Missouri Judge Convicts and Sentences Two Peace Activists for Protesting Drone Warfare
by VCNC
In testimony, Kelly, who recently returned from Afghanistan, recounted her conversation with an Afghan mother whose son, a recent police academy graduate, was killed by a drone as he sat with colleagues in a garden.
Judge Matt Whitworth sentenced Kelly (left) to three months in prison and Walker to one year of supervised probation.
“I’m educated and humbled by experiences talking with people who’ve been trapped and impoverished by U.S. warfare,” said Kelly.
“The U.S. prison system also traps and impoverishes people. In coming months, I’ll surely learn more about who goes to prison and why.”
During sentencing, prosecution attorneys asked that Walker be sentenced to five years of probation and banned from going within 500 feet of any military base. Judge Whitworth imposed a sentence of one year probation with a condition that Walker refrain from approaching any military base for one year. Walker coordinates an organization that provides re-entry services to newly released prisoners throughout Missouri.
Noting that the condition to stay away from military bases will affect her ability to travel in the region, Walker expressed concern that this condition will limit her work among former prisoners.
Kelly’s work as a co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence places her alongside people in a working class neighborhood of Kabul. She said that the day’s proceedings offered a valuable opportunity to shed light on experiences of Afghan families whose grievances are seldom heard.
At the conclusion of the sentencing, Kelly said that every branch of U.S. government, including the judicial branch, shares responsibility for suffering caused when drones target and kill civilians.
PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release
December 11, 2014
Contact: Buddy Bell
312 647 9345
Voices for Creative Nonviolence
773 619 2418
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