Mutual Aid Legal Fund
A small group of Seattle activists have formed a not-for-profit
group to
raise funds towards the legal support of anarchists and similar radical
activists who are facing trials for politically motivated
acts.
MISSION STATEMENT:
"Mutual Aid Legal Fund raises money for legal defense costs
for anarchists and similar radicals who are facing trial on politically
motivated acts."
WTO
Our first project was to raise defense monies for the almost 20
activists who were charged with felonies from the anti-WTO demonstrations
here in Seattle. We expanded beyond our mission statement to include all
people charged with felonies, as there was a lot of demonizing going on
over both black-clad youth ("vandals") AND non-political youth (some of
whom were youth of color, the "looters").
We knew a few of these people, but mostly were tracking their cases by
contacting the lawyers or by researching the legal files. Charges ranged
from malicious mischief to burglary and assault. Almost all of the
defendants pled guilty before going to trial. Two cases were dismissed
because the State could not produce required evidence, and one juvenile
went to trial (by a judge) and was found
guilty. The juvenile served some time, and also one defendant served time
concurrently with a previous conviction. Two defendants jumped bail, and
are facing bench warrants (hopefully, they'll never be found).
All told, we received $2620 in donations from across the country for the
WTO, which is still being disbursed.
General Fund
The news has been coming in from places all over the world, that not only
are more & more people choosing to call themselves and their actions
Anarchist, but that the machinery of the State(s) is still kept oiled & at
the ready to chew them up. In response, we have inaugurated a general
defense fund to be at the ready for future attacks on radicals.
How You Can Help
Please spread the word about our efforts! Send checks, international money
orders or
well-concealed cash (checks/money orders made out to "Mutual Aid Legal
Fund") to:
Mutual Aid Legal Fund
P.O. Box 95616
Seattle, WA 98145-2616
mutlaid@scn.org
Form your own legal defense groups. Keep us posted of your efforts.
Other Links to More Struggles
Quebec Prisoners
As far as money goes, you can still send checks or money orders made out
to "CASA" and send them at
"Le Maquis, C.P. 48026, 110 boul René Lévesque, Québec (Québec) PQ, G1R 2R5,
Canada.
These donations will be forwarded -- 100% -- to CLAC (the Anti-Capitalist
Convergence) and CASA (the Welcoming Committee of the Summit
of the Americas), two of the main organizers of the
Quebec City protests. People are still being held in jails & seeking to
raise bail, and then defense funds.
See this link for more information:
http://www.quebec2001.net
The Chattanooga 3
This case of political protesters in Tennessee has been dragging on now for
almost 3
years. Lorenzo Komboa Ervin wrote,
"This case is definitely about more than the three of us in a small town
in Tennessee. This case will be used as a precedent, and right now is
*the* major court case in the American court system defining civil rights
and liberties. The government would like nothing more than to define our
rights to protest as a form of terrorism or criminal conspiracy against
government operations. They want to end our rights to freedom of assembly,
and stifle all forms of activism."
In January 2001, Lorenzo Komboa Ervin, Damon McGee & Mikail Musa Muhammed
were convicted on charges of being involved in May 2000 protest of the
killings of 2 Black men by Chattanooga police. During their trial, a man
of undetermined allegiance entered the courtroom carrying a gun &
ammunition, who claimed to be part of a plot to disrupt the
courtroom. Although this man is not being charged, the 3 defendants
are now being indicted on charges of conspiracy & bringing firearms
into a courtroom.
contact:
BANCO (Black Autonomy Network of Community Organizers)
P.O. Box 19962
Kalamazoo, MI 49019
or The International Committee to Support the Chattanooga 3
Banco_midwest@hotmail.com
Anarchist Prisoners' Legal Aid Network(APLAN)
818 SW 3rd AVe PMB#354
Portland, OR 97204
aplan69@hotmail.com
APLAN publishes an excellent newsletter of information for and about
anarchist prisoners & defendants. They are also organizing the defense
funds for the "Portland 3".
Free & Critter
Free (Jeffrey Luers) & Critter (Craig Marshall) are 2 Eugene activists
involved in their local Copwatch. In Summer 2000, they were arrested on
charges of attempted arson at a car dealership. During the course of
their trial, Free's lawyer died resulting in a mistrial for him. Critter
entered an Alford plea (this is a technical "guilty" plea, which
reflects the reality that although the defendant is not confessing guilt
to a crime, s/he recognizes that the court may still be able to prosecute
her/him) for "Conspiracy to Commit Arson" & "Possession of a destructive
device". Critter was sentenced to 66 months at Oregon State
Pentitentiary, although he may be eligible for a reduced sentence of 17
months.
On June 11, 2001, Free was finally sentenced to nearly 23
years on 11 charges ranging from Arson I to Attempted Criminal Mischief.
Contact info:
Jeffrey Luers #13797671
TRCI
82911 Beach Access Rd.
Umatilla, OR 97882
Craig Marshall #13797662
OSP 2605 State St.
Salem, OR 97310
Name and return address must be included on both the envelope AND the
letter, as they only get the letter. Free has been assigned 'Threat
Group'
status, so people need to BE SMART about what they send. They can
recieve
news clippings, photographs up to 8x10, photocopies, color xerox art.
Books
and zines must be sent directly from the publisher or amazon.com.
For more information, check out their outside
support website.
Checks can be sent to:
Free/Critter Legal Defense Fund
c/o OUR Credit Union
P.O. Box 11922
Eugene, OR 97440
Send e-mail to:
Mutual Aid Legal Fund
mutlaid@scn.org
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