Scottish Snowballs

At 5:30 on Sunday afternoon, a number of concerned individuals carried out a citizens' inspection of a potentially hazardous 'test' site of genetically modified (GM) crop at Coltrannie Farm in Perthshire, owned by Plant Breeders International, a subsidiary of Monsanto. Three people were arrested and charged with housebreaking and theft for attempting to take sample plants from a potato crop to send off to Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) and the Department for the Environment, Transport, and the Regions (DETR) for GM testing.

'Our sampling is necessary because of confusion over this and other crops. Despite confirmation from the DETR on Friday that the crop in question was GM, the farmer in charge of the crop has today denied this. Following our arrests, he permitted samples to be taken. Once again, our action has demonstrated how the law, government ministers, the DETR, and the police act to uphold the undemocratic interests of transnationals over the interests of a public clearly against [gene] technology', said a Scottish GenetiX Snowball participant. Fife EF! 01334 477411.