14-11-2023 In september 2022 voerden vredesactivisten van World Without War actie tegen de Koreaanse wapenbeurs DX Korea. Ze klommen op tanks, speelden gitaar en viool, zongen en rolden een spandoek uit. Ze kregen hiervoor destijds een boete van omgerekend 15.000 dollar. Maar deze maand heeft de Koreaanse rechter ze vrijgesproken. Juist vanwege het geweldloze karakter van hun demonstratie.

Disrupting Arms Fair: Not guilty
World Without War welcomes the court verdict of not guilty on DX 8

On November 8, 2023, Uijeongbu District Court Goyang Branch acquitted all eight peace activists charged with disrupting the arms fair, DX KOREA 2022.

On September 22, 2022, peace activists Kim Eunmi, Kim Han Minyeong, Park Jaeyoon, Yeo Jeewoo, Lee Yongsuk, Joo Youngho, Ji Hyeseong, and Choi Jungmin climbed on top of armored vehicles, played the violin and the guitar, chanted slogans holding a banner. The action was taken to criticize the injustice of DX KOREA 2022, where weapons are displayed and traded.

Uijeongbu District Court Goyang Branch stated, "the defendants did not make threatening remarks or use physical force against the event officials or visitors. It is difficult to conclude that the defendants conspired to use force sufficient to suppress the victims' free will, and there is no evidence to support this." The court found that the DX KOREA organizers had taken unjustified and excessive measures to accuse the peace activists of their nonviolent actions.

The arms trade fuels conflicts and human rights violations around the world. Wars don't just happen; they start from when the weapons are made and traded. South Korea, the ninth-largest arms exporter and host of the largest arms fair in East Asia, bears a heavy responsibility for conflicts and human rights violations around the world. Showing how the arms trade is complicit in sustaining and fueling wars and killing countless people is the fundamental obligation that we must bear as citizens.

We welcome the Uijeongbu District Court Goyang Branch's verdict of not guilty, which recognizes the legitimacy of the activists' peaceful expression against the unjust arms fair. The real criminals are the arms companies that make and sell weapons of war, profiting from countless deaths.

Bron: World Without War