[Seattle-editorial] Feature Proposal: Peace Activists Arraigned

[Gentry Lange]

Title: Seattle Peace Activists Arraigned
Subtitle: Growing Opposition to Iraq War

This story culled from this post
http://seattle.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=19746&group=webcast
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On Nov. 7, at 8:45 am, in Federal District Ct, Western District, 12 Seattle
peace activists were arrained in the  courtroom of Judge Martinez.

Their crime? On 9/25/02, the 12 activists were arrested for a civil
disobedience action at the Federal Building in  Seattle. The 12 went staged
a protest in the offices of Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and  were
subsequently charged  with failure to obey the orders of federal officers
(Fed bldg, fed officers).

At that time, neither of the Washington senators had voiced their intentions
regarding how they would vote on the war  referendum, nor had they made any
critical remarks publicly regarding its content. The activists claim that
since an  escalation of the war on Iraq seemed an imminent possibility, that
this direct action was justified.

The twelve activists now face up to 30 days in jail (prison?), fines up to
$5,000 and a mandatory $5 "administrsative  fee". Because the penalties are
so low, the courts are not obligated to provide public defenders. (At the
time of this  report only one defendant is known to have retained a lawyer)

All of the defendants are expected to sign a bond that stipulates a promise
to appear at the trial, if released. The   bond requires the defendants not
to break further laws of any kind between arraignment and the conclusion of
the trial,  which could be months away. If the defendants are found to be in
violation of the bond, the legal penalties become  increasinly severe. A few
activists are planning not to sign the bond, as they feel compelled by the
imminent threat of  war to perform further civil disobedience and encourage
others to do
so.

In case it is of interest, here are the names of the other defendants:
Peggy Wolf
Chris Pringer
Mike Yarrow
Ruth Yarrow
Peter Ilgenfritz
Andrew Fung
Nan McMurray
Shannon Turner-Covell
Anne Hall
Jean Buskin
John Repp
Jeff Gustafson


A trial has been set for Jan 16, '03 with Judge Weinberg, room 3-B of the
old Fed Ct bldg, 1010 5th.

For information about how to help the defendants, or for interested media,
contact Marcia Mullins  (mmmullins2 at attbi.com). For information about future
civil disobedience actions, please email Mike Yarrow at the  Fellowship of
Reconciliation.

Upcoming War Protest Events:

2 rallies "No War" rallies this week (sunday):

	-Myrtle Edwards Park (8:30 am) to Centralia and back ("by dark")

	-12-3 in Olympia.

http://www.snowcoalition.org
Sundays at Greenlake vigils

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I saw this post and think it needs to go on the front page as a feature, but
I know that other people know more about this, and could provide links I'm
missing. Walt?

Gentry