The Nuclear Resister

Update from NATO5Support: At a July 23 hearing, the judge told both sides to be ready instead for trial in early January, 2014. A final date will be confirmed at the next pretrial hearing on August 6.

(Read NATO defendant Mark Neiweem’s latest letter to supporters here.)

Jared Chase

Brent Betterly

Brian Jacob Church

On Tuesday, July 9, the NATO 3—Brent Betterly, Jared Chase, and Brian Jacob Church—had another status hearing to discuss discovery issues and three important pre-trial motions. The motions were Jacob’s motion to suppress his post-arrest statement to the police, the joint motion to dismiss the arson charges, and Brent’s motion to dismiss all his charges due to false testimony to the grand jury violating his right to due process. The arguments about the post-arrest statement were pushed off yet again, the judge will rule on dismissing the arson charges within two weeks, and the judge denied Brent’s motion to dismiss his charges. Additionally, the defense team requested that the trial date be pushed back from September 16th of this year to mid-March of next year so they can have time to review all the discovery and prepare adequately for trial.

Photo by Connie Springer

Gordon Maham, 96-years-old and a long-time anti-nuclear activist, died on July 9 at his farm in Ohio.  Gordon helped build the Y-12 plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and quit the Manhattan Project when he heard about Hiroshima and his role in building the bomb. He then lost his war industry draft exemption and served three years in federal prison as a post-war conscientious objector.  His life’s journey continues to inspire.

Read more about Gordon’s life…

Photo by Fr. Kim Sung-Hwan when he visited Dr. Song Kang-Ho and Br. Park Do-Hyun in prison on July 1

Latest update below posted July 31.

Since publication of the Nuclear Resister #170 (pdf), there have been new actions and several trials affecting those in prison for nonviolent resistance to navy base construction in Jeju Island, South Korea. The June edition of Gangjeong Village Story (pdf) reports that on May 31, a young woman named Gwak was arrested in Seoul and moved to Jeju prison the next day, June 1. She had been accused for her protest to stop explosives in March 2012 and was arrested by the court on May 31 for her refusal to respond to the court’s call. On June 5, she received a sentence of a 2,500,000 KRW fine (about $2,200) and was released.

Also on June 5, Prof. Yang Yoon-Mo was brought to court on new charges of property damage, violence, and obstruction of business.

photo by Ellen Davidson

from Veterans for Peace

A dynamic protest outside the While House against the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba came to a climax on Wednesday, June 26 when Vietnam veteran Diane Wilson climbed over the White House fence.  Suddenly, there she was standing on the White House lawn like an apparition in her orange prison jumpsuit.  Wilson was quickly surrounded by heavily armed Secret Service agents and a menacing police dog.  She was arrested, charged with unlawful entry and turned over to police in Washington, D.C., where she was held overnight.

Susan Lantz, Linda Pon Owens and Anneke Corbett receiving arrest citations

from Shut It Down

BRATTLEBORO, Vermont – Cited for disorderly conduct after blocking a public roadway and Entergy Corporation driveways Wednesday morning, June 12, eight members of the Shut It Down Affinity Group received court dates of July 23 in Windham County Courthouse.

Sergeant Mark Carrigan and Officer David Cerrito of the Brattleboro Police Department arrested the women after they blocked Glen Orne Drive near Entergy’s Vermont Yankee headquarters and while they blocked driveways into Entergy parking lots. The women carried a banner reading “Fuel Rods Equal Catastrophe” and read a statement urging closure of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon.