NZ man may avoid jail over war protest in Spain

Charges against a Kiwi activist for his part in an anti-war protest in Spain have been reduced, Greenpeace said yesterday.

Whakatane man Philip Lloyd, aged in his mid-30s, went on trial in the Spanish city of Cadiz on Tuesday with four other Greenpeace activists over a "symbolic blockade" of American Navy vessels during the war in Iraq.

The five face prison sentences of between nine months and three years for the protest by the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior at a joint US-Spanish naval base in March 2003.

The activists were protesting at the use of a Spanish port by US Navy vessels heading for the war in Iraq.

Greenpeace campaign manager Cindy Baxter said a charge of causing injury to a civil guard had been dropped, raising hopes Lloyd would escape a heavy penalty.

The five accused have denied the charges, which initially included resisting arrest, disobedience and causing injury to a civil guard who boarded the Rainbow Warrior. Lloyd was on bail waiting judgment, expected to be given in two weeks.

"We are fighting this all the way and we are relieved the charges have been reduced. Philip is heartened by all the support he's received from tens of thousands of Greenpeace supporters around the world," Ms Baxter said.

"The irony is that those who pushed an illegal war - Tony Blair for example - haven't been prosecuted."

- NZPA