CND campaigner Cllr Ray Davies has brought no one into disrepute
Wendy Lewis
Dear friend,
I am circulating details of Ray's case with the ombudsman to those who know
him and support his work.
I would be grateful if you could write personal letters testifying to Ray's
hard work within the community, e.g. the campaigns he led against the waste
transfer station in Bedwas, supporting the new dental practice and play
facilities for the village, protecting the countryside, and fighting unjust
planning decisions.
We want to demonstrate his wide ranging work in the community, which has not
been compromised by his campaigning through non violent direct action against
the evils of war and nuclear weapons.
Ray Davies, Vice Chair CND Cymru and a County Borough Councillor, has been
brought before the Ombudsman for allegedly bringing Caerphilly county borough
into disrepute.
In the run up to the Iraq War , Ray, along with Dr Margaret Jones and other
Trident Ploughshares members, broke into Aldermaston AWE . They hung the inner
perimeter fence with anti war placards exposing the illegal activities taking
place inside, i.e. the production of nuclear weapons.
The two also rowed up the Tamar River in Devonport, then broke into the
Dockyard where they attempted to prevent a nuclear submarine being fitted for
duties in the Gulf.
Ray 's third action was to take part in the blockade of Faslane nuclear
submarine base in Scotland.
For these offences Ray was fined £1700, including estimated damages to the
fences.
Ray refused to pay the fine, and was jailed for 14 days.
Ray received thousands of messages, from Britain, the US and Europe, including
some from AMs and MPs. He was also included in the roll of honour of "Broken
Rifle", an international peace magazine.
When he was elected as a County Borough Councillor, Ray had to sign a
declaration that he would not commit a criminal offence. His peace actions
generated massive publicity, and Ra y reported his activities to the
council's Monitoring officer, in an effort to be transparent in all he did.
Early in 2005 the unelected
Vice Chair of the council's Standards committee reported Ray to the Ombudsman,
and he was interviewed by the investigating officer last month.
Ray's defence is that he committed minor criminal and civil offences to try
and stop the British government from breaking international law, by going to
war without a UN resolution. He pointed out that subsequent events have
totally justified his actions. Thousands of British, US and Iraqis have
died, the country is in a state of civil war, a fuel crisis looms, and the
latest revelations of British troops abusing Iraqi civilians have sickened the
world.
No one in Caerphilly County Borough has made any complaint against Ray, not
even his political opponents. He topped t he poll at the last election. Ray
officially represents his council and Wales on the Welsh and British Nuclear
Free Forums.
Ray will face a disciplinary tribunal soon. It is imperative that as many
letters as possible be sent in his support.
Ray does not regret his actions. As he said in his court case, Yes, he is
sorry: sorry that none of us did enough to stop Bush and Blair embarking on
this illegal war.
Please send letters (and a copy to me) to:
Welsh Administration Ombudsman,
1 Ffordd y Hen Gae,
Pencoed, CF35 5 LJ
or email (and please send a copy to me at
wendy.lewis2@aladdinscave.net):
ask@ombudsman-wales.org.uk
Diolch yn fawr.
In peace,
Wendy
March 2006
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