Archive for the ‘Press releases’ Category

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NLG press release on FBI raids

September 29, 2010

National Lawyers Guild Hotline and “Know Your Rights” Materials Available for Activists Targeted by the FBI

*New York*–The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) and its Mass Defense Committee provides legal defense and educational resources to activists, including those subjected to the September 24 raids and grand jury subpoenas in Michigan, Minnesota and Illinois. The Guild denounces the attacks on free speech, freedom of association, and the right to dissent that these actions represent. The raids and summonses reflect escalating hostility toward individuals and groups working in solidarity with the Palestinian and Colombian people and are blatantly political attacks on peaceful activists.

National Lawyers Guild lawyers, in their continuing efforts to protect the right to dissent, are coordinating defense of these activists. The NLG offers several resources for activists who are subject to similarly aggressive and politically motivated breaches of their rights.

*NLG Hotline: 888-NLG-ECOL (888-654-3265)*

-A hotline for U.S. activists who have been contacted by the FBI. Callers are matched with NLG defense attorneys in their states who have experience dealing with similar cases.

*Know Your Rights Brochure*: www.nlg.org/resources/know-your-rights

-A two-page brochure that summarizes the rights of citizens when they are contacted or stopped by the police or federal authorities. Available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Farsi and Punjabi.

*Operation Backfire:* www.nlg.org/publications/operation-backfire

-A booklet that discusses government attacks on activists and subsequent prosecutions. Available for free download.

The National Lawyers Guild recommends that activists consult and make use of these resources. The Guild advises anyone visited by the FBI to assert your right not to answer any questions, to get the card of the FBI agent and state that you will have an attorney contact the agent on your behalf.

Posted in Freedom of Expression, Press releases | Leave a Comment »

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Solidarity March for Bradley Manning

August 9, 2010

Bradley ManningManning, an Oklahoma native, faces 52 years in prison for exposing war crimes

What: Solidarity March in Support of Bradley Manning
When: Thursday, August 12, 8pm
Where: Corner of NE 16th and Lincoln to Oklahoma State Capitol

This Thursday, August 12, Oklahomans will show support for and solidarity with Pfc. Bradley Manning, accused of leaking documents about the Afghanistan War, with a march at dusk near the state capitol. The Army intelligence analyst, originally from Cresent, Oklahoma, is being held in the brig at Quantico Marine Corps Base in Virginia.

The action is being organized locally by the Oklahoma Center for Conscience, with support from the Oklahoma Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild.

Private First Class Bradley Manning, a 22-year-old intelligence analyst stationed in Iraq, stands accused of disclosing a classified video depicting American troops in Iraq shooting civilians from an Apache helicopter in 2007. Eleven people were killed, including two Reuters employees, and two children were critically injured. No charges have been filed against the soldiers who did the killing.

News sources have also speculated about Manning’s involvement in the leak of over 90,000 secret documents (collectively known as the Afghanistan “war logs”) made public by WikiLeaks, a website that publishes leaked material anonymously.

James M. Branum, an attorney that works with OCC on military law cases, calls the Pentagon’s treatment of Manning “extreme” and designed to set up the case “as an example of the punishment waiting for others who would consider exposing violations of military regs and international law.”

“We are saying that exposing war crimes is not a crime,” he said.

The whistleblower behind the Vietnam era’s Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsberg, has called Mr. Manning a hero. ”I admire the courage of Bradley Manning for sacrificing himself to make the public aware of the futility of the war in Afghanistan,” says Ellsberg.

“Blowing the whistle on war crimes is not a crime,” says former Marine Corporal Jeff Paterson of Courage to Resist, a group teaming up with the Bradley Manning Support Network to raise funds for Manning’s defense.

More info:

http://www.bradleymanning.org/

http://www.couragetoresist.org/x/content/blogcategory/64/122/

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/search/node/Bradley%20Manning

Posted in Events, Oklahoma, Press releases | Leave a Comment »

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Protest Announcement by the Oklahoma Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild

February 1, 2010

WHO: Concerned Oklahomans and OU Students. This protest is endorsed by
the following organizations: (deadline to be an endorsing organization
is Thursday, Feb. 4)

WHAT: A peaceful demonstration against OU’s “CIA Officer in Residence Program”

WHEN: Demonstration from 3-4 p.m., with all participants encouraged to
then attend the scheduled “meet and greet” event with Mr. Don Hughes
(CIA officer in residence) from 4-5 p.m.

WHERE: Demonstration will happen in front of Hester Hall, the “meet
and greet” will happen in Hester Hall 160

WHY: To demonstrate against a known terrorist organization (the CIA)
being allowed to speak on campus at OU, given its long-standing
history of torture and political assassinations

FOR MORE INFORMATION: contact the Oklahoma chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, 405-46-OKNLG

GUIDELINES FOR PARTICIPANTS: Please bring signs and banners to the
public demonstration outside of Hester Hall, but do not bring in any
kind of weapons or illegal drugs. Following the demonstration, those
who wish to do so are encouraged to go in Hester Hall to attend the
“meet and greet” event and express your concerns directly to attendees
and Mr. Hughes himself

BACKGROUND: In the fall of 2010, The University of Oklahoma announced
that Don Hughes was going to be posted on campus as the new “CIA
Officer in Residence.” (see
http://oudaily.com/news/2009/sep/16/new-cia-officer-residence-provides-practical-knowl/
)

According to the CIA, this program seeks “to broaden understanding of
national security intelligence and missions in an academic setting.”
Mr. Hughes told the OU student newspaper that he hopes to “give some
students a bit of a different picture about how bureaucracies work and
the tough decisions that you have to make. The work I’ll do is a
little more practical, a little bit less theoretical.”

One would presume that this would not include discussion of the CIA’s
long history of engaging in torture, political assassinations, and the
undermining of democratically elected governments around the world.

We the people of Oklahoma, have a duty and the right to make sure the
truth is heard. We must let those in power know that the CIA is not
welcome at OU.

For more information on OU CIA Officer in Residence Program:
http://www.ou.edu/content/dam/International/SIAS/Events/Don%20Hughes.pdf
http://www.kgou.org/community.php?id=19708

For recent information on the CIA’s torture programs:

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Investigation/story?id=1322866
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/cia-secret-prison-found/story?id=9115978
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/15/AR2009031502724.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8006597.stm

Posted in Chapter activities, Press releases | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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