Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Letter from Political Prisoner Leonard Peltier




 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Free Leonard Peltier!

NOTE: I've been a Leonard Peltier supporter for many years, ever since I first read the book, In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, by Peter Matthiessen, published in 1980. 

I remember that one day I was sitting in a dentist's waiting room, reading the book. I was so outraged by the injustice of it all that I couldn't restrain myself from cursing out loud, These sons of bitches! (and worse)...and people were staring at me, but I didn't care.

Sadly, not much has changed since that time, long ago. I'm still outraged, and Leonard Peltier is still in prison. Corrupt FBI agents are still destroying lives....and the battle between Good and evil still rages on.... 

Leonard Peltier is one of my personal heroes.

For more information please see these Leonard Peltier websites:
 
Free Leonard Peltier!

Barbara Hartwell Percival
January 5, 2010

January 1st 2010:
12383 days of WRONGFUL IMPRISONMENT!!!

Greetings and happy holidays. I hope this letter finds you all enjoying the spirit of the season with family and friends. 

My August parole denial was appealed in short order. We are expecting a response to that appeal sometime very soon. It has occurred to me that the viciousness of this system knows no bounds, and so I believe strongly in the coming days we will hear of another loss, another denial. This one will be timed and intended specifically as a twisted Christmas present for me, such is the nature of those in charge. With no sense of balance, fairness, or decency, I await my own personal stocking stuffer.

We all know the so-called justice system of this country is more about revenge and retribution than finding true and just resolution. It doesn't take into account the plight of the wrongfully convicted, nor does it allow flexibility as human endeavors always require. This system has always been about making money at the top, furthering careers in the middle, and forgetting those at the bottom.

Their reason for denying my parole is that I refuse to admit guilt and show remorse for the deaths of two FBI agents. I know the righteousness of my situation. I know what I did and didn't do. I will never yield.

I also know what this country did and continues to do to me and many others. While they demand I make a false confession for the sake of my freedom, they show no remorse for the loss of much of my life, or the lives of Joe Stuntz and countless others they have murdered over the generations simply for being who they were. Those lives are meaningless when compared to their precious FBI, I guess. And now, some of the very ones responsible for the deaths and suffering of so many of my people, are peddling books and claiming to be a friend of the Indian. We've seen this before, and I'll speak more about this soon.

I remain proud of what I have stood for and mindful of what real justice is. In this season of love and forgiveness, please say a prayer for all of those who never knew justice and others who have such difficulty in finding it still today.

My love and my prayers go out to all of you.
Happy Holidays,

In the Spirit of Crazy Horse,
Leonard Peltier