Monday, 29 November 2004
11:35 p.m. PST

SUPPORT IRISH PEACE ACTIVIST

In just hours, nurse, mother, and peace activist Mary Kelly will be sentenced by an Irish judge. She faces a potential 10-year prison sentence for a plowshares action against the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The sentencing takes place this Wednesday, 1 December 2004.

On 29 January 2003, Kelly, who lives in West Cork, Ireland, climbed the perimeter fence of Shannon Airport on Ireland's west coast -- a U.S. military stopover on the way to Iraq -- and damaged a U.S. warplane with an axe, temporarily disabling it.

Mary's first trial, in July 2003, resulted in a hung jury after she argued that she acted to prevent criminal attacks upon the Iraqi people in an illegal war.

When Mary was retried in 2004, the judge disallowed all testimony regarding the Iraq war, military activities at Shannon Airport, and why Ireland's constitution forbids its support of the invasion. Expert testimony from such luminaries as former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark was kept from the jury, which was forced to decide her case without considering the reasons for her action. She was declared guilty by a 10-2 vote of the jury, the minimum required to convict.
Mary now faces a potential ten-year prison term -- longer than terms meted out in Ireland to murderers and other violent criminals. If she receives a long sentence, it's likely she also will be unable to get out on bail, interfering with her ability to properly prepare to appeal her case. (She expects to win once her case is appealed to European Union courts.)
ProgressivePortal.org users are asked to send messages to Judge Carroll Moran, who will sentence Mary on Wednesday. The messages will go to Mary and to her attorney, Greg O'Neill, who will present them to the judge. Urge Judge Moran -- persuasively and politely -- to recognize that Mary was standing up against Ireland's illegal support of an illegal war, and does not deserve a long prison term.
Time is of the essence. If you can send a message right now (and have not already done so), please do, at:
http://www.progressiveportal.org/letters/global/iraq/marykelly.html

(If you are seeing this message after Mary's sentencing date, your letter is still needed. It will be useful during the appeals process ... and Mary has told me that letters from our users provide her with much encouragement.)

After sending the letter, you'll see a confirmation page that offers you another way to help: Make a contribution to Mary Kelly's legal defense and to ProgressivePortal.org's efforts on her behalf and our other progressive action campaigns.

To contribute without sending a letter (or if you've already sent your letter), please visit:
http://www.progressiveportal.org/feedback/donate-marykelly.html