Six arrested at protest outside defence event
SIX people were arrested at a protest outside a defence industry event at Cardiff Motorpoint Arena yesterday.
Campaign groups Cardiff Stop the Arms Fair, Welsh Kurdish Activists and members of Cardiff Animal Rights were among those protesting against the Defence Procurement, Research, Technology and Exportability (DPRTE) event.
It is the fourth time the defence event has been held in Cardiff after it moved from Bristol following similar complaints.
A spokeswoman for South Wales Police said yesterday: “Officers are in attendance outside the Motorpoint Arena Cardiff to facilitate peaceful protest and minimise disruption to the city centre. Six people have been arrested for aggravated trespass after an entrance to the arena was blocked preventing staff from attending their normal place of work.”
Paul James, 51, travelled from Swansea to attend the protest and said: “We have to stand by our morals and put out views forward otherwise nothing changes.
“I and others here believe that these people are still complicit and part of that larger war machine.
“And it’s sad that huge amounts of money are being invested here, and talent. If only that money was directed into public services.”
A volunteer from Cardiff Animal Rights, who did not wish to be identified, said: “We are here protesting in solidarity with the other groups here today. But we are also protesting against the use of animals in military research.”
Erdel Kaya, chairman of the South Wales Kurdish Community Centre added: “I’ve lived in Cardiff for 16 years. This is not just about Kurdish people – this is about standing up for humanity.
“The UK Government claim that they want to stem the flow of refugees and help people where they are. At the same time they sell weapons to regimes which kill and force people to flee.
“The Kurdish people in Syria stood firm to fight Isis in Syria but now find themselves under a barrage of shells and missiles, sold to Turkey by the United Kingdom. This problem is for everybody.”
Organisers have always denied that it is an arms fair.
They describe it as “the UK’s leading defence procurement event” with more than 1,000 “key decision makers” from across the defence sector attending.
A spokesman for BiP Solutions, which organises DPRTE, said: “The exhibition will bring together businesses representing an array of industry sectors to explore how they can integrate their services into the UK’s defence supply chains.”
He added: “The majority of DPRTE attendees are SMEs seeking to grow their businesses by tapping into the varied supply chain requirements of the modern defence sector.
“These organisations are generally supplying common goods and services, such as printing materials, construction, office supplies, clothing, medical research, logistics, technology, communications, accountancy, recruitment and much more.”