40 YEARS OF INJUSTICE: FREE LEONARD PELTIER
“My message to you today is this – please continue to work against injustice everywhere. As for me, I will do the same, but I am tired and I want to go home to my family. I have spent nearly 40 years behind these walls for something I did not do. I have become an old man and my health is failing me now. I ask that you do not forget me. And I thank you from my heart for all the good works you do to help me and to help to make this a better world.” –Leonard Peltier
Leonard Peltier is an Anishinabe-Lakota Native American serving two consecutive life sentences. When arrested, he was a leading member of the American Indian Movement, an advocacy group and movement concerned with Native American rights. In 1975, during a confrontation involving AIM members, two FBI agents were shot dead. Leonard was convicted of their murders, but has always maintained his innocence. Amnesty International is deeply concerned about the fairness of proceedings leading to his trial and conviction, and believes that political factors may have influenced the way in which the case was prosecuted.
In 2009, Leonard Peltier’s petition for release on parole was denied by the US Parole Commission. In fact, the Commission has repeatedly denied parole on the grounds that Peltier did not accept criminal responsibility for the murders of the two FBI agents. This is despite the fact that, after one such hearing, the Commission acknowledged that, “the prosecution has conceded the lack of any direct evidence that you personally participated in the executions of two FBI agents.”
Today, Leonard is 71 years old. He is imprisoned in Florida, approximately 2,000 miles from his family in North Dakota. It is not only a physical hardship for his family to visit him, it is almost impossible financially. As a result, Leonard remains isolated and in poor health. He suffers from diabetes, and was recently diagnosed with an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Amnesty International urges the Obama administration to act in the interest of justice and grant him clemency on humanitarian grounds.
TAKE ACTION:
Tweet @POTUS to ask President Barack Obama to ensure Leonard’s release:
.@POTUS, end XX years of shameful injustice behind bars, act in the name of human rights & #FreeLeonardPeltier now!
After XX years of shameful injustice behind bars @POTUS MUST act in the name of human rights & #FreeLeonardPeltier!
Sign and share Amnesty International’s online action on Leonard’s behalf at amnestyusa.org/LeonardPeltier. Want more resources? Email us at [email protected]
Write Leonard a letter to know that you are thinking of him and he is not alone:
Leonard Peltier, #89637-132 USP Coleman 1 US Penitentiary PO Box 1033, Coleman, FL 33521