Feature Archives

On January 29th, Army prosecutors of Lt. Ehren Watada dropped two charges of “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.” These two charges—each of which carried a one year possible prison sentence—were based on interviews Lt. Watada held with Oakland-based independent journalist Sarah Olson and Greg Kakesako of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. In exchange for the dropping of the two charges, Watada agreed to testify that he made the comments attributed to him by the reporters. Watada still faces up to four years' confinement on three other charges. Sarah Olson will no longer be forced to testify.

In 2006, a blogger named Spocko began posting examples of inflammatory rhetoric common to several talk radio hosts on KSFO, an ABC Radio-owned station in San Francisco. Spocko also sent numerous letters to corporations advertising on KSFO with examples of the content their commercials were funding. This letter-writing campaign apparently got results, as major advertisers such as MasterCard, Bank of America, and Visa pulled their ads from the station. On December 21, ABC Inc. issued a cease-and-desist letter targeting Spocko and his blog for copyright violation and Spoko's internet service provider, 1&1 Internet, briefly shut down his blog.

On January 4th, Lt. Ehren Watada sat before a military judge in Ft. Lewis, WA for a pre-trial hearing that defined what will be admissible during the court-martial, which begins on February 5th. The Army's lead prosecutor, Captain Daniel Kuecker, repeatedly defended his subpoenas of civilian reporters Sarah Olson and Gregg Kakesako, and anti-war activists Phan Nguyen and Gerri Haynes, as “relevant” and “admissible” for the prosecution. These reporters and activists remain under order to take the stand on Feb. 5th. Report and photos

Meanwhile, Iraq Veterans Against the War Deployed established "Camp Resistance", an encampment outside the gates of Ft. Lewis to support Lt. Watada that will remain through the upcoming court-martial. Photos

In San Francisco, 28 protesters were arrested after over 200 people gathered at the Federal Building on January 4 to show support for Watada. Photos: 1 | 2 | Video

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On January 2, 2007, shortly after her appearance on Democracy Now, journalist Sarah Olson received word that the U.S. Army was backing off of its demand that she testify at the January 4 pre-trial hearing in the court-martial of Lt. Ehren Watada. The Army subpoenaed Olson in December to testify about her interview with Watada, the first commissioned officer to refuse his orders to deploy to Iraq and the first military officer charged with public dissent since 1965. Olson remains under subpoena to testify at the full court-martial of Lt. Watada scheduled for early February at Fort Lewis in Washington State.

On December 14th, a US Army prosecutor subpoenaed independent journalist, radio producer and former Indybay volunteer Sarah Olson, seeking her sworn testimony at the court-martial of First Lieutenant Ehren Watada. Watada refused deployment to Iraq earlier this year.

On Wednesday, December 13th, at 7pm, there will be a solidarity event for the people of Oaxaca, Mexico at the Veterans Hall in Santa Cruz. Bilingual film screenings of Granito de Arena (Grain of Sand), a documentary of the teacher's struggle in Oaxaca and Victoria en Todos Santos (Victory in All Saints), shot on the streets during the attempted illegal takeover of Radio Universidad by the Federal Police, as well as a bilingual presentation from Miguel Zafra, a native Oaxaqueño and member of the Frente Indigena de Organizaciones Binacionales (FIOB). Read more (en español)

On November 30th, The Federal Preventative Police expanded its operations into the surrounding towns around Oaxaca City. Today they have conducted a raid into Zaalchia, 11 kilometers outside of Oaxaca City and numerous other towns. Read More

On November 29th, Radio Universidad was handed over to the administrators of Benito Juarez Autonomous University. As part of an agreement with APPO, the University will now handle security for the station. This week, outgoing Mexican President Fox said that he would use a hard hand against the movement in Oaxaca.

There was a Oaxaca reportback, November 30th, at Bound Together Books in SF. December 1st was an international day of solidarity with APPO. There was a protest at 2pm in Oaxaca. There also was an all-day protest at the Mexican Consulate in Sacramento. On December 6th, Barucha Calamity Peller, who has contributed to Indybay from Oaxaca will give a reportback "Oaxaca: Portrait of Rebellion," at 8pm at Station 40 in San Francisco.