Friday 12th August 2005 - HOOGERHEIDE –
The destruction of two F16s at the Woensdrecht airbase in Hoogerheide were carried out by a 52 year old peace activist from Italy. He wanted to make a statement the man (activist name: Tury) carried out his action a day after the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
“At Woensdrecht, F16s are repaired, airplanes that can be used to carry nuclear weapons. And in any case, every F16 is one too many” said Niek van Essen from Woensdrecht. Van Essen was, in the 1980s involved in setting up the Stichting Atoom Vrijstaat [Nuclear Free State foundation] in Woensdrecht, a foundation that protested against the alleged presence of nuclear weapons on the base. He still lives in the house that was a meeting point for activists. Van Essen is well informed about the activist world.
On Wednesday morning, ‘Tury’ went to work on the two F16s in a hangar on the base. The damage could run into the millions. The man was caught, arrested by the police and will probably appear before the court today. Tury is originally from Italy, but has travelled for years through Europe. “He sees himself as a world citizen” said Van Essen. “Tury stayed for some time in the Netherlands, but he didn’t have a fixed address.”
That is at least what Van Essen has understood from his sources. “Because he was never at our house. This action was his own idea, he didn’t publicise this action or give a statement”
That last bit fits. Huib van der Hout, from Bergen op Zoom, the lawyer of Tury, has not yet spoken with his client. “He didn’t want that yet. I don’t have any idea how he entered the base. The questions naturally interest you: how is it possible that someone can just walk into a hangar.?”
The ministry of Defence didn’t want to say anything about this. “The air force is currently investigating the security of the airbase”, said the spokesperson for the police Mascha Gelauf. Van Essen: “The perimieter of the base is 17km. The question that I have is: how effectively are the hangars closed?”
The air force is also not commenting on the scale of the damage. The police have confirmed that this involves someone without a Dutch passport, but who has stayed some time in Holland.
