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MONSANTO IN "SLAPP" AT GM PROTESTS

19 Apr 1999

Friends of the Earth today slammed US biotech giant Monsanto for trying to use the law to deter public debate and protest over GM food.

Monsanto have already obtained an injunction against six named defendants. They are asking the High Court today to order the defendants to hand over a mailing list of recipients of a 'Handbook For Action". The Handbook is believed to have been sent to public figures including the Prime Minister, Prince Charles and even the Pope. The intention may be to target any individual or organisation who might be held to have“encouraged” direct action against GM crops, by for example publishing details of GM trial sites. In the United States such legal action is known as a “SLAPP” - Strategic Action Against Public Participation - and is a regular tactic of large companies facing environmental protests.

Friends of the Earth would consider such an order a gross intrusion of civil liberties and one which would bring our system of justice into disrepute. Ironically, Monsanto is a convicted “GM criminal”, having been fined £17,000 in February for a major breach of consent at a GM trial site in Lincolnshire.

Commenting, Tony Juniper, Policy and Campaigns Director of Friends of the Earth, said:

    "Monsanto have lost the public arguments over GM crops, and are now resorting to legal strong-arm tactics in response. I'm not the least bit surprised, given Monsanto's track record. They would be better advised to accept the failure of their marketing strategy and to accept the opinion of the British public who do not want GM food foisted upon them.”

Peter Roderick, Legal Adviser, Friends of the Earth added:

    "This is a SLAPP by a powerful corporation to intimidate and silence opponents. It has important implications for our system of justice and for our wider democracy.And we need also to remember that none of this would be possible if there weren't lawyers around prepared to take large sums of money to make it happen."

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