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Democracy Threatened in Belgium
In a few days the verdict is due in one of the biggest challenges to democracy in Belgium in recent memory. The ‘Potato 11’, the people charged with the destruction of a GMO potato test field I posted about before, are facing disproportionately serious charges for what was little more than exercising their rights to free speech. In addition, during their trial, they were denied the right to present their own defence.
The following is from their own website:
Belgium – Judges deny anti-GMO activists a fair trial
Debate on GMOs refused by court
Dendermonde/Brussels, 15/01/2013 – In the presence of a huge crowd of supporters from a range of organisations, the court of Dendermonde (Belgium) has denied 11 anti-GMO activists the legal right to a defence in court. The court refused to allow defence witnesses to give their statements, and also refused to allow video footage to be shown. This is in violation of article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights which guarantees defendants the right to a fair trial. In response, the 11 field liberators and their lawyers decided unanimously to leave the court room.
In contrast to the vast majority of Belgian court cases, no independent investigating judge was appointed. This is despite the fact that the prosecution has politicised the trial by introducing the charge of forming a criminal gang. The summons to appear was issued directly by the public prosecutor. The investigation was therefore only conducted for the prosecution. In order to be a fair trial, the investigation should also be conducted for the defence. In order to ensure a fair trial, the defence lawyers wanted at least an investigation during the trial, including a number of defence witnesses and video clips. This was refused by the court. At this point the defendants and their lawyers left the courtroom, let the case continue in their absence, and took no further part in the trial.
The civil parties to the case – including ILVO (The Flemish Institute for Agricuture and Fisheries Research), VIB (Flemish Institute for Biotechnology), University of Gent, Hogeschool Gent – put forward their case, and demanded damages.
The judgement is expected on 12th February: in the event of a guilty verdict, the activists will appeal.
The court has refused to allow a debate about sustainable agriculture, the role of GMOs, and pubic research. The struggle for freedom of expression, justice for activists, and a sustainable agricultural system will continue.
See you again soon in Dendermonde.
This is what the executive director of Greenpeace International has to say about the case:
Kumi Naidoo – Support the Wetteren 11 from Michael Claerbout on Vimeo.
Quick Update on EU Seed Legislation (Update 6 Feb)
There’s not much news, but I did get a reply to my letter to the EU commission that I mentioned here.
The long and short is that the final draft is expected the end of 1st quarter 2013, which says to me they’ll miss the 2013 planting season. This means any changes aren’t likely to be felt until 2014 at the earliest. It’s also always possible they won’t meet their self imposed deadline, and might still be escalated within the Commission.
The reply I got from the commission did mention many major points in my letter, which suggests they are thinking about them. I talked with some others who sent similar letters as mine, and it seems we all got word for word identical replies. Probably all NGOs who wrote letters got the same reply.
What I hear via-via is that while DG SANCO is proposing the new regulation, DG AGRI opposed their final draft. This means the legislation needs to go to the College of Commissioners to resolve the differences. DG AGRI seems to be mostly on ‘our’ side, but it remains very unclear what any sort of compromise will look like.
It might be possible to follow some of this here or here.
If you notice something on the Commission website, or anywhere else, please let me know!
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Further update 6 February:
I have now heard DG ENVI has also objected to the draft regulation.
DG ENVI in particular is trying to exclude open pollinated seeds, for individuals and farmers’ networks, from the scope of the regulation. DG AGRI is opposing the proposed regulation on a number of grounds, in particular to exclude networks of farmers and seed savers as well as making it easier to register varieties. In general, it sounds like DG AGRI is working on a number of the points in my letter linked to above.
DG SANCO and DG AGRI in particular are reported to be strongly at odds, and the matter is expected to be escalated to the Commissioners’ level, causing possible further delays.
The ESA (Seed Industry) is reported to be intensively lobbying for the draft regulation to be passed unchanged.
If you hear anything else, please let me know!
Good Quinoa Summary
Jeremy at the Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog wrote a good summary on all of the important arguments made in the press and Internet media on Quinoa.
Black Salsify
You read it here first!
I think Black Salsify will be the next ‘powerfood’ in the US. Already, the number of people searching for information about it and ending up on this blog is way up.
It’s best prepared peeled, cut into bit sized pieces and steamed in a small amount of water for a few minutes until tender. You can test it with a fork. Some people eat it unpeeled, and in any case it’s not necessary to remove all the peel, 70-80% is good enough. To prevent browning put the cut pieces in acidulated water (water with a little lemon juice or vinegar added), until ready to cook.
Black Salsify has a sap like substance that’s difficult to remove from your hands. To make cleanup easier afterwords, rub a little cooking oil on your hands before you begin.
Serve black salsify with a pat of butter on top, and salt and pepper to taste. It’s nice on a bed of quinoa, which is how we often have it!
The taste is often compared to oysters, and it’s sometimes called the oyster plant.
