October 2014
IN THIS E-BULLETIN
FORMER CIA ANALYST RAY MCGOVERN ARRESTED TRYING TO ATTEND PETRAEUS EVENT
AUSTRALIAN PEACE ACTIVISTS DETAINED AND ASSAULTED
FATHER AND DAUGHTER ARRESTED AT BEALE AIR FORCE BASE DRONE PROTEST
TWELVE DAY PRISON TERM FOR FINE REFUSAL FROM JEJU ISLAND NAVAL BASE PROTEST
FOUR GRANDMOTHERS FOUND GUILTY OF MOTHER’S DAY TRESPASS AT PILGRIM NUCLEAR POWER PLANT
THREE NSA DRONE PROTESTERS ACQUITTED ON 1 CHARGE, LOW FINES ON OTHERS
BUY A SUB! HELP SUPPORT PEACE PRISONERS
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Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern arrested trying to attend Petraeus event
by Kevin Gosztola, The Dissenter, firedoglake.com
Former CIA analyst and activist Ray McGovern was arrested on October 30 as he attempted to attend an event in New York City featuring former CIA director and retired military general, David Petraeus. He was charged with resisting arrest, criminal trespass and disorderly conduct, and later released from custody.
Read more here.
Australian peace activists detained and assaulted
Before dawn on October 2, eight peace activists entered the top secret Swan Island military base near Queenscliff, Australia. The group entered in the early hours of the morning to nonviolently disrupt preparations for the imminent war in Iraq. Four of the activists were discovered, detained and assaulted by SAS soldiers on the base. The treatment of the activists by the SAS bordered on torture.
The experiences of the four were:
– Forcibly stripped naked, handcuffed, struck on the face and choked
– Activists’ clothing were cut off with knives
– Hessian bags were placed over their heads and they were told “welcome to the bag, motherfucker” and asked “do you want to go for a swim” before being dragged naked across the ground
– SAS personnel stood on activists’ heads and backs causing injury and said “If you move we will kick you in the face”
– Dragged and dropped on the ground when they didn’t respond to questions
Read more here.
Father and daughter arrested at Beale Air Force Base drone protest
On October 28, drone protesters blocked the road leading into Beale Air Force Base, from where Global Hawk reconnaissance drones are piloted. As guards began to close the gate, Mauro Oliveira and his 17-year-old daughter Mahai’a slipped through and were arrested.
Mauro later wrote, “We want drones to end and until THAT day, my family wants it to be clear to the victims of drone strikes and to the entire world, that we believe in Peace, not war and consider drone strikes as a war crime against humanity and an act against the Creators greatest gift, the Children of the world, of which we all are. We face a federal judge and she or he will face our Truth. Please Pray for us.”
Read more here.
Twelve day prison term for fine refusal from Jeju Island naval base protest
I, Sung-Hee Choi, enter 12 days in prison on October 13, refusing judicial oppression and enforcement of fines on me (600,000 KRW, about $600 USD), even though I think that I am not guilty. It is not because I agree with imprisonment but I intend to expose the coercion of the judicial oppression on the protesters against the Jeju naval base project through my unjust imprisonment…
I hope the chance of my very brief imprisonment gives clue on our deteriorating democratic rights throughout the world, as well as the momentum to consider more ways of strengthening our global solidarity.
Read more here.
Four grandmothers found guilty of Mother’s Day trespass at Pilgrim nuclear power plant
Four grandmothers who had been arrested on Mother’s Day for trespassing at the Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Massachusetts were found guilty by a judge on October 23. Three of the women, who had been convicted at a similar trial last spring, were sentenced to 30 days in jail, suspended. In addition, they each must pay the court $50, as well as $50 to the probation department each month for the coming year. The fourth anti-nuclear protester was fined $100.
In her closing argument, Diane Turco said, “Your Honor, with our testimony presented, we hope that you will come to the conclusion that the four grandmothers did not commit a crime of trespassing but, rather, with clarity and compassion, are calling attention to the alarming truth: That Entergy Corporationʼs operation of Pilgrim Nuclear on the shores of Cape Cod Bay is the real threat and danger to our beautiful children and our beloved community, trespassing on all of us every single day in a most serious and deadly capacity.”
Read more here.
Three NSA drone protesters acquitted on one charge, low fines on others
by Ellen Barfield
A quick but comprehensive trial on October 9 in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, Maryland for three women who protested drone targeting at the National Security Agency at Ft Meade, Maryland, resulted in acquittal on one charge and conviction but low fines on the other two charges.
Allowed to speak rather freely, in less than three hours Marilyn Carlisle, Ellen Barfield and Manijeh Saba, and their activist colleague Malachy Kilbride, essentially put NSA surveillance for drone targeting on trial by showing photos, naming names and mourning children killed by drones, and asserted their First Amendment and Nuremberg justifications. As defendant Saba in the closing statement said, “Why would we, in a democracy, be expected to obey an order that violates exercise of our Constitutional rights and responsibilities?”
Read more here.
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