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NEWS May 21st 2004
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BUSH ADMINISTRATION FAILS IN ATTEMPT TO STIFLE FREE SPEECH GREENPEACE USA ACQUITTED OF 'SAILORMONGERING' Issued: 20th May, 2004. The Bush administration's attempt to crack down on Greenpeace US failed yesterday, when Judge Adalberto Jordan dismissed charges against the organisation in the midst of the second day of a trial in Miami. The administration had been trying to indict Greenpeace US using an obsolete "sailormongering" law aimed at stopping prostitutes luring sailors from their ships, following a Greenepace protest aimed at illegal mahogany loggers.
Original story: GREENPEACE UNDER THREAT Greenpeace, one of the most popular and establishment campaigning groups in the world, is currently under threat of being declared an illegal organisation in the US. Their trial starts May 17th and their appeal to the public follows: GREENPEACE CALL FOR HELP Greenpeace will be on trial starting Monday in an unprecedented attempt by the US government to shut us down. Please support our emergency appeal: http://www.greenpeaceusa.org/bin/view.fpl/10048/action_id/195.html Losing this case could be the end of Greenpeace's ability to campaign in the US. We can't let Bush and Ashcroft get away with it. Thanks and salam, Fouad BACKGROUND INFO Throughout the 33-year history of Greenpeace the most unexpected peoplehave come together to protect the environment and used non- violent direct action to highlight environmental crimes and injustice. But this collection is perhaps one of the most extraordinary. What they do in the coming weeks could have significant implications not only for the future of Greenpeace in the United States, but also for the right of freedom of speech and civil disobedience for all in America and even beyond. On May 17th, Greenpeace USA will be under threat
of being Individual activists have been prosecuted in the past for carrying out action in support of Greenpeace campaigns worldwide - it is not unusual, and those individuals are prepared to take the consequences of their actions. In April 2002, six Greenpeace activists did just that. After two of them boarded a commercial ship, the APL Jade, which was bringing illegal mahogany into Miami port, Florida, they pleaded guilty, were fined and sentenced to "time served" - the weekend they all spent in jail. The judicial process had run its course. Or so we thought. 15 months later Greenpeace USA
headquarters in In a matter of a few weeks, United States law will
be used in an While Greenpeace sits in the dock in Miami, the loggers, shippers and traders of that illegal mahogany have cashed in and laughed at the law. Illegally logged wood is still going to the USA and other countries around the world, the criminal underworld is still operating in the heart of the Amazon, those trying to protect the world's greatest rainforest are still operating under threat of death and sometimes dying, and countries like the United States are still failing to live up to their promise under CITES to protect mahogany. But this case is not just about Greenpeace and the Amazon. On trial is also the fundamental and cherished right to freedom of speech and civil disobedience. Many leaders and other advocacy groups in the U.S have recognised the great risk to civil liberties this prosecution presents and are supporting Greenpeace. They include former US Vice President Al Gore, the civil rights leader Julian Bond and the NAACP, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Sierra Club. But, back to the original question. Who are all these characters? Hilary Hosta is a young woman from California who spent a weekend in jail and was subsequently convicted with the other five Greenpeace supporters of taking action against the APL Jade - the ship bringing the illegal logged mahogany into the Port of Miami , Florida. Rose Young is an Italian American who has worked for Greenpeace for most of her adult life after running away from home in her teenage years. Now a grandmother of five and mother of three, she has been at the heart of some of Greenpeace's most successful campaigns worldwide. Jane Moscowitz is one of the top criminal defense lawyers in Miami, Florida. Environmental prosecutions are not normally on her case book, but this is not a normal case. Hamilton Casara is a member of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies and former President of IBAMA, the environmental enforcement agency of Brazil. He has first hand knowledge of the value of Greenpeace's environmental work in Brazil and beyond. John Ashcroft is the man at the top of the US Department of Justice, who believe Greenpeace USA should be declared criminal for alerting the authorities to a crime that was about to happen on US soil. He is ultimately responsible for risking all our rights to freedom of speech through this prosecution. David Halperin is a lawyer and former White House
aide for Bill Paulo Adario has worked for Greenpeace in the heart
of the Amazon for many years. He has seen the consequences of the illegal
and "Sailormongering" was the conduct that
an 1872 US law was aimed at The Amazon rainforest is the lungs of the world.
It has almost All of these people will be in Miami in the lead up to and during the trial, with the unfortunate exception of John Ashcroft. Sadly he is not required to give evidence about why the Bush Administration feels the need to outlaw Greenpeace, nor will he be able to answer why the Bush Administration feels the need to allow the real criminals to go unpunished and the Amazon to continue to be plundered. _______________ Fouad Hamdan Unterstuetzen Sie Greenpeace mit einer Spende!
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