Leonard Peltier attacked in Prison

Published Jan 29, 2009 9:45 PM









On Jan. 13, when Leonard Peltier arrived at Canaan Federal Prison in Pennsylvania after being transferred from another facility in the state, he was brutally assaulted by a group of inmates. A letter from Peltier’s sister, Betty Peltier-Solano, says he suffered numerous head blows and “blood was everywhere.” She also said one of his fingers has been broken. He has been put in solitary confinement.

Peltier’s sister blames the FBI for this attack, as they have been responsible for so many attacks against him, both political and physical.

Since 1975 Peltier, a leader of the American Indian Movement who courageously battled the FBI in defense of his people and their sovereignty, has been in federal prison for a crime it is widely believed he did not commit.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has worked long and hard to ensure that Peltier remains behind bars. The FBI openly admits that it paid a woman who testified against him in 2004 the sum of $42,000 “in compensation.” When rumors circulated that President Bill Clinton was considering a pardon for Peltier, the FBI staged a demonstration in front of the White House calling for his continued imprisonment. In 1978, fellow political prisoner Standing Deer came forward with the news that the FBI had approached him about assassinating Peltier.

Peltier pointed out, “When we exposed the Government misconduct, the Government stopped arguing that I ‘shot the agents,’ and began arguing that my conviction should be upheld on aiding and abetting grounds, even though the only two people I could have aided and abetted, Robert Robideau and Dino Butler, were acquitted on self-defense grounds.” (www.counterpunch.org, Jan. 29, 2007)

Call and request Leonard Peltier be treated with dignity and respect and let prison officials know that the public will hold them accountable for his safety and well-being. Peltier’s register (prison ID) number is 89637-132.

Contact: Warden Ronnie R. Holt, Warden, USP-Canaan, 3057 Easton Turnpike, Waymart, PA 18472; phone: 570-488-8000; fax: 570-488-8130; e-mail: caa/execassistant@bop.gov. D. Scott Dodrill, Director, Northeast Regional Office, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2nd and Chestnut streets, 7th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19106; phone: 215-521-7301; e-mail: nero/execassistant@bop.gov. Harley G. Lappin, Director, Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Department of Justice, 320 First Street NW, Rm. 654, Washington, DC 20534; phone: 202-307-3250; fax: 202-514-6878.

Also ask President Obama to investigate this incident: The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20500; comments: 202-456-1111; fax: 202-456-2461; e-mail: www.whitehouse.gov/contact.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Articles copyright 1995-2009 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.