Nov 5 '06 update:

POLITICAL PRISONER UPDATES:

Jeff "Free" Luers writes on State Repression. June 9-11, 2006 was the weekend of solidarity with Free and all other victims of the Green Scare. freefreenow.org.

April 24th, 2006 Tre Arrow appealed the June '05 Extradition Decision. June 26th was the final extradition hearing. Extradition was granted, and Tre is appealing , the appeal date is set for April 18, 2007, and has a bail hearing coming up in mid-December, 2006. For updates, visit: www.trearrow.org

Feb 22 '06, Rod Coronado was arrested: "a federal indictment was handed down by a Federal Grand Jury in San Diego charging Rod with "teaching and demonstrating the making of a destructive device" before a crowded room at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center in Hillcrest on Aug. 1, 2003, one day after an arson at the University Towne Center apartment complex under construction in San Diego.

November 2, 2006, Rod Coronado filed a motion to dismiss the February '06 charges, as being violations of the first amendment. The judge will consider this and respond within 30 days. Rod's next court date is February 8, 2007. If his motion to strike down the statute is denied, the judge will set a date for a future motion hearing where Rod will bring additional challenges to the Indictment against him and the facts alleged by the government. If the case proceeds to trial, it is anticipated that the trial will occur in the summer of 2007.

Dec 22 '05 Peter Young faces the possibility of new charges under the animal enterprise terrorism act, after the South Dakota State Attorney released new serious burglary charges. $12,500 in legal fees is now needed to fight these charges which could carry a consecutive sentence of up to 22 years.

December 29, '05 Gerard Jean-Juste, a Haitian priest imprisoned in Port-au-Prince, has developed an early stage of leukemia, according to a prominent U.S. physician who runs hospitals in Haiti. Since an armed rebellion ousted President Jean Bertrand Aristide in February 2004, Jean-Juste has become a potent critic of the U.S.-backed transitional government. Police arrested him in Oct. 2004 for inciting violence, but he was released seven weeks later after a judge found the allegation baseless. He was re-arrested in July 2005. Earlier in January 2006, more than 1,000 people marched through Miami to protest his incarceration. [12/29/05 report | 12/26/05 report | Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti] In January, 2006 Jean-Juste was released but others still incarcerated need support.

Dec 29 Josh Demmit has been moved and no longer has access to his early release program which would have allowed him to be released in April 2006; He now should be released January 2007. He was sentenced March 2, '05 to serve 2.5 years in a Federal minimum security prison for his alleged involvement in an illegal direct action in Utah. [Full Story]

December 16, '05, Chris McIntosh, as part of his plea bargain, was sentenced to eight years imprisonment, having previously admitted causing $5,000 damage to a McDonalds by setting fire to an empty Seattle area restaurant in 2003. In January '05 Chris was moved, and arrived in mid-February to a prison in West Virginia [ Full Story | MySpace profile | audio interview with Olympia Supporter on Radio4All ]

December 13, '05 Earth First! activists Rod Coronado (former ALF prisoner) and Matt Crozier were found guilty of 3 felony charges relating to disrupting a mountain lion hunt in Sabino Canyon Arizona in 2004. An Esquire reporter who was working on a story about Coronado at the time, also faces misdemeanor charges related to the disruption of the hunt. Coronado and Crozier now face up to 7 and a half years imprisonment. Both have been released on bail pending sentencing which is set for early 2006. A support campaign has been set up for Rod and Matt. The support campaign will be able to inform you about the lawful ways you can become involved with the campaign to save the mountain lion.

Dec 7 Mumia's case will be tried again! "In a startling new development, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia has agreed to hear arguments on three claims by Pennsylvania death-row prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal that his 1982 trial and state appeal were tainted by constitutional violations." [Full Story]

Nov 7, 2005, animal rights activist Peter Young was sentenced to 2 years in prison. It is not yet known which prison Peter will serve out this prison term. His final statement to the court and his supporters is posted Here.

ONGOING CAMPAIGNS:

• Free the Puerto Rican Political Prisoners! This campaign has been going on for over a decade; For more info, visit: [Prolibertad Support Campaign]
• October 27th, 2005Dr. Dafur, a highly respected oncologist of muslim faith and Iraqi descent, was sentenced to 22 years in Syracuse, New York. He will be appealing this case, which is the first conviction breaking the sanctions against Iraq. [Full Story]
• October 21st, 2005 was the day the 5th Black Panther Veteran was jailed in San Francisco for refusing to cooperate with a grand jury investigating 30 year old cases. This "investigation" represents a stepped-up campaign to sweep up former Black Panthers, alleging that people have knowledge of events in the early 70s. As of October 21st, those currently being held in the San Francisco County Jail for contempt were: John Bowman, Ray Boudreaux, Richard Brown, Hank Jones and Harold Taylor. [Full Story]. Three of these former Black Panther Veterans are touring the country to enlighten the public about the covert activities being used by agents authorized by the Patriot Act, and to bring awareness to fact that people associated with the BP organization 34+ years ago, are now being considered to be terrorists under the "U.S. Patriot Act".
• October 14th, 2005 a statement was read for former political prisoner Antonio Camacho Negron, whom the FBI has issued an arrest warrant for. Negron was arrested for being a part of the MACHETEROS in the late 1980s. His statement begins as follows: "The allegation... is a total fabrication. The FBI is interested in sequestering me for information that I have gathered surrounding Filiberto's death... [Full Story ]
• In October, 2005 Harold Thompson, a 63-year-old Anarchist Prisoner survived yet another nazi attack while doing work in the law library in Tennesee's Northwest Correctional Complex, and has asked folks to call the Warden at (731) 253-5000 "to find out what is up with this prison when an older man is mobbed by AB punks while working in a protective custody segregation unit?" Harold never received medical attention for injuries sustained during the attack. Harold wants people to write to request that the prison reinstate the privilege for prisoners to own typewriters.
• Sept 30, 2005 the Jericho Movement denounced the U.S. murder of freedom-fighter Filiberto Rios in Puerto Rico. The Peltier Defense Committee describes this act as being a repeat of the Incident at Oglala
• Sept 21st, 2005 was a call-in day to support political prisoner Russell Shoats who was given 2 life sentences, is being held in SCI-Greene where Mumia Abu Jamal is at, and who is being denied medical care, after his recent mistaken diagnosis of prostate cancer. You can sign this petition to the governor on his behalf. For updates and to read some of Russell's writing, especially on the use of Torture in U.S. Prisons
• Sept 18th, 2005 U.S. activist who was being held on terrorism charges in Australia was deported back to Houston after international pressure to release him, but was fined over $11,000. Reportback & Audio File
• Aug 28th Secret trial detainee Hassan Almrei was on Day 64 of his hunger strike. Hassan has been detained in solitary confinement without charge or trial in a Canadian prison for 4 years, and major personalities, including former PM Trudeau, have been calling for his release.
• April 22 the zine, Heartcheck was launched on Earth Day 2005 by political prisoners Rob Thaxton and Jeff "Free" Luers. Proceeds from your orders of Heartcheck go to support both Rob and Jeff. In August '05, a Review was posted.
• Mar 2 '05, Joshua Demmit, an 18 year old animal rights activist was sentenced to serve 2.5 years at Sheridan Federal Prison Camp in Oregon for his alleged involvement in an illegal direct action in Utah. Dec 30th it was reported that he is being moved and won't qualify for release April 2006 as expected. Joshua will likely remain imprisoned until January 2007. [Full Story]
• The 1976 Murder of Anna Mae Aquash is being "investigated", with the intended goal of extraditing John Graham. [Full Story from Resist.ca]
• Eco-Peace Activist Helen Woodson was sentenced after her court file went "missing" for probation violations dating back to her original sentence for her 1984 Silo Pruning Hooks disarmament of a Missouri nuclear missile silo. The recent sentencing was for actions she took this past March following her release from Federal Prison, involving letters and statements declaring that the judges who legitimize nuclear war by protecting the weapons while punishing the resisters have become part of the weapons themselves.

Support has been withdrawn from Billy Cottrell, who has now been named a Police Informant" after he took the witness stand at his own trial, confessed and then went on to implicate two others he claimed were responsible. Contrary to expections, he was then sentenced to 8 years in prison.

Angela Cesario and Jeremy Rosenbloom also recently became police informants, implicating Tre Arrow while he fights extradition from Canada to the U.S.

Portland-based Prisoner Support Groups

• Books To Oregon Prisoners has mailing Days on the second Saturday of every month, noon-4pm in Portland. bookstooregonprisoners@gmail.com.
  Portland Books To Prisoners provides educational material mondays and wednesdays to people behind bars who request books. Email pdxbookstoprisoners@riseup.net for more info.
• Prison Pipeline is a very informative radio show in Portland that happens on KBOO Community Radio at 90.7 FM, on alternating Tuesdays starting at 6pm. Tune in to listen to the live stream!
• The Partnership for Safety and Justice (Formerly known as Western Prison Project) works on legislation to help prisoners in Oregon and 4 neighboring states, along with providing resource guides to prisoners who request them. They also help co-ordinate efforts of grassroots groups in the pacific northwest who work on prison issues.

Internationally there are support campaigns to call for the freeing of Leonard Peltier, an AIM activist who was framed and convicted after a firefight on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1975. The Leonard Peltier Defense Committee sent out a press release Dec 6 2004 calling for the public to put pressure on authorities who claim to be "investigating" the 1976 murder of Anna MaeAquash on the Pine Ridge Reservation, who was one of many AIM leaders who were who were at that time resisting unwanted uranium development on sacred lands.

Oct 1-12 Leonard Peltier supporters engaged in a fast for justice for Leonard. Since July 1 of 2005, Peltier has been moved from three different correctional facilities. It seems they are trying to break Peltier's spirit On May 3, Peltier called on the public to lobby congress on his behalf, after his April FOIA request for the release of 30 year-old secret documents wasn't granted.

There is also an international call for a fair trial for Mumia Abu Jamal. On May 18th, 2004 Mumia's latest appeal was denied. It is widely believed that Mumia was framed because of his earlier connections with the Black Panther Party and for his support of MOVE. On June 29, 2004, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit lifted its stay in the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, and ordered briefing. At issue is whether the death judgment should stand. Also pending is the prosecution's unconstitutional use of racism in jury selection. For more info, see the article, Death Penalty Again Looms Over Mumia's Head, and keep checking the weblinks on that article.

Freedom Archives helps prisoners by archiving music, art and videos about and by folks to make this work available to the public, and as a way to fundraise for prisoners. California Prison Focus is very active and has a good website to help folks understand issues facing prisoners, especially in California. For more info on issues and challenges facing women prisoners there and everywhere, go to their newly created Women Prisoners Page

Other websites with info that give a meaningful perspective from and about our brothers and sisters behind bars, and some of the fallacies surrounding the perception of the U.S.prison industrial complex:
[ Anarchist Black Cross Federation | Anarchist Black Cross Network | Jericho Movement | Prison Activist Resource Center | Spirit Of Freedom | PrisonSucks.com | freedomarchives.org ]