http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/27/parole_hearing_to_be_held_tuesday
Democracy Now!
A daily TV/radio news program, hosted by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, airing on over 750 stations, pioneering the largest community media collaboration in the U.S.
July 27, 2009
Parole Hearing to Be Held Tuesday for Imprisoned Native American Activist Leonard Peltier
The sixty-four-year-old activist has been in prison for thirty-three years and is now being held at the Lewisburg prison in Pennsylvania. Peltier was convicted of killing two FBI agents during a shootout on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 1975. At his last hearing, the Parole Commission originally denied Peltier parole in 1993 based on their finding that he "participated in the premeditated and cold blooded execution of those two officers." However, the Parole Commission has since said it "recognizes that the prosecution has conceded the lack of any direct evidence that [Peltier] personally participated in the executions of the two FBI agents." Peltier has long maintained his innocence and is widely considered a political prisoner who was not granted a fair trial. [includes rush transcript]
Guest:
Eric Seitz, Leonard Peltier's attorney
Rush Transcript
AMY GOODMAN: We turn now to the case of the imprisoned Native American activist Leonard Peltier, who will have his first full parole hearing in fifteen years on Tuesday. The sixty-four-year-old activist has been in prison for thirty-three years, is now being held at the Lewisburg prison in Pennsylvania. Peltier was convicted of killing two FBI agents during a shootout on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 1975. '
The Parole Commission originally denied Peltier parole in 1993 based on their finding that he, quote, "participated in the premeditated and cold blooded execution of those two officers." However, the Parole Commission has since said it, quote, "recognizes that the prosecution has conceded the lack of any direct evidence that [Peltier] personally participated in the executions of the two FBI agents."
Leonard Peltier has long maintained his innocence and is widely considered a political prisoner by human rights groups around the world, calling/pointing out that he did not get a fair trial.
In a recent letter of support, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu writes Peltier's incarceration is based on, quote, "fabricated evidence" and that he was, quote, "persecuted because of his beliefs and refusal to accept the injustices imposed about the peoples at Pine Ridge."
Well, I'm joined right now on the phone by Eric Seitz. He's the attorney representing Leonard Peltier at his first full parole hearing in fifteen years. Eric Seitz is on the road, en route to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, to meet with Leonard Peltier ahead of the parole hearing.
Welcome to Democracy Now! In these last few minutes, Eric Seitz, describe the significance of this parole hearing tomorrow.
ERIC SEITZ: Well, this is the first opportunity that Leonard has had to address the parole board since he has served all of his minimum terms. So, when he previously went before the parole board, according to their criteria, he was not technically eligible, because he had mandatory minimum terms that had to be served. But he's eligible tomorrow. And we're hopeful that, based upon everything that's gone before and all of the support that he's received, that we will be able to get him paroled this time.
AMY GOODMAN: How is Leonard Peltier's health?
ERIC SEITZ: His health is not good. He's, for a long time, suffered from some problems with his jaw, which he had surgery on a few years ago, has high blood pressure and diabetes and urinary problems. He's going to be sixty-five years old in September. And a lot of those problems are aggravated by virtue of the fact that he's in prison and can't get adequate and timely care. So we're concerned about his health, and that's another reason why we're hoping the parole board will allow him to be released at this point, before something more serious occurs.
AMY GOODMAN: What is going to be your main argument tomorrow, Eric Seitz? And will Leonard Peltier be addressing the Parole Commission?
ERIC SEITZ: Leonard will be addressing them. He is preparing. That's one of the reasons why I'm going out there today, so that we can conclude that preparation.
But the main argument is going to be that no matter what one thinks about the case, it certainly has been enormously controversial. It's something that millions of people around the world have expressed concerns about. Leonard has more than served enough time, under the circumstances. And under all of the criteria that normally would apply, he should be paroled.
AMY GOODMAN: Will the FBI be weighing in, as well? I remember the pressure in the last days of President Clinton around the issue of granting executive clemency to Leonard Peltier, and the marches of the FBI.
ERIC SEITZ: Yeah, the FBI can't let it go. They take the position that two FBI agents died, and somebody's got to pay for that. And so, Leonard is the person to whom they look to for that purpose, and they want him to stay in prison until he dies. So we expect that there will be a letter from the director of the FBI. We expect the FBI will be represented there. A US attorney from Fargo, North Dakota, apparently, is coming and is prepared to give a litany of reasons why Leonard should remain in prison and should never be paroled. And that's just a part of this case, which we have to expect.
AMY GOODMAN: And yet, the Parole Commission itself says it recognizes "the prosecution has conceded the lack of any direct evidence that [Peltier] personally participated in the executions"?
ERIC SEITZ: They have conceded that, and the US attorney himself has conceded that on several occasions. And as many of your listeners undoubtedly know, the only two people who were charged with the conduct which they say that Leonard is guilty of, those two people were acquitted in the separate jury trial. So the whole situation is one that is horrendous, in terms of the history of the case. And we're hoping now, at this point in time, that enough people realize that, that they're willing to take the step to put an end to it.
AMY GOODMAN: Does people weighing in make a difference at a Parole Commission level?
ERIC SEITZ: Yes, there are.
AMY GOODMAN: Are there ways to do that, people expressing their views either way to the Lewisburg prison?
ERIC SEITZ: I think there-sure. I think many, many people have written letters to the Parole Commission. I've seen many of them. Some of them have gone directly to them. And certainly, the Parole Commission operates in a political environment, so any kind of public statements of support for Leonard, editorials, all those kinds of things, are going to have an impact, if not now, in the next few days.
AMY GOODMAN: Eric Seitz, I want to thank you for being with us, en route to Leonard Peltier's parole hearing. We'll link to a Leonard Peltier interview at democracynow.org.
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http://antiauthoritarian.net/NLN/?p=627
Human Rights Activists Demand Parole For Peltier
By Fran Korotzer
July 26, 2009
NEW YORK -- On Friday, July 17, 75 people gathered at the Judson Memorial Church in N.Y.C. for a concert and discussion about Leonard Peltier, a man who has spent the past 33 years in prison despite the fact that very many people believe him to be innocent. Peltier will have a parole hearing on July 28.
The evening began with an opening prayer in the Lakota language from Tiokasin Ghosthorse and with music he played on his flute. There were musical performances from David Lippman, Grupo Raices, and David Amran. Rolando Victorio Mousaa read a letter that Pete Seeger wrote to the parole board on Peltier's behalf - and then sang a song that Seeger had asked him to sing. Lady Penumbra and Ty Conscious recited poetry that Peltier wrote. There was an audiotape played of an interview with Eric Seitz, a parole attorney, and several videos were viewed: Leonard Crowdog on Peltier, No Boundaries by Peter Matthiesen, and Wounded Knee by Dennis Banks. Attorney Lynne Stewart spoke very favorably of the kind of person Peltier is. She said that Mumia and Leonard are held in prison to scare the rest of us out of fighting injustice. Peltier's current attorney, Mike Kuzma, said that efforts to get files on the case from the FBI using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) were being stonewalled either by the FBI or the courts. There are 1143 pages of FBI documents on the case that remain undisclosed.
The events that led to Peltier's conviction began in the early 1970s when tensions broke out on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota - between the then tribal chairman Dick Wilson, who was pro-assimilation, and the traditionalists. Wilson was accused of giving economic benefits to the assimilationists and leaving the others in poverty. The growing conflict prompted the traditionalists to band together with the American Indian Movement (AIM), a civil rights group committed to uniting all Native Peoples.
In 1973 local traditionalists and AIM occupied the Pine Ridge hamlet of Wounded Knee to protest the alleged abuses. The government responded by firing 250,000 rounds of ammunition into the area and killing two occupants. The occupation lasted 71 days and only ended after the government agreed to look into their complaints. This never happened and conditions on the reservation worsened. Wilson outlawed AIM and hired vigilantes who called themselves Guardians of the Oglala Nation (GOONs) to enforce his rules.
Between 1973 and 1976 anyone associated with AIM was apparently targeted for violence - the net result: over 60 traditionalists were murdered. Rather than stopping the violence, the FBI supplied the GOONs with weaponry and intelligence on AIM.
As the situation worsened the traditionalists asked AIM to return to the reservation. Leonard Peltier was one that answered the call. He and 12 others set up a camp on the Jumping Bull ranch at Pine Ridge.
On June 26, 1975 two FBI agents in unmarked cars pursued a red pick-up truck onto the ranch supposedly looking for someone who had gotten into a fight and stolen a pair of boots. Gunshots rang out. 150 FBI swat team members responded along with Bureau of Indian Affairs police and GOONs. When it was over 1 AIM member and 2 FBI agents lay dead.
Four people were indicted for the deaths of the FBI agents. The charges against one were dropped and 2 were found innocent on the grounds of self-defense. Peltier escaped to Canada where he was apprehended in February, 1976. The FBI presented a Canadian court with an affidavit from a woman named Myrtle Poor Bear who claimed she was Peltier's girl friend and that she had witnessed him shooting the agents. But Poor Bear had never met Peltier, nor had she been present at the time of the shooting - a fact later confirmed by the US Prosecutor and by her subsequent declaration that she had given false testimony.
There is considerable evidence that Leonard Peltier did not get a fair trial - and the prosecutor failed to produce a single witness that could identify him as the shooter. Still he was sentenced to 60 years in prison - two life sentences.
Jim Messerschmidt, who wrote "The Trial of Leonard Peltier", said, "...the conviction of Peltier for the murder of two FBI agents was based on coerced testimony and the suppression and fabrication of evidence, and inconsistencies and contradictions in the government's case. Since Peltier's incarceration over thirty years ago people worldwide have demanded justice in this case as it has deservedly gained international attention. People around the world must now insist that a favorable parole decision be rendered on July 28th."
Archbishop Desmond Tutu has joined the call for Peltier's parole characterizing his continued incarceration as, "A sad commentary on the U.S. government and the humanitarian values Americans profess."
View Photos/Videos From The Event:
www.antiauthoritarian.net/NLN/photo-gallery/2009_07_17_peltier/
* The history of this case was capsulated from information printed by the Leonard Peltier Defense and Offense Committee (LPDOC):
www.whoisleonardpeltier.info____
copyright 2009 Next Left Notes
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[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only.]
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