Letter from Jeff "Free" Luers, Political Prisoner, Dec 1
international solidarity | 05.12.2006 16:18 | Repression | Social Struggles | World
On 3 December 2006 there was an International Day of Solidarity with Political Prisoners that involved people from countries around the world. In Palestine, the Philippines, Haiti, Brazil, Italy, Switzerland, England, India, and the U.S. people marked December 3rd with rallies, marches, and other forms of resistance.
Around the world millions of people are suffering from the abuses of power that have become all too common in our human societies. In dozens of countries, generations of people have chosen to fight injustice rather than submit to it. We honor those people today. We raise our voices and our fists to salute those who have fought to free their homelands, who have struggled for self-determination; those who have demanded human rights; those who have raided laboratories and liberated animals; and those who have fought to defend our earth.
Today we shout our praises and offer our respect to those captured in the line of duty, serving their cause. We thank them for refusing to submit even behind bars.
On this day we bow our heads in reverence to those people who made the ultimate sacrifice and gave their lives for freedom. We remember the price they paid and the loss that their family and friends still feel.
We offer more than our gratitude. We offer our solidarity. We make a promise to remember and honor those who have come before. We make a vow that the struggle will continue until all are free.
Too many people have had to fight for the freedom they should have been guaranteed at birth; too many have suffered the cruelty of capitalist exploitation.
The most important thing we can do today is to make a solemn oath: that ours is the last generation that will have to struggle; that we will apply pressure from all angles until these systems of oppression crack; that we will settle for nothing less than victory.
With the memory of those who have come before us; in solidarity with those still standing behind bars; while honoring those who gave their lives: we march forward to bring a new day with our heads high and our fists raised.
And I say to you that if we stand united with one voice and we act on our desire for liberation we will carry the day! We will win!
Jeff "Free" Luers
1 December 2006
Write to:
Jeff Luers
#13797671
Oregon State Prison
2605 State Street
Salem, Oregon 97310
USA
Today we shout our praises and offer our respect to those captured in the line of duty, serving their cause. We thank them for refusing to submit even behind bars.
On this day we bow our heads in reverence to those people who made the ultimate sacrifice and gave their lives for freedom. We remember the price they paid and the loss that their family and friends still feel.
We offer more than our gratitude. We offer our solidarity. We make a promise to remember and honor those who have come before. We make a vow that the struggle will continue until all are free.
Too many people have had to fight for the freedom they should have been guaranteed at birth; too many have suffered the cruelty of capitalist exploitation.
The most important thing we can do today is to make a solemn oath: that ours is the last generation that will have to struggle; that we will apply pressure from all angles until these systems of oppression crack; that we will settle for nothing less than victory.
With the memory of those who have come before us; in solidarity with those still standing behind bars; while honoring those who gave their lives: we march forward to bring a new day with our heads high and our fists raised.
And I say to you that if we stand united with one voice and we act on our desire for liberation we will carry the day! We will win!
Jeff "Free" Luers
1 December 2006
Write to:
Jeff Luers
#13797671
Oregon State Prison
2605 State Street
Salem, Oregon 97310
USA
international solidarity
Homepage:
http://www.freefreenow.org
Additions
here is more information
05.12.2006 17:14
In June 2001, 23 year-old forest defense activist Jeffrey "Free" Luers was sentenced to 22 years and 8 months in prison for the burning of three Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV's) in Eugene, Oregon. To make a statement about global warming, Jeff and his codefendent, Craig 'Critter' Marshall, set fire to 3 Sport Utility Vehicles at a Eugene car dealership. Their stated purpose was to raise awareness about global warming and the role that SUVs play in that process. No one was hurt in this action nor was that the intent. An arson specialist at trial confirmed that the action did not pose any threat to people based on its size and distance from any fuel source. Despite the fact that this action hurt no one, caused only $40,000 in damages and the cars were later resold, Jeff was sent to prison for a sentence considerably longer than those convicted of murder, kidnapping and rape in Oregon state. Jeff is a political prisoner and continues to write and agitate for his release while imprisoned at Oregon State Penetentiary. His appeal was filed in January 2002 and oral arguments before the Oregon Court of Appeals were heard on November 30, 2005. The judge has not yet issued his opinion.
eco-anarcho
Comments
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Why?
06.12.2006 07:31
A4
paper thin reasoning
06.12.2006 20:59
Less damage to the environment occurs through torching them than driving them. And it makes people like you think about that.
"And since when did committing arson make someone a political prisoner, unless you allege that anyone in gaol are political prisoners?"
Everyone in prison is a political prisoner from an anarchist point of view, that's why Pinochet and Thatcher and Blair and the other mass murderers go free despite their crimes and this bloke faces draconian punishment for a crime that couldn't hurt anyone.
a different Bob