Swedish Peace Activists Pelle Strindlund, Annika Spalde and Martin Smedjeback

Three Swedish peace activists were arrested inside Saab's plane hangar in Linköping in the early morning of March 22nd. Martin Smedjeback, Annika Spalde and Pelle Strindlund were on their way to disarm Swedish made Jas 39 Gripen fighter jets, intended for export to India, Thailand and South Africa.

The peace activists entered Saab’s industry area in Linköping by cutting holes in the barbed wire fence surrounding the area. Once inside they held a minutes silence dedicated to the twenty children that die every minute because of poverty, in a world that invests more money in weapons than in fighting poverty.

The activists hung pictures of leading conscience workers from across the globe on the Saab fence before going inside. One depicted Indian activist Elsey Jacob, another the former South African archbishop Desmond Tutu. Tutu is working to make his government cancel their Jas 39 Gripen contract. Along with these photos, the activists brought three pictures inside the Saab site, see below.

In addition to this, the activists had an open letter to the employees at Saab. In the letter they explained that they of course have nothing personally against the workers at the factory, and that it's the war politics of Sweden they intend to disrupt.

At the moment the three activists are in police custody in Norrköping until the trial. You can send greetings to the activists by emailing us at  info@ofog.org and we will forward your message. You can also send messages to the activists by post using the following adress:

Martin Smedjeback / Annika Spalde / Pelle Strindlund Häktet Norrköping Stockholmsv. 4 Box 3057 60003 Norrköping Sweden

Background:

In 1999 Saab managed to sell 28 Jas 39 Gripen to South Africa; a deal worth 17 billion Swedish crowns. South African social movements critizise this affair of being bribed. Furthermore, many critics claim that this weapon affair is taking resources from fighting poverty and HIV in South Africa.

In 2010 the Indian air force will order 126 fighter jets. Saab is vying for the contract, with full support from the Swedish government. If Saab gets the contract, Swedish jets could be loaded with weapons of mass destruction, as part of the Indian nuclear weapon programme.

And in the fall of 2007, the Thai government ordered six Jas fighters and Erieye, a Saab radar surveillance system. The deal is worth some 3,8 billion Swedish crowns ($460 Million USD). Thailand is currently an authoritarian state with ongoing civil unrest and internal conflict.

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