Just 18 days to go until the London Olympic Games, residents of a London apartment tower went to court Monday in a bid to stop their rooftop from being used as one of the six missile bases during the games.
The residents of the Fred Wigg Tower in Leytonstone, east London, are applying for permission to seek judicial review in allegation that their human rights have been violated as they were not consulted “fairly and properly” over the proposals, according to The Telegraph.
The Ministry of Defence is looking to deploy missiles across six sites in London to ensure the safety of the games.
“Security of the Olympics is, of course, extremely important but could the Ministry of Defence not find any other way of protecting the Olympic village than by putting the lives of hundreds of innocent council tenants at risk by turning their homes into a military battlefield position?” Martin Howe, senior partner with solicitors Howe and Co., told the newspaper.
“The Ministry of Defence has had seven years to work out its security plans and it needs to rethink this issue swiftly.”
Defense Secretary Philip Hammond said the missiles, which are capable of shooting down a hijacked aircraft threatening the Olympic Park, are essential to the secretary precautions, according to The Associated Press.
Hammond said they would go ahead with the necessary precautions, including the missile bases, 7,500 soldiers, RAF fighter jets on standby at nearby air bases, and a helicopter carrier on the River Thames, despite opposition from “a small number of activists.”
Over the past week, 14 individuals have been arrested on suspicion of terrorist activities, but police insisted that none of them were targeting the Summer Games.
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