Waihopai Valley spy base. Photo / Dan Hutchinson
Two of the three protesters who are accused of damaging a protective dome over a satellite dish at Waihopai Valley spy base are on a hunger strike.
Dominican friar Peter Murnane, 67, along with farmer Samuel Land, 24, and organic gardener Adrian Leason, 42, were arrested after allegedly
breaking into the spy base early yesterday morning.
A Blenheim police spokesman today told NZPA that since yesterday afternoon Land and Leason were only taking water and Murnane was only eating dry food.
It was not clear if they were planning on continuing the hunger strike until Monday when they were due to reappear at court, the spokesman said.
"They are being treated in a human fashion and we've involved our police medical officer in keeping an eye on the prisoners to make sure they are in good health."
The trio allegedly used sickles to deflate one of the distinctive orbs at the Waihopai satellite communications interception station, near Blenheim.
Calling themselves the Anzac Ploughshares, the group said on their website they wanted to draw attention to the war in Iraq.
They attacked the spy base in reaction to United States President George Bush's statement that intercepting communications was one of the key weapons in the so-called "war on terror".
They have all been charged with intentionally damaging a satellite dish, the property of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), and entering a building with the intention to commit a crime.
Police told Blenheim District Court yesterday they were considering charging the men with sabotage under the Crimes Act, an offence which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years' jail.
Damage to the Marlborough base was estimated at more than $1 million.
GCSB director Bruce Ferguson said the security breach was "deeply disturbing" and remedial measures would be put in place to ensure it did not happen again.
Two 2m cuts were sufficient to deflate the dome. Then the activists ran around the base of the aerial randomly slicing at other areas, he said.
The domes, made of a rubberised material, acted purely as a "waterproof jacket" to protect the antennae from adverse weather.
Prime Minister Helen Clark has called the incident an act of "senseless vandalism".
- NZPA
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