
Chartered by the UK Home Office to deport 60 people to Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, the Boeing never took off, and the hours it took the authorities to remove them caused heavy delays in the international airport and a huge media coverage.
Once charged, the 15 members of the group argued that they were executing their right to protect fellow humans from harm — the deportees would probably have had to face prison sentences, torture and even death had they been returned to their war-stricken countries. And the fact that 11 of them have, since the episode, been granted asylum only goes to prove that the Stansted 15 were right in their protest.
They have been charged with "endangering an aerodome" which is not only a ridiculous claim but also false — no life was put in danger, no accident was provoked and nothing but inconvenience was caused. And inconvenience is not a synonym of endangerment.
We are asking that these peaceful citizens that protested to save others' lives be found not guilty. The Stansted 15 must be released!
