[E-rundbrief] Info 2207 - The Nuclear Resister: Germany Jails American Peace Activist
Matthias Reichl
info at begegnungszentrum.at
Di Jan 10 16:30:08 CET 2023
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)
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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
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