Autumn 2020 IN THIS E-BULLETIN JORDANIAN ANTI-NUCLEAR ACTIVIST NEEDS SUPPORT FIVE MORE KINGS BAY PLOWSHARES ACTIVISTS SENTENCED INVITATION TO GET INVOLVED! NUCLEAR BAN TREATY ENTRY INTO FORCE DAY, JANUARY 22 PLEASE SUPPORT IMPRISONED ANTI-NUCLEAR AND ANTI-WAR ACTIVISTS – THE NUCLEAR RESISTER NEEDS YOU! ________________________________________________________________________________ Jordanian anti-nuclear activist needs support Basel Burgan, an environmental and […]
Monthly Archive for November, 2020
by Jack Cohen-Joppa, The Nuclear ResisterBasel Burgan, the head of a successful family pharmacy business and a prominent environmental champion in Jordan, is accused of cyber crimes and spreading rumors “that damaged a government institution.” Hearings in the case against him began in September, continuing every other week. Unless the case is dismissed, and barring additional delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a verdict by next spring could lead to a sentence of 6-24 months in prison for Burgan.
The case against the activist businessman began on January 4, 2019, when Saleh Ghbain, a Jordanian scientist working in the U.S. who had formerly worked as a consultant to the Jordanian Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC), released a document on Facebook which he said proved that the Research Nuclear Reactor (RNR), recently constructed at the Jordan University of Science and Technology by a Korean contractor, has “cracks in its design and is leaking radiation.”
In Jordan, Burgan shared the report on Facebook, commenting that “if the leaked radiation is high, then it is a health problem…. We need all security agencies to check this issue.”
Carmen Trotta is sentenced to 14 months in prison; Clare Grady is sentenced to 12 months plus a day; Martha Hennessy is sentenced to ten months
from the Kings Bay Plowshares
On November 12, two more of the Kings Bay Plowshares 7 were sentenced by video conferencing with Judge Lisa Godbey Wood in federal court in Brunswick, Georgia. They both received less time than was expected according to the sentencing guidelines prepared by the probation department.
Carmen Trotta was sentenced to 14 months in prison in the morning session. This was a downward departure based on the judge granting his objection that the seriousness of his criminal history was overstated by the probation report. He only has four misdemeanor convictions for demonstration related arrests. However, the judge overruled numerous other objections from the defense, particularly to the increases for risk of death and lack of acceptance of responsibility. Carmen vigorously disputed these issues to no avail.
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Dear fellow nuclear abolitionists,
Now that nuclear weapons are outlawed, it’s time to take action!
On January 22, 2021, people around the world will celebrate the day that the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) enters into force (EIF Day), which the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) describes so eloquently as “the beginning of the end of nuclear weapons”.
Please join us — the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance (OREPA), Nukewatch, the Nuclear Resister and the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) — to help maximize the global impact of this historic event with a wide variety of public actions across the U.S. on that day and beyond. (see list in progress below)
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