TRENTON, New Jersey - Six animal rights activists being tried under a law that equates their activities with terrorism turned the lives of employees of a British drug-testing company into a living nightmare, prosecutors said on Thursday.

In America, dissenting views can be heard. This is a referendum on the rights of a political movement to talk about these things in the open..

Andrew Erba, an attorney for Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty

It is the first New Jersey trial in which federal prosecutors are using a law that says aggressive activists who disrupt a company can be charged as terrorists.

The defendants are accused of disrupting the business of Huntingdon Life Sciences, or HLS, a UK-based firm with operations in New Jersey that uses animals to test drugs, with the aim of driving it out of business.

U.S. Attorney Charles McKenna told the court the defendants crossed the line on freedom of speech rights and were not content to get their message across by peaceful and legal means.

"They wanted results immediately and at whatever costs," McKenna told the court.

The activists harassed employees of HLS and other companies that did business with it, published their names and addresses on its Web site, threatened their families, and in some cases overturned their cars, according to the indictment.

They are also accused of using mass e-mail to shut down the computer systems of some companies.

Prosecutors charged the six and their organization called Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, with violating the Animal Enterprise Protection Act, which was amended in 2002 to include the crime of "animal enterprise terrorism."

Animal enterprise terrorism carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The activists also face charges of conspiracy and interstate stalking, which carry $250,000 fines each.

Andrew Erba, an attorney for the group, told the court that the defendants were entitled to express their views however unpopular they might be.

"In America, dissenting views can be heard," he said. "This is a referendum on the rights of a political movement to talk about these things in the open."

Huntingdon says on its Web site that it tests products such as drugs, food additives, adhesives and clothing dyes on animals but that the company is, "committed to providing the highest levels of animal husbandry and welfare."

The defendants are Kevif Kjonaas, 27, president of the group; Lauren Gazzola, 26, the group's campaign coordinator; Jacob Conroy, 29; Joshua Harper, 30; Darius Fullmer, 28, and Andrew Stepanian, 26.

The trial, overseen by U.S. District Judge Mary Cooper, resumes on Monday.

© 2005, Reuters Ltd

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