Wellington, March 18 NZPA - A lobby group has called for the Waihopai spy base to be closed following the acquittal of three activists yesterday on charges of vandalising the base near Blenheim.

Adrian Leason, Peter Murnane and Sam Land admitted they broke into Waihopai and slashed an inflatable plastic dome covering a satellite dish, but pleaded not guilty to wilful damage and burglary charges because they believed their actions were lawful.

A jury in Wellington District Court took only two hours to find them not guilty after a trial lasting eight days.

The Waihopai base is operated by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), which has not yet commented on the verdict.

Green MP Keith Locke said the acquittal was a victory for the peace movement, which has campaigned for the closure of the base.

"I hope that the not guilty verdict will help break down the blanket of secrecy that successive governments have imposed around the operations of the base, and its true purpose," he said.

The Christchurch-based Anti-Bases Campaign went further, calling for prosecution of the base operators for crimes against humanity.

Spokesman Murray Horton said the "Domebusters" had believed they had the law on their side and were proud of what they did.

"They did it because Waihopai operates, in all but name, as an outpost of US intelligence on NZ soil..." he said.

He said the base should be closed immediately.

Murnane, a Dominican friar who represented himself throughout the trial, said outside the court, he believed the satellite aided crimes against humanity.

"I had to do this, it was necessary for me," he said.

"We wanted, in going into Waihopai, to challenge these warfaring behaviours and I think we have done this," he said.

"We have shown New Zealanders there is a US spy base in our midst."

Crown prosecutor Glen Marshall said the men deliberately and intentionally damaged the satellite cover hoping, rather than believing, their actions were lawful.

"It's not a belief, it's something less -- a hope, an expectation, an opportunity,"

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