[E-rundbrief] Info 2207 - The Nuclear Resister: Germany Jails American Peace Activist

[Matthias Reichl]

E-Rundbrief Info 2207 - The Nuclear Resister: Germany Jails American 
Peace Activist.

Bad Ischl,10.1.2023

Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit

www.begegnungszentrum.at

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The Nuclear Resister

NEWS RELEASE

For immediate release: January 10, 2023

Contact:
Marion Küpker, Hamburg, Germany CET
+49 172 771 3266, <mariongaaa at gmx.de>
Felice or Jack Cohen-Joppa, Tucson, AZ, USA MST
+1-520-323-8697 <nukeresister at igc.org>


Germany Jails American Peace Activist
for Protest of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Based There

Amidst heightened nuclear tension between NATO and Russia in Europe, 
U.S. peace activist John LaForge entered a German prison on January 10, 
2023 to serve jail time there for protests against U.S. nuclear weapons 
stockpiled at Germany’s Büchel Air Force Base, 80 miles southeast of 
Cologne. LaForge entered JVA Billwerder in Hamburg as the first American 
ever imprisoned for a nuclear weapons protest in Germany.

The 66-year-old Minnesota native and co-director of Nukewatch, the 
Wisconsin-based advocacy and action group, was convicted of trespass in 
Cochem District Court for joining in two “go-in” actions at the German 
airbase in 2018. One of the actions involved entering the base and 
climbing atop a bunker that likely housed some of the approximately 
twenty U.S. B61 thermonuclear gravity bombs stationed there.

Germany’s Regional Court in Koblenz affirmed his conviction and lowered 
the penalty from €1,500 to €600 ($619) or 50 “daily rates”, which 
translates to 50 days incarceration. LaForge has refused to pay* and has 
appealed the convictions to Germany’s Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe, 
the country's highest, which has not yet ruled in the case.

In the appeal, LaForge argues that both the District Court in Cochem and 
the Regional Court in Koblenz erred by refusing to consider his defense 
of “crime prevention,” thereby violating his right to present a defense.

Before entering prison, LaForge said: “U.S. and German Air Force plans 
and preparations, currently ongoing, to use the nuclear weapons 
stationed here in Germany are a criminal conspiracy to commit massacres 
with radiation and firestorms. The court authorities in this case have 
prosecuted the wrong suspects.”

Both courts ruled against hearing from expert witnesses who had 
volunteered to explain the international treaties that prohibit any 
planning for mass destruction. In addition, the appeal argues, Germany’s 
stationing of the U.S. nuclear weapons is a violation of the Treaty on 
the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which explicitly forbids 
any transfer of nuclear weapons between countries that are parties to 
the treaty, including both the U.S. and Germany.

- end -

* "Why Not Pay Fine Imposed for Actions Against Nuclear Threats?” by 
John LaForge 
<https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/12/16/why-not-pay-fine-imposed-for-actions-against-nuclear-threats> 


Attached:
1) Photo of John LaForge before entering JVA Billwerder (photo credit: 
Marion Küpker)


---------------------------
the Nuclear Resister
"a chronicle of hope"
Felice & Jack Cohen-Joppa,
coordinators
- Since 1980, information about and support for
imprisoned anti-nuclear and anti-war activists -
phone (520)323-8697
nukeresister at igc.org
nukeresister.org
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-- 

     Matthias Reichl, Pressesprecher/ press speaker,
     Begegnungszentrum fuer aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
     Center for Encounter and active Non-Violence
     Wolfgangerstr. 26, 4820 Bad Ischl, Austria,
     fon: +43 6132 24590, Informationen/ informations,
     Impressum in: http://www.begegnungszentrum.at