15 March 2007: Statement from Jonny Ablewhite following the rejection by the Appeal Court of their appeal against sentencing.
On 15 March 2007, Jonny Ablewhite, John Smith and Kerry Whitburn had no reduction of their sentences of 12 years for activities related to Newchurch guinea pig farm. The prosecution were even told they didn't need to present their case.
PRESS RELEASE
Once again my pleas for equanimity, objectivity and a reasoned approach to the provable facts of this case have been ignored. My requests to the Court of Appeal for an adjournment to give my newly appointed solicitor the opportunity to comprehensively review the case were ignored. This, I believe, was a purposeful and injudicious decision. The numerous invalid, specious and unfounded accusations that Judge Pert QC made in his sentence summation on May 11th 2006 and my challenges to them have again been disregarded, without rhyme or reason.
I can only surmise this case has become a political chess game and false accusations are so abound that all logic has been lost. The pretexts and purposes of the police, the media and the courts are clearly insidious and Machiavellian. How I am expected to calmly settle down and complete my sentence, one can only guess?
Until there is a fair and decent exploration of the evidence in this legal drama - one which has been played out for the media from the time of my arrest in 2004 until right now - I will continue to question and challenge the decisions made about me.
The animal advocacy movement is fast joining the ranks of other minority social movements who are prejudicially mistreated on arbitrary grounds. We are viewed with institutional disdain for our ethics, while other minority peoples are marginalised for their race, gender, or nationality. And, with them, we shall not be trampled so efficaciously. From prison, I shall continue my fight for probity and justice. Thank you.