German Fence Cutter Gets 140 Days
- Fence-cutting professor of peace research sentenced

German peace researcher and Plowshares activist Dr.Wolfgang Sternstein entered prison in Rottenburg, Germany, on November 22 to serve a sentence of 140 days for cutting the fence at the European Command Center (EUCOM), the headquarters for the U.S. military for Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East, including the command of over 150 atomic weapons.

His original trial in Stuttgart ended in acquittal on the basis of international law, due to the testimony of Prof. Norman Paech, and the decision of the International Court of Justice in the Hague, July 8, 1996. The judge appealed to the highest court for further judgment on the issue of international law, where the case was rejected on a formality and returned to the trial court for sentencing.

Sternstein has participated with an action group calling themselves the EUCOMmunity in a series of fence-cuttings and other actions at EUCOM since 1990, which to date have resulted in 100 arrests, 79 court cases with a total of 35,000 DM in fines; seven of the convicted have served time in prison, and Sternstein now for the 7th time. Sternstein calls his imprisonment "a vigil behind bars for a world without atomic weapons, in which places of death are transformed into places of life," and recently wrote, "I feel strongly we should do much more if we really want to do away with N(uclear) W(eapons)... they have to vanish if humankind shall survive. That's an essential task for generations."

Mail in prison is welcome, and letters of support can be sent to Dr.Wolfgang Sternstein, Justizvollzug-sanstalt Rottenburg, Schloss 1, D-72108 Rottenburg, Germany. "Just as welcome is solidarity expressed in ongoing actions and concern for the world-wide abolition of atomic weapons and recognition of their illegitimacy on the basis of international law."