"WMD Here Plowshares" Go to Trial Sept 13th.

by BT Sat Sep 09, 2006 20:21

International treaties will not save three men from
standing trial for damaging a Minuteman III missile
silo near Garrison earlier this year that could land
them up to 10 years in prison.

For Carl Kabat, a 72-year-old from St. Louis, a
lengthy prison sentence could mean he will spend the
rest of his life in jail.

In a telephone interview from the Burleigh County
Detention Center, Kabat said he is prepared for that
possibility.

"It might be all right if somebody died in jail to get
rid of them (nuclear weapons)," Kabat said.

Throughout his life, Kabat has spent about 16 years
locked up for various protests against nuclear
weapons.

He and Greg Boertje-Obed, 51, and Michael Walli, 57,
both of Duluth, Minn., are being held without bond in
Burleigh County for entering a missile site in McLean
County on June 21 and damaging it. The men gained
access by breaking the lock on the gate. They then
spray-painted messages on the silo lid, hammered on it
and poured blood on it - all while dressed as clowns.

They face charges of destruction of government
property, which carries a maximum penalty of up to 10
years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both. A charge of
destruction of national defense property, which
carries a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000
fine, was dropped for each man.

Their trial begins at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in federal
court in Bismarck and is expected to last three days.

Walli is being represented by New Orleans attorney and
Loyola University professor Bill Quigley, but the
other men are representing themselves.

Quigley, who is taking the case pro bono, said the men
aren't denying what they did, but they hope the jury
will understand the men's reasons and acquit them.

"The defense is based on a hope that the jury will
understand their actions of conscience and that the
jurors will follow their own consciences,"Quigley
said.

Quigley has tried on three occasions to have the case
dismissed - arguing that international treaties make
it illegal for the United States to have nuclear
weapons, which justified what the men did. However,
that argument failed to convince Federal District
Court Judge Daniel Hovland.

"Although Walli's current motion is a lengthier
version of his previous motions, it contains the same
basic fatal flaw - the laws of the United States do
not support the theory that an individual has a right
or a responsibility to correct a perceived violation
of international law/humanitarian law/tribal
law/religious law by willfully destroying government
property,"Hovland wrote in his Sept. 5 order denying
Quigley's motion to dismiss the case.

U.S. District Attorney Clare Hochholter, the
prosecutor in the case, said Friday that he didn't
want to comment on a case before it goes to trial.

The case will give the men a chance to explain their
cause. All three of the men want to take the witness
stand.

Boertje-Obed said they broke into the missile site and
damaged it as a symbolic statement of disarmament. He
said they knew they couldn't damage the silo enough to
prevent a missile from launching from it.

"We admit we are the people involved and we hope to
explain the reasons for doing it," Boetrje-Obed said.

Walli said North Dakotans are contradicting themselves
by having the International Peace Gardens along the
border with Canada while having 150 nuclear missiles
in the ground. The missile silos, which are found in
several remote locations in northcentral North Dakota,
are part of the Minot Air Force Base's arsenal.

Walli describes the missiles as "the Antichrist's
weapons of mass destruction"and said having them is
against God's wishes.

"If they really want peace, they should do what Jesus
tells us to do,"Walli said.

The men are getting some support from peace activists
in Bismarck. The North Dakota Peace Coalition is
conducting a "Festival of Hope" at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday
in the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at 818 E.
Divide Ave. The event will feature someone reading
statements made by the three men, music and
information about the case from Quigley.

Quigley, who said he also is a peace activist, said
someday the missile site the men damaged will be gone
and a monument will be erected in its place to honor
them for what they did.

"History is going to judge these guys as
heroes,"Quigley said. "It really is an honor to
represent these guys."

by Solidarity Sat Sep 09, 2006 12:38

Write as soon as possible. If you put a postcard in the mail between Mon S11-Wed S13 it will reach them at this jail address.

Write individually to.....

Carl Kabat, Michael Walli, Greg Boertje-Obed
Burleigh County Jail (moved back to Bismarck in first part of August)
P.O. Box 1416
Bismarck , ND 58502
USA

If you wish to write later, I'll post an address where mail will be redirected.

by Jonah Sat Sep 09, 2006 02:07

http://www.jonahhouse.org/WMD%20Here%20Plowshares/Legal...s.htm