A British soldier from the Electronic Warfare Regiment has taken a stand against the UK backed Saudi-led war on Yemen by protesting outside the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in full uniform.
Ahmed Al-Babati was filmed with a sign beside him that read ‘I REFUSE TO CONTINUE MY MILITARY SERVICE UNTIL THE DEAL WITH SAUDI COMES TO AN END’ before being led away by military police.
In a pre-recorded statement Al-Babati spelled out his opposition to the continuing sale of arms to the Saudi regime:
“I joined the army in 2017 and took an oath to protect and serve this country, not to be part of a corrupt government that continues to arm and support terrorism. What made this decision so easy for me and why I choose to sacrifice a lot of things including possibly my freedom is for the simple fact that me myself as somebody that was born in Yemen I could have easily fell victim to one of those air strikes or died out of hunger. I’ve seen enough not to speak out and I’d rather sleep peacefully in a cell than stay silent for a paycheck.” We support Al-Babati because we believe that the armed forces should not be pursuing aggressive wars abroad. We urge that no disciplinary action is taken against Al-Babati’s stand of conscience. Please sign and share the petition below in support of his actions.