Credit for time served; Also, powerfully written legal brief filed with the court by attorney Roger Hunko
Fr. Steve Kelly, SJ was given a 60 day sentence on March 20 by Judge Settle for violating conditions of supervised release put in place at the end of his prison sentence for the Disarm Now Plowshares action. It’s expected he will be released in 9 days, since he’s been held in custody since a Good Friday arrest at Lockheed Martin in California, and gets credit for most of the time served. Then his Disarm Now Plowshares file will be closed. [later note: Kelly is scheduled for release on May 24.]
Attorney Blake Kremer, part of the legal team for the Disarm Now Plowshares, reports that there were eloquent statements in court made by Steve and supporters. Kremer also forwarded this powerful legal brief written and filed with the court for today’s hearing by Steve’s standby counsel for the Plowshares trial, Roger Hunko (also available here):
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photo by Paul Rifkin
from Cape Cod Today
by Paul Rifkin
Plymouth Nuclear is picketed again by Cape Downwinders
Cape Downwinders co-founder Diane Turco and nine others (Arlene Williamson of Mashpee, Sarah Thacher of East Dennis, Janet Azarovitz of Falmouth, Debbie McCullough of Truro, Joyce Johnson of Falmouth, Bill Maurer of Falmouth, Femke Rosenbaum of Wellfleet, Doug Long of Orleans and Margaret Rice Moir of Brewster) were arrested on the afternoon of May 19 while attempting to deliver a letter to the owner of the Entergy nuclear facility in South Plymouth.
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photo by Ted Majdosz
from a report by Art Laffin
May 17th marked the 100th day of the hunger strike of Guantanamo prisoners, with protests and vigils around the world calling for an end to indefinite detention, torture and the closing of Guantanamo. In Washington, D.C., a noon-time vigil on Pennsylvania Ave. in front of the White House brought the hunger-strikers urgent plea for justice to President Obama.
Shortly after the vigil ended, fourteen people, most of whom are members of Witness Against Torture (WAT), walked onto the White House sidewalk in the “picture postcard” area and held a nonviolent witness. A huge banner was unfurled: “Immoral, Illegal, Ineffective — No Torture, No Guantanamo.”
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Kim Young-Jae was arrested on April 12 while standing in front of a truck, on the road leading into the site of a naval base under construction on Jeju Island, South Korea. Two days later, he was issued a warrant and taken to jail. Here are translated excerpts from a letter he wrote on April 25.
I guess that many people were embarrassed by my arrest and imprisonment. However I am fine, different from your concern about me.
It is because I have been preparing for this, expecting my imprisonment long time ago.
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Attorney Bill Quigley with Transform Now Plowshares members Greg Boertje-Obed, Sr. Megan Rice and Michael Walli outside the Knoxville courthouse before the first day of trial
THE PERSECUTION OF THE OAK RIDGE THREE
from Counterpunch
by Fran Quigley
In just ten months, the United States managed to transform an 82 year-old Catholic nun and two pacifists from non-violent anti-nuclear peace protestors accused of misdemeanor trespassing into federal felons convicted of violent crimes of terrorism. Now in jail awaiting sentencing for their acts at an Oak Ridge, TN nuclear weapons production facility, their story should chill every person concerned about dissent in the US.
Here is how it happened.
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Facebook postings from Sung-Hee Choi and Paco Booyah, May 3-13 – more information at savejejunow.org
[May 3] “Policemen, if you move this altar, 1 billion Catholic followers all over the world will watch over you.” The young Father from Jeju finished ALL the orders of the Catholic mass despite the repeated remarks by Koo Seul-Hwan, security director, who was embarrassed but continued to threaten him that it is an obstruction of business.
Kim Mi-Lyang, a woman villager, held up a sign that reads, “Return back the Gureombi Rock to Kim Mi-Lyang, daughter of Gangjeong!” After the mass, we could observe an elderly follower teared and hugged Fr. Mun Jeong-Hyeon. There were lots of woman followers. It was really moving that they danced the Gangjoeng Addictive dance together with the Peacekeepers in Gangjeong.
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A circle of support in front of the courthouse before the first day of the Transform Now Plowshares trial in Knoxville – Michael, Megan, Greg, Greg’s wife Michele and Art.
by Patrick O’Neill
NOTE — During a Thursday morning hearing to decide if Michael, Greg and Sr. Megan would get released pending their Sept. 23 sentencing, the judge, a George W. Bush appointee to the federal bench, was clearly struggling with his decision because it appeared that he might have “no choice” but to remand them to custody because the U.S. Attorney told him a congressional law might require him to do so because the three were found guilty of sabotage — an “act of violence” against the United States. “It is preposterous that Congress would pass a law that would not distinguish between peace protestors and terrorists,” the judge said — and off to jail they went.
Knoxville, TN – In the annals of “Plowshare” lore there was nothing like it. An 83-year old nun, Sr. Megan Rice, and two other “senior citizens” as one defense attorney called Rice and her companions, Michael Walli, 63, and Greg Boertje-Obed, 57, seemed to pass through the midst of what was considered the most secure nuclear weapons facility on the planet.
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photo by Chris Nelson
TWO HOUR BLOCKADE PREVENTS HUNDREDS OF MILITARY PERSONNEL FROM ENTERING DRONE SUPPORT BASE
Marysville, California – Five people were arrested around 8 a.m. on April 30 after dozens of anti-drone demonstrators blocked the entrance to Beale Air Force Base for hours, resulting in hundreds of vehicles being prevented from entering the base.
The California Highway Patrol had to be called in to clear traffic, which had lines of hundreds of cars in several directions after peace advocates from Sacramento, San Francisco, Nevada City and as far away as Fresno protested President Obama’s U.S. killer drone program.
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DEFENDANTS MAY NOT TELL THE WHOLE TRUTH – ONLY THE PART THE JUDGE ALLOWS
Judge Amul Thapar issued rulings on a number of motions before him in the Transform Now Plowshares case scheduled to go to trial on May 7 in federal court in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Thapar’s ruling denies the Plowshares resisters most of the defenses available to them—he ruled out using the necessity defense, any use of the Nuremberg principles, the first amendment, or any testimony about faith, religious or other good motives.
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The protesters made a number of demands before being arrested in Kanyakumari on April 20. Photo: A. Shaikmohideen
from The Hindu
The police on Saturday, April 20 arrested as many as 146 activists, including 105 men, 36 women and five children of the Anti-Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project People’s Federation when they tried to take out a procession from Kanyakumari to Kudankulam.
The activists, who gathered in front of Gandhi Mandapam in Kanyakumari, urged the government to take immediate steps to close the Kalpakkam Atomic Power Project as well as Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project, as it would adversely affect the livelihood of fishermen, farmers and other people.
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