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LEONARD PELTIER FREEDOM MONTHSupporters of jailed American Indian Movement (AIM) member Leonard Peltier have called for a month of activities in November as part of the latest effort to free him. Marches, marathons, fasts and other nonviolent actions have been organised as part of the campaign, called Leonard Peltier Freedom Month. Peltier was given two life sentences in 1977 for the murder of two FBI agents who were killed during a 1975 shootout with AIM members at the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. With all appeals through the courts having failed, supporters are calling on President Clinton to give Peltier executive clemency before he leaves office. Amnesty International, the Anglican church and indigenous people's groups throughout North America ore backing the calls for Peltier's immediate release. Peltier was one of around twenty AIM members who in June 1975 were invited on to the Pine Ridge reservation to protect a group of Lokota people whose sacred ground and traditional life-style were under threat. Factions within the tribal government- backed by goon squads armed and supported by the FBI - were trying to force the Lakota to sell or lease their land to Uranium mining interests for short term profit. On June 26 two young FBI agents drove on to the reservation at high speed in pursuit of a Native American suspected of having stolen a pair of cowboy boots. A gunfight ensued, and the two agents along with one Native American were shot dead. With help from the Native American Community, the remaining AIM members escaped, but police later apprehended Dino Butler and Bob Robideau and charged them with the murder of the FBI agents. Robideau and Butler were both found not guilty by reason of self defence. The jury saw the incident as an invasion by a hostile, armed paramilitary force on sovereign Pine Ridge reservation land on which the FBI had no jurisdiction.
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Undeterred, the government set about ensuring the successful prosecution of a third suspect, Leonard Peltier, who had escaped to Canada. They first had Peltier extradited by presenting Canadian officials with falsified and coerced affidavits, a fact which the US prosecutors admitted in 1985. They then shifted the trial to North Dakota and arranged to have Peltier tried before a judge who was known for his convictions of Native Americans. Vital ballistic evidence was withheld and a 'murder weapon' fabricated in an all-out effort by prosecutors to prove Peltier was directly responsible for the murders. Federal prosecutors have since admitted that they don't know who actually fired the shots that killed the two FBI agents. Anyone interested in the case should see the excellent Robert Redford produced documentary "Incident of Oglala." Rumour has it Hollywood action star Steven Segal is also working on a movie about Peltier's life.
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