Parole Hearing for Leonard Peltier!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: PAROLE HEARING FOR LEONARD PELTIER!

http://www.aimwest.info
http://www.aimovement.org
http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info

AIM-WEST announces press conference, July 28, 2009 in San Francisco:

Leonard Peltier, in prison for over 33 years, will have his first full parole hearing since 1993, in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania on Tuesday, July 28, 2009. All around the world prayer vigils are being held to raise attention to Leonard’s plight. Tuesday's hearing will be the best opportunity Leonard will get during his entire period of incarceration to a fair review of his case before the US Parole Commission.

In San Francisco, the public has been invited to come and share time and words in solidarity with the American Indian community regarding the case of Leonard Peltier. A sunrise prayer vigil will begin Tuesday, at 6 am and last until 3 pm at the U.S. Federal Building: 450 Golden Gate Street (between Polk and Larkin). There will be drummers and singers, speakers and other activities. Join us in demanding the freedom of Leonard Peltier on his parole hearing day. All spiritual and ecumenical groups are welcome and invited to express their solidarity for Leonard for the past three decades.

America is on Parole! We need to hold the U.S. justice system accountable for their crimes against the Indigenous peoples of this land. We only need to understand the history and depth of this government’s treatment toward the American Indian, and their continued attempts to demonize the American Indian Movement to know why Leonard Peltier is in prison still today.

Leonard Peltier is a member of the Anishinabe Dakota and Lakota Nations. A member of the American Indian Movement (AIM), he went to assist the Oglala Lakota peoples on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota in the mid-1970s with community development. On June 26, 1975, a shoot- out occurred between FBI agents and members of the American Indian community at Pine Ridge resulting in the death of FBI special agents Ronald Williams and Jack R. Coler, and one American Indian, Joe Killsright Stuntz. (Read the book, “In the Spirit of Crazy Horse” by Peter Matthiessen for details of the case and the trial).

Additionally, a decision filed by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals on December 18, 2002 explicitly states that Mr. Peltier’s sentences “were imposed in violation of [Peltier’s] due process rights because they were based on information that was false due to government misconduct,” and, according to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, in 2003: “Much of the government’s behavior at the Pine Ridge Reservation and its prosecution of Leonard Peltier is to be condemned. The government withheld evidence. It intimidated witnesses. These facts are undisputed.”

Despite these admissions, Leonard Peltier has served over 33 years in prison. Although Leonard Peltier maintains that he did not kill the agents, he has openly expressed remorse and sadness over their deaths. Despite his imprisonment, which poses numerous barriers, Mr. Peltier has made remarkable contributions to humanitarian and charitable causes. Leonard Peltier has been widely recognized for his humanitarian works and has won several human rights awards, including the North Star Frederick Douglas Award; Federation of Labour (Ontario, Canada) Humanist of the Year Award; Human Rights Commission of Spain International Human Rights Prize; and the 2004 Silver Arrow Award for Lifetime Achievement.

In 2009, Leonard Peltier was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for the sixth consecutive year.