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Valleys minister finds himself on the wrong side of law following Faslane demonstration
BORDERS minister Samuel Siroky was arrested campaigning against nuclear weapons at Faslane on Monday.
The Ettrick and Yarrow Parish Church leader was held in a police cell for the day after his peaceful protest at the Trident base.
The Czech Republic-born Christian, his wife, Ester and their five children were taking part in a special end-of-year protest at the site.
The Rev Siroky was arrested at about 10.30am when he lay down in the road outside the main north gate. Police led him away to a waiting bus.
The minister was taken to Partick police station and released later that evening. He had never been arrested before.
He and others from the multi-denominational Clergy Action for Justice and Peace had been holding worship at the base.
He explained: "We were near the gate and we were praying for people in Burma.
"You see the police carrying people away and people are jeering and cheering, and you see the gate and know what's behind it and what it can do. It made me think 'I need to do more, I want to make clear what my stance on this issue is'."
But he and Ester realised they couldn't both go forward.
"It was a spur of the moment thing. I said I would go. I tried to get as close to the gate which the police were trying to block us from.
"Another three people came with me and we just sat down. I was lying on the road and it was very peaceful.
"The police asked us to leave and said if we didn't they would arrest us. They didn't carry us away, we said we would walk away with them."
Rev Siroky continued: "You spend lots of time on your own in a cell not knowing whether it's two hours or four hours or 20 minutes.
"You know you are not a criminal, that you are trying to promote peace. But at the same time you understood this was going to happen once you made that decision."
The demonstration continued to 3pm and his family only learned where he was after it finished.
Rev Siroky continued: "They found out I was in Partick but they didn't know when they were going to release me, so they just waited there hoping it wouldn't take long." He was released just after 6pm.
The minister has long been opposed to nuclear weapons but started campaigning more actively when he took up the Valleys post.
He joined a ministers' blockade at Faslane earlier this year and Ester and the children had attended the families' protest.
He said: "Being a minister goes hand in hand, in my opinion, with being against evil, which these weapons of mass destruction are.
"I'm really proud to be a minister of a church which has a stance against nuclear weapons.
He continued: "They are not only evil and simply wrong, they are also illegal, in my eyes, as all the countries with them signed a declaration that they would gradually reduce them but they're not, they're renewing them.
“But with the destruction they can cause, they can never be used by anyone in their right mind, therefore they are not a deterrent because everybody knows they will never be used.
“For me this is such a black- and-white issue, I can’t do otherwise than raise the issue with people around me.
“I come from a country where this (peaceful campaigning) has brought a communist oppressive regime to a fair democratic country, so I know full well how it seems useless but it does change things.”
He says he is prepared to be arrested again.
“If it was something I felt strongly about, then yes, I would.”
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Weather for Galashiels
Monday 13 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 3 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: North west
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Temperature: 5 C to 8 C
Wind Speed: 22 mph
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