A letter from incarcerated CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou has been posted on Firedoglake. In it he describes the challenges inherent in prison life, from figuring out where to sit at lunch to guards who try to incite violence between prisoners. Highly recommended.
Read the letter here: Letter From Loretto
You can write to him yourself (he says he writes back to every letter):
It should go without saying that we at #OpPenPal stand in solidarity with Jeremy Hammond.
It is always difficult to watch a friend plead guilty, especially when they do so because the “justice” system cannot be trusted to reveal the truth.
Jeremy has been systematically isolated, refused bond, and denied the ability to aid in his own defense. Jeremy has been assigned a judge with a conflict of interest who refuses to recuse herself from the case. Jeremy has also been threatened with further prosecution should he successfully defend himself against these charges.
It is not justice, but rather the result of a slow erosion of Jeremy’s right to a fair and speedy trial to prove his innocence.
The maximum sentence for Jeremy’s plea is 10 years, but the minimum is zero. When Jeremy is sentenced in September he will have already served 18 months. Please see his brother Jason’s petition to reduce sentencing to time served.
It is our sincere wish that we may welcome Jeremy back home in the very near future. In the meantime, the best thing we can do for Jeremy and others in his position is to keep writing, to not allow the state to isolate them into submission.
Send him a letter of support today:
Jeremy Hammond
#18729-424
Metropolitan Correctional Center
150 Park Row
New York, NY 10007
Then visit our mailing list to find others who need your love and support.
We are Anonymous.
We are Legion.
We do not forgive injustice.
We do not forget our comrades.
Expect Mail. Lots of it.
Today I pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. This was a very difficult decision. I hope this statement will explain my reasoning. I believe in the power of the truth. In keeping with that, I do not want to hide what I did or to shy away from my actions. This non-cooperating plea agreement frees me to tell the world what I did and why, without exposing any tactics or information to the government and without jeopardizing the lives and well-being of other activists on and offline.
During the past 15 months I have been relatively quiet about the specifics of my case as I worked with my lawyers to review the discovery and figure out the best legal strategy. There were numerous problems with the government’s case, including the credibility of FBI informant Hector Monsegur. However, because prosecutors stacked the charges with inflated damages figures, I was looking at a sentencing guideline range of over 30 years if I lost at trial. I have wonderful lawyers and an amazing community of people on the outside who support me. None of that changes the fact that I was likely to lose at trial. But, even if I was found not guilty at trial, the government claimed that there were eight other outstanding indictments against me from jurisdictions scattered throughout the country. If I had won this trial I would likely have been shipped across the country to face new but similar charges in a different district. The process might have repeated indefinitely. Ultimately I decided that the most practical route was to accept this plea with a maximum of a ten year sentence and immunity from prosecution in every federal court.
Now that I have pleaded guilty it is a relief to be able to say that I did work with Anonymous to hack Stratfor, among other websites. Those others included military and police equipment suppliers, private intelligence and information security firms, and law enforcement agencies. I did this because I believe people have a right to know what governments and corporations are doing behind closed doors. I did what I believe is right.
I have already spent 15 months in prison. For several weeks of that time I have been held in solitary confinement. I have been denied visits and phone calls with my family and friends. This plea agreement spares me, my family, and my community a repeat of this grinding process.
I would like to thank all of my friends and supporters for their amazing and ongoing gestures of solidarity. Today I am glad to shoulder the responsibility for my actions and to move one step closer to daylight.
Jeremy Hammond
[source]
Our comrades at Free Anons and Mail To The Jail have put out an urgent call to pack the court room for Jeremy Hammond tomorrow in NYC. They will meet at Foley Square at 9:15am and hold a press conference following the hearing. We urge you to attend if you live in NYC as Jeremy has requested support at this crucial hearing.
Livestreaming via:
Luke Rudkowski: http://wearechange.org/
Tim Pool: http://www.timcast.com/
Follow all updates on Twitter: https://twitter.com/freeanons and https://twitter.com/Free_Hammond
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/263596853785094/
We’re excited to announce that #OpPenPal is part of an actual IRL event in Chicago next week.
On June 2nd, our comrade @allshiny will be running a prisoner letter-writing table at a local show (details below). Stop by to write postcards/letters to political prisoners, drop off donations (i.e. stamps, padded envelopes, books, money), learn more about their cases, and OH YEAH there’s live music too.
WHEN: Sunday, June 2nd at 8pm
WHERE: LiveWire Lounge, 3394 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago IL 60641
MUSIC: Steely James, Cavepainters
COVER: $5
LIVETWEETS: @allshiny, @OpPenPal
FB EVENT: https://www.facebook.com/events/601480593195997/
We promise to post pictures of this event. Feel free to organize one in your own city! Send details to us at OpPenPal [at] tormail [dot] org.
Mark Neiweem of the NATO 5 has been transferred to a medium security facility to serve the remainder of his sentence following his plea agreement. He could be released as early as November.
His new mailing address is:
Mark Neiweem
M36200
P.O. Box 99
Pontiac, IL 61764
Please send Mark a letter to welcome him to his new home!
The following letter from Weev was received by a supporter today. It was originally posted on pastebin.
5/5/2013
How are you doing? How are the chops? I am disgusted to have to write an actual paper letter but they took away all my electronic comms methods and put me in the special housing unit where I am under 24/7 lockdown. All this for the high crime of blogging,despite nation B.O.P. officials having made public statements that what I was doing wasn’t against the rules. Meredith had a conversation with the guy even.
It has been a week of this and I feel completely alone and abandoned. I don’t even have my loved ones or attorney’s address (they took most of my papers and I happened to have your address on a property slip they didn’t toss). and am unsure when or if anyone will find out about my situation.
I refused to consent to a payment plan for the fine levied against me from my commissary funds, so now I can’t buy food I can eat from the prison store anymore. Things are really depressing. Please have people send books. I need them badly in 24/7 lockdown with no library access.
I miss everyone, also food and sunlight. I was hoping people would send m tweets and news articles about me but nobody has. Has the Internet forgotten about me or am I still a hot topic?
Miss you all dearly,
Weev #10378-010(I really wish my attorney would call, only he can)
Weev needs our support. Show him that the Internet has not and will never forget him.
To donate to his defense fund so his lawyer can visit and work to get better living conditions for Weev: http://cfaadefensefund.com/
To donate to his support fund so his support crew can add to his commissary and send books: http://bit.ly/weevpay
To sign up to send books from his reading list or to tell us about books you have sent: https://oppenpal.wordpress.com/mailing-list/team-weev/
Can’t afford postage? Send a message of support to OpPenPal [at] tormail [dot] org. We will print and send it for you.
Guidelines for sending mail and books: https://oppenpal.wordpress.com/guidelines/
#OpPenPal 