[Ppnews] Peltier Lawyer Asks You to Write to Pres. Obama

[Political Prisoner News]

Original Content at 
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Peltier-lawyer-asks-you-to-by-Els-Herten-090129-652.html

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January 29, 2009

Peltier Lawyer Asks You to Write to Pres. Obama

By Els Herten

TAKE ACTION NOW !

Michael Kuzma, esq., attorney for Leonard Peltier, is encouraging 
supporters worldwide to write directly to President Obama, and has 
drafted the sample letter below.

The letter can also be downloaded in a Word *.doc or a *.pdf file format at:
    * for the Word *.doc file: 
<http://users.skynet.be/kola/letter-obama-peltier.doc>http://users.skynet.be/kola/letter-obama-peltier.doc 

    * for the *.pdf file (you'll need Adobe Acrobat to open the 
file): 
<http://users.skynet.be/kola/obama-peltier.pdf>http://users.skynet.be/kola/obama-peltier.pdf 



Thank you for your never-ending support !!!

Els Herten,
coordinator KOLA / IPF


- - - sample letter - - -

[Date]

The Honorable President Barack H. Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N. W.
Washington, DC 20500


Mr. President:

I am writing to you regarding the case of Leonard Peltier. Mr. 
Peltier is currently incarcerated at USP Canaan in Waymart, 
Pennsylvania, for the deaths of FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald 
Williams, which occurred at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 
South Dakota on June 26, 1975.

There have been numerous television, radio, newspaper and magazine 
articles about Mr. Peltier's case. Public protests and outcry 
continue to this day, and those persons championing Mr. Peltier 
include such human rights luminaries as former South African 
President Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu; former USSR 
President Mikhail Gorbachov; the European, Belgian and Italian 
Parliaments; to name just a few.

Furthermore, all across the world, Mr. Peltier is regarded as a 
highly respected human rights activist; and he has been awarded 
several prestigious human rights awards, and has been nominated five 
times for the Nobel Peace Prize.

At the time Mr. Peltier was tried in 1977, government prosecutors 
merely turned over 3,500 pages of material to his defense attorneys. 
Mr. Peltier's attorneys have recently discovered that the FBI 
actually maintains 142,579 pages of material relating to the case. 
Much of this material has never been released to Mr. Peltier or his 
attorneys. To this very day, the government is vigorously resisting 
efforts to release this material under the Freedom of Information Act 
(FOIA). It is Mr. Peltier's contention that he will be exonerated by 
the full release of these FBI documents.

Mr. Peltier has always maintained his innocence and even the 
government attorney, who prosecuted the case against Mr. Peltier, has 
conceded that the government does not know who shot agents Coler and 
Williams, nor what Mr. Peltier's role in the firefight might have 
been. In 2003, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit stated 
that, "Much of the government's behavior at the Pine Ridge 
Reservation and in its prosecution of Mr. Peltier is to be condemned. 
The government withheld evidence. It intimidated witnesses. These 
facts are not disputed." See Peltier v. Booker, 348 F. 3d 888, 896.

Mr. Peltier will turn 65 on September 12th of this year. He is now in 
deteriorating health and has spent 33 years of his life in prison for 
a crime he did not commit. It is my sincere hope that you will give 
serious consideration to granting Mr. Peltier clemency.

The President and only the President has the power to grant clemency. 
It is a power given to the President by the United States 
Constitution with no conditions attached. Clemency is not about right 
or wrong. It is about mercy.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

[your signature + full name and address]


- - - end sample letter - - -




Authors Website: http://users.skynet.be/kola/index.htm

Authors Bio: director of KOLA, an international human rights 
organization concentrating on indigenous peoples worldwide




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
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