Update: Within hours of leaving office Biden commuted Peltier’s sentence to home confinement. Donziger, a much younger man knows what that means! Technically, he and Assange are asking for pardons so they can resume their careers, Steven’s plea was denied! Leonard’s plea is different, his appeal is for clemency for a crime for which he has already served 50 years for a crime he didn’t commit!

Joe Biden had the opportunity before he leaving office to correct several injustices – starting with pardons for Julian Assange, Steven Donziger and Leonard Peltier. For anyone who doesn’t know them (and in Julian’s case there won’t be many) I’ll provide some links below 👇

Julian and Steven are technically free although Julian has a criminal record because he accepted a plea deal which required him him to plead guilty to a crime he didn’t commit and a debt of half a million dollars for a charter flight to Australia! Steven stood up against a more powerful opponent than the US Government, a multi-national corporation who preferred to buy a judge and prosecutor when the federal prosecutor declined to take up the case.

When I last wrote on this subject Steven was facing a 6 month prison sentence having already served an unprecedented pretrial term of two years under house arrest. Julian had spent those two years in HMP Belmarsh awaiting a trial judgement on whether he can be deported to the USA.

Steven served his time in prison, but was unable to resume his legal career or travel abroad until his passport is restored. He refused to give up and his case has gained widespread attention. He insists that it’s not about him but about his clients – the indigenous people of Ecuador!Chevron don’t like people like Steven making waves, but their persecution of him has created a Tsunami!

Steven started to get his life back together, unable to practice law he fell back on his previous profession as a journalist. In the same week that Julian was freed from custody Steven took his case directly to the White House to seek a pardon for a crime he didn’t commit.

Asked why he was asking for a presidential pardon for a crime of which he wasn’t guilty, he explained that he had exhausted all other legal avenues. He’s personally seeking compensation for what he’s suffered over the last few years but, more importantly, he’s seeking justice for his clients – the indigenous people of Ecuador!

Julian and Steven might be technically free but America’s longest serving political prisoner, Native American activist Leonard Peltier, has served almost 50 years for a murder he didn’t commit. On 10 June he had his first parole hearing in 15 years, the parole board had 21 days to give their judgment and they went beyond the deadline before denying him parole!

Julian, Steven and Leonard are all victims of a US legal system which defies the doctrine of the separation of powers – Supreme Court judges are generally conservative because they’re political appointees, much like our House of Lords.

We saw what People Power can do in Steven’s case and pulled out all the stops for Julian. Celebrities like Roger Water and Susan Sarardon, journalists like Chris Hedges and Peter Oborne, and progressive politicians on both sides of the Atlantic helped. If we’re not legally allowed to protest we should do it anyway. Civil disobedience is the only way working people worldwide have ever achieved any semblance of equality with those they had hitherto there masters

Julian Assange Is Free, but Justice Has Not Been Served https://jacobin.com/2024/06/julian-assange-journalism-wikileaks-freedom?sourceid=1092521&emci=13f03f24-c237-ef11-86d2-6045bdd9e096&emdi=99121031-c637-ef11-86d2-6045bdd9e096&ceid=4365213

Donziger to Biden: Democracy Is At Stake With Chevron’s Private Prosecution, by @SDonziger https://open.substack.com/pub/stevendonziger/p/donziger-to-biden-democracy-is-at?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

If you want to help finance Stevens continuing fight against Chevron you can do so here https://www.donzigerdefense.com/

President Joe Biden is likely the last hope for the ailing, 79-year-old Native American rights activist to ever go home. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/leonard-peltier-parole-denied-biden_n_668419f4e4b038babc7d147f?utm_campaign=share_twitter&ncid=engmodushpmg00000004