JOEY ONLY OUTLAW BAND supports and stands beside our brother John Graham, a long time indigenous and anti-nuclear activist...we have supported Johnboy since day 1 of his arrest years ago! We wish we weren't on tour when the decision came down so we could have been in court with him.---------------------------------------------------------------
1.Article on our friend John Graham's extradition appeal
2.Send Johnboy a letter in prison
3.Send a letter on John's behalf
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1.John Graham Loses Extradition Appeal Submitted by blackandred on Sun, 2007-07-01 03:51. British Columbia |Turtle Island | Imperialism | Indigenous | Race | Rights | Security apparatus
Former AIM Member Loses Extradition Appeal
by ROD MICKLEBURGH; Wednesday, June 27, 2007 at 5:15 AM EDT - Globe and Mail
[How very sad! The FBI's 'COINTELPRO' program is still happening as another Indigenous Warrior is railroaded by the combined powers of the settler colonies of 'Canada' and the 'United States' - b&r]
VANCOUVER - Echoes from the turbulent and often violent conflicts that consumed the militant American Indian Movement in the 1970s continue to resound in the courtrooms of British Columbia.
Yesterday, the B.C. Court of Appeal upheld the extradition of former AIM member John Graham to stand trial in South Dakota in the chilling murder more than 30 years ago of Canadian Mi'kmaq Anna Mae Aquash.
After the decision, to the evident distress of his two adult daughters sitting in the courtroom, Mr. Graham was taken into custody to await transport to the United States, pending a possible final appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.
According to U.S. authorities, Mr. Graham executed Ms. Aquash as she wept and prayed for her life on a desolate corner of the Pine Ridge Reservation on a wintry South Dakota night in 1975.
Her death was allegedly ordered by AIM leaders who believed that the 30-year-old mother was an informer for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
A U.S. federal jury convicted Arlo Looking Cloud of murder three years ago for his role in the killing. He has told authorities that he looked on while Mr. Graham shot Ms. Aquash in the back of the head.
Mr. Graham and his many supporters argue, however, that he is being framed by the FBI, as they believe well-known native activist Leonard Peltier was.
Mr. Peltier, currently serving a life sentence for the murder of two FBI agents killed during a 1975 shootout with AIM at Pine Ridge, also fought a long, unsuccessful battle to avoid extradition from B.C.
In a case that continues to arouse emotions today, the main evidence used to extradite Mr. Peltier was a sworn affidavit by native Myrtle Poorbear that later proved to be false. Many, including Amnesty International, have called for Mr. Peltier's release.
AIM was the focus of worldwide attention in those days after rifle-toting natives seized Wounded Knee reservation in 1971, keeping federal agents at bay for 71 days.
Over time, however, the militant movement bogged down in bitter divisions. Some of the statements used against Mr. Graham came from former members and leaders of AIM. They said that Mr. Looking Cloud told them Mr. Graham was involved in the murder of Ms. Aquash.
Court of Appeal Judge Ian Donald referred to the statements in upholding Mr. Graham's extradition to stand trial.
"In my opinion, a properly instructed jury acting reasonably could convict on the evidence that [Mr. Graham]...carried out [Ms. Aquash's] execution with the assistance of Looking Cloud," he concluded.
Mr. Graham's lawyer, Terry La Liberté, said he has little hope his client will receive a fair trial in the United States.
"He's going to be at the mercy of their justice system," Mr. La Liberté said. "It took them just four days to try and convict and sentence Arlo Looking Cloud. It's a railroad down there."
Apart from hearsay statements, the evidence against Mr. Graham is non-existent, he said. "There is not a tittle of forensic evidence. ... In Canada, this case wouldn't even get past the charge approval stage. It's terribly frustrating."
With a report from Canadian Press
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2. Please write John a postcard - a postcard so that guards can read it - Write soon as John could be extradited at any time within the next 28 days
Attn: John Graham
North Fraser Pre Trial Center
1451 Kingsway Ave.,
Port Coquitlam,
BC V3C 1S2.
Here are some addresses I am asking people to write in the order given PLEASE send copies of your letters to whoever is appropriate. Never just send off one copy of a letter. It is sometimes in the threat of a copy going elsewhere that something gets done.
N.B ALSO please write Robert Nicholson, Minister of Justice, House of Commons. Ottawa K1A 0A6 and ask him NOT to put his signature on John's extradition order
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AMNESTY ADDRESSES - Write and ask that John Graham's case be looked into as a travesty of justice and ask to have John accepted as a political prisoner. (Links are given to articles giving John's story at the end.)
Write London and US and Germany (Bonn) and the other AI groups listed only as you can. It seems rather useless to write AI Canada in view of this head-in-the-sand answer they have sent us:
( Amnesty(Canada) has previously commented on the need for careful scrutiny of the evidence presented against John Graham, whether in an extradition hearing or in a trial.
However, while we respect efforts to mount an effective defense, we do not share the position that Graham should be shielded from prosecution on the basis of past miscarriages of justice in respect to other, much more prominent members of AIM.
The US justice system is capable of meeting international fair trial standards and should be expected to do in every instance.
The alternative would be to accept that no one could be prosecuted for the murder of Indigenous rights defender Anna Mae Aquash because similar concerns about political interference past investigations would come up in every instance.
I hope that this clarifies our position.
Craig Benjamin
Campaigner for the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples)
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International Secretariat, London
If you have concerns about human rights issues in any particular country, or wish to report instances of human rights abuse, you should contact the Amnesty International Secretariat which is our research and policy headquarters based in London.
Amnesty International Secretariat
1 Easton Street
London UK
WC1X 0DW
Tel +44 (0)20 7413 5500
Fax +44 (0)20 7956 1157
www.amnesty.org
Amnesty International USA
5 Penn Plaza,
New York, NY
USA 10001
(212) 807-8400
Mid West Office
53 Jackson, Ste. 731, Chicago, IL
USA 60604
(312) 427-2060
Germany - amnesty international - Sektion der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
e. V.
Telefon
Telefax
E-mail +49 (0)228 / 9 83 73-0
+49 (0)228 / 63 00 36
info@amnesty.de
Postanschrift
amnesty international
Sektion der Bundesrepublik Deutschland e.V.
53108 Bonn
Hausanschrift
amnesty international
Sekretariat der deutschen Sektion
Büro Bonn
Heerstr. 178
53111 Bonn
amnesty international
Sekretariat der deutschen Sektion
Büro Berlin
Greifswalder Str. 4
10405 Berlin
****************************.
And
Scotland
Amnesty International Scotland
9 Haymarket Terrace
Edinburgh EH12 5EZ
Tel +44 (0) 844 800 9088
Fax +44 (0) 131 313 7000
Email scotland@amnesty.org.uk
Press and media enquiries should be directed to Naomi McAuliffe at the
above office.
Ireland Amnesty International Northern Ireland
397 Ormeau Road
Belfast
BT7 3GP
Tel +44 (0) 28 9064 3000
Email nireland@amnesty.org.uk
Press and media enquiries should be directed to Fiona Smith at the above
office.
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Write to ask that John Graham's case be put into the Supreme Court for the
sake of all Canadians and our threatened sovereignty The Right Hon
Beverley McLachlin Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
301 Wellington St
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0J1
The Hon Irwin Cotler MP (former Minister of Justice who knows about John's case - as does Peter McKay and Andy Scott and Stephen Owen. I have spoken personally to all of them.)
491 West Block
Ottawa Ontario, K1A 0A6
-Any member can be written at House of Commons, Ottawa. K1A 0A6
Allmand was the solicitor general for Canada when Peltier was extradited)
Warren Allmand
4351 Oxford, Montréal, QC
H4A 2Y7
(514) 486-1811
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International Action Center New York: (This was set up by Ramsay Clark who
was much in sympathy with Leonard Peltier)
5C - Solidarity Center
55 West 17th Street
New York, N.Y. 10011
212-633-6646
Please write Robert Nicholson, Minister of Justice, House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A6 and ask him NOT to put his signature on John's extradition order. Ron Basford regrettably gave his signature for the extradition of Leonard Peltier)
Also write
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association
360 Bloor St. W.
Suite 506
Toronto
Ontario
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Here are addresses for Human Rights Watch. Let them know the story and even ask them re legal help in USA. Washington and San Francisco office have always replied to me.
350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor
New York, NY 10118-3299 USA
Tel: 1-(212) 290-4700, Fax: 1-(212) 736-1300
hrwnyc@hrw.org
1630 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 500
Washington, DC 20009 USA
Tel:1-(202) 612-4321, Fax:1-(202) 612-4333
hrwdc@hrw.org
11500 W. Olympic Blvd., Suite 441
Los Angeles, CA 90064 USA
Tel:1-(310) 477-5540, Fax: (310) 477-4622
E-mail: hrwlasb@hrw.org
Website
Human Rights Watch
100 Bush Street, Suite 1812
San Francisco, CA 94104
Tel: 415.362.3250, Fax: 415.362.3255
E-mail: hrwsf@hrw.org
Website
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Info & links:
"Who killed Anna Mae Aquash?"
by Rex Weyler
Vancouver Sun, January 8, 2005
www.grahamdefense.org/20050108weyler-van-sun.htm
Dr. Noam Chomsky on John Graham's threatened extradition from Vancouver
http://www.members.shaw.ca/johngraham/noam.html
Bob Newbrook, attending officer at Leonard Peltier's arrest
Raises doubts about John Graham's arrest
http://www.grahamdefense.org/news_province1.htm
Bruce Ellison, lawyer, 4 decades defending native activists in the US
An interview about John Graham:
http://www.danieltv.com/movies/jg-400.mov
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PLEASE THINK HARD RE GOOD LEGAL DEFENSE FOR JOHN IN THE USA IN THE EVENT
THE CASE DOES NOT GO TO THE SUPREME COURT. Do you know any lawyers in the US?
(www.myspace.com/xjoeyonlyx)
(www.JOEYONLY.com)
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SOUND RESISTANCE RADIO & PRODUCTIONS
(www.myspace.com/soundresistance)
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