letters to political prisoners writing day October 1, 2006

the last year has seen a dramatic spike in the number of political
prisoners in the united states. the recent crack down by the fbi on
environmental and animal liberation activists have put dozens of people
behind bars, some for very long sentences. draconian anti-"terror" laws
have been used to drive sentencing times upwards and many activists have
been charged with nebulous "conspiracy" laws that seek to impose the same
punishment for talking about a crime as actually committing it.

with so many activists behind bars already or facing long incarceration it
is imperitive that we build an effective prisoner support movement. part
of that is writing letters to political prisoners. for many prisoners,
mail is one of the few contacts with the outside world and is crucial to
maintaining morale and mental health.

the letters-to-prisoners writing party plans to focus on three selected
political prisoners in the united states. they are:

eric mcdavid:
eric is charged with conspiracy to commit arson on an "unknown target" for
political purposes. even though he set no fire and his only crime is
'conspiracy', the state of california plans to sentence him, if
convicted, to the same punishment as if he had actually burned a building
down. eric was arrested based solely on the testimony of confidential
source who was paid $75,000 usd by the fbi for her information.
http://www.supporteric.org/

darren thurston:
darren is a canadian animal and eco liberation prisoner being held in
portland, oregon. on july 28 he pled guilty to liberating wild horses from
a bureau of land management corral. the horses were scheduled for sale as
meat for the european market. darren is originally from edmonton and has
been a lifelong environmental and anti-fascist activist.
http://freedarren.org

jeff hogg:
jeff has committed no crime other than assert his fifth ammendment (right
to remain silent) rights. in the united states, grand juries can compel
testimony from witnesses and deny their right to legal representation by
offering 'forced immunity'. grand juries meet in secret and are
unaccountable to the public. on may 18, jeff refused to be bullied into
providing testimony before an oregon grand jury investigating unknown
environmental direct actions. to force his testimony, he was sentenced to
spend the remainder of the grand jury's session in prison. (note: the
grand jury, originally set to finish on sept 30, has been extended to
march 2007)
http://www.fbiwitchhunt.com/JeffHogg.html

we encourage anyone who is concerned about prisoners, the environment or
the draconian anti-"terror" legislation being passed in the united states
to come down on october 1 to support a prisoner.