Friday, April 16, 2004
By Catherine Wilson, Associated Press
MIAMI — A judge refused Thursday to throw out federal charges against
Greenpeace for protesting a shipment of Amazon mahogany, setting
up a trial that could serve as a test on the limits of political
dissent.
The Justice Department charged the environmental group under an
obscure 19th-century law enacted to stop pimps from clambering aboard
ships heading for port. The government has never successfully prosecuted
an activist organization on criminal charges over protest methods.
Although U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan allowed the case
to move forward, parts of his ruling could give prosecutors reason
to be nervous.
"This case is, to put it mildly, unusual," Jordan wrote.
Although the law's "lack of use does not prevent the government
from going forward against Greenpeace, it does point to how uncommon
such a prosecution is."
Jordan did not make a final decision on Greenpeace's claim that
the wording of the old law is too vague but said the argument "looks
like a winner."
U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Matt Dates declined comment.
Greenpeace claims the Bush administration is going out of its way
to stifle dissent in retaliation for its pushy challenges to pollution,
deforestation, and global warming.
The prosecution "has the potential to transform an important
aspect of our nation's legal and political life, significantly affecting
our tradition of civil protest," said Greenpeace Executive
Director John Passacantando.
The charges stem from a 2002 protest on the 965-foot APL Jade more
than three miles off Miami Beach. Two protesters jumped aboard the
vessel while members in two rubber rafts zigzagged in front of the
ship. The crew kept protesters from unfurling a banner reading,
"President Bush, Stop Illegal Logging."
Greenpeace claims the ship was carrying illegally cut Brazilian
mahogany and that Bush has failed to enforce an international import
ban.
Six Greenpeace members settled criminal charges over the boarding,
but a misdemeanor indictment charged the group with conspiracy and
an illegal boarding under the 1872 law.
Each count carries a possible $10,000 fine plus probation, a chilling
prospect for an organization that is afraid it could be forced to
open its records to government inspection.
The judge said the fears were "unfounded" and specifically
noted that Greenpeace's membership list would be protected.
The jury trial will begin May 17.
Source: Associated Press
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