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Monday, March 07, 2005Leonard Peltier: The case for a pardon The Windsor Star, Canada February 28, 2005 ============================== A Vancouver judge ruled last week that John Graham, a Canadian aboriginal, could be extradited to face 29-year- old murder charges in South Dakota. The cases are very different, but Graham's extradition has once again reminded many people of the plight of Leonard Peltier. There's overwhelming evidence that Peltier was wrongfully extradited from Canada nearly three decades ago and deserves to be freed before he dies in a lonely prison cell in Leavenworth, Kan. His supporters have been tireless in campaigning for his release but Peltier 's only real hope is for President George W. Bush to grant him a presidential pardon. Justice Minister Irwin Cotler and Prime Minister Paul Martin should lobby Bush to do so. Nothing can erase the part Canada played in Peltier's wrongful treatment, but fighting for his freedom would represent one small measure of atonement. Peltier was one of several American Indian Movement leaders present during a firefight at Jumping Bull Ranch in South Dakota on June 26, 1975 that left two FBI agents dead. The agents had been wounded and then shot point blank in the head. Peltier was extradited on since-debunked evidence in December 1976 after a hearing in Vancouver, and subsequently convicted. He has now been jailed for 29 years and appears destined to spend his last days in prison unless Bush pardons him. Peltier has steadfastly maintained his innocence and Amnesty International has labelled him a "political prisoner" who should be "immediately and unconditionally released." Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, Robert Redford, Steven Spielberg, Sarah McLachlan and members of Blue Rodeo have also appealed for his release. Gerald Heaney, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals that upheld Peltier's conviction, believes his life sentence should be commuted and Warren Allmand, Canada's solicitor general at the time of Peltier's extradition, maintains the extradition was based on fraudulent evidence. The case against Peltier hinged on the testimony of Myrtle Poor Bear, a native American woman with mental problems. She claimed she was Peltier's girlfriend at the time of the shooting and watched him pull the trigger. It was later revealed she wasn't at the scene of the shooting and didn't even know Peltier. She later confessed to being pressured and terrorized by FBI agents to implicate him. No known witness saw Peltier fire the fatal shots and tests conducted on his rifle concluded it wasn't the murder weapon. At Peltier's appeal hearing, the prosecutor conceded "we do not know, quote unquote, who shot the agents." The only evidence against Peltier is that he was at the ranch that fateful day. So were more than 30 others. Peltier suffered a stroke in prison that has left him partially blind and he continues to suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problems made worse by prison life. His continued incarceration serves no purpose other than as a cover for those who played a role in his wrongful conviction. Chances are slim, but Bush could prove to have more courage and resolve than Bill Clinton and pardon Peltier over the objections of the FBI. A pardon wouldn 't exonerate Peltier but it would give him the freedom to finish his days on the Dakota plains he hasn't seen for nearly 30 years. Sustained international pressure could sway Bush to finally do the right thing by Peltier, and Cotler and Martin should do everything in their power to help secure his freedom. Doing anything less would be unconscionable given the role this country played in facilitating such a regrettable miscarriage of justice. Posted by Webmaster@AIMSupport.org 7:53 AM 
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