Six animal rights activists have gone on trial in the US charged with terrorism over an alleged campaign of harassment against a British animal research company.

Prosecutors say that the group’s website incited violence as part of its campaign to shut down Huntingdon Life Sciences, which operates animal-testing labs in the US state of New Jersey.

The activists contend that criticising the company’s operations, and even applauding the illegal actions of others who lash out against it, is an exercise in free speech and is not illegal.

The six activists from the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (Shac) campaign were arrested in May 2004 and charged with animal enterprise terrorism, conspiracy and stalking, under a federal law that equates such crimes with domestic terrorism.

Jury selection began yesterday at a federal courthouse in New Jersey’s state capital, Trenton, where about 70 animal rights protesters picketed outside. Many held signs criticising the company for its work on animals, as well as the government for prosecuting the defendants.

Shac was set up in the UK in 1999 with the aim of closing down Britain's biggest animal-testing laboratory, although it says that its international branches, including that in the US, are fully independent.

One of the defendants in the US, however, Shac-USA's president Kevin Kjonaas, spent two years in Britain and took command of the UK arm while its leaders served prison sentences in 2002.

In the UK, Shac campaigners have been legally barred from demonstrating outside Huntingdon premises, although their 'direct actions' against the group and its suppliers and customers continue.

The website run by Shac-USA shows what it says are undercover videos of beagles being slapped, force-fed and otherwise manhandled, allegedly by workers at a research lab that uses animals to test the safety of drugs and chemicals.

US federal prosecutors say that the site encourages violent attacks against Huntingdon and its employees. The indictment lists numerous acts of vandalism, harassment and intimidation that followed postings on the website, including the overturning of a Huntingdon employee’s car in the driveway of his home, and the throwing of rocks through his windows.

Other alleged crimes include the smoke-bombing of the offices of two Seattle insurance companies that did business with Huntingdon, spray-painting and threatening to burn down the homes of several officials of companies doing business with Huntingdon, and a cyber-attack on Huntingdon’s computer network.

"This is not activism," prosecutor Christopher Christie said at the time of the arrests. "This is a group of lawless thugs attacking innocent men, women and children."

The group makes no apologies for its five-year campaign against Huntington, which it says kills 500 animals per day. A spokeswoman for the group denied it broke any laws.

"The government contends it rises to the level of domestic terrorism. We say it’s free speech," Andrea Lindsay said.

Officials of Huntingdon say animal tests are done as humanely as possible and stressed that their company is not on trial. "We’re grateful for the Justice Department’s efforts in bringing this case, and we, along with the rest of the biomedical research community, will be watching the outcome very carefully," said Mike Caulfield, Huntingdon’s general manager.

The defendants - Mr Kjonaas, Lauren Gazzola, Jacob Conroy, Joshua Harper, Andrew Stepanian and Darius Fullmer - could face as much as 13 years in prison and fines of up to $750,000 each if convicted.

This is the second time the government has put the group on trial. The first trial ended in a mistrial last June after Mr Kjonaas became ill during his opening argument.

Shac-USA says it never told anyone to break the law or commit illegal acts. A section of its website urging people to call Huntingdon and companies that deal with it "and ask them to justify their involvement in animal cruelty" includes a caution that "Shac does not encourage repetitive, rude or threatening phone calls and e-mails. Make your point politely."

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