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Canada

Peltier appeal set for June 12

Special to the Tribune

OTTAWA — “It’s been a dog’s break-
fast with respect to justice,’ Warren
Allmand, Liberal MP, and Indian affairs
minister at the time of Leonard Peltier’s
1976 extradition to the U.S. told a news
conference on April 18.

Allmand has resubmitted a private
members’ motion, originally put forward by
NDP MP Jim Fulton, that calls for the
return of Peltier to Canada and the annul-
ment of all former extradition proceedings.
The motion is expected to be heard by the
House of Commons at a future date.

“We found out after Peltier was extra-
dited to the United States that false evidence
had been used by the FBI, that evidence had
been concealed and that other witnesses had
been coerced,” Allmand said.

He was speaking at a press conference
during a four day prayer vigil and
protest held in Ottawa as part of an interna-
tional campaign to gain Peltier’s release.
According to Anne Fitterer, a spokesperson

with the Leonard Peltier Canadian Defence
Committee, the Ottawa events are happen-
ing at a time of broadening support for
Peltier, one in which Canada will play a
crucial role since U.S. legal channels have
been exhausted.

On the legal front, an appeal has been
filed with the Supreme Court of Canada
by Clayton Ruby and Dianne Martin who
are acting as Canadian counsel for Peltier.
The appeal is scheduled to be heard June
12. According to Ruby, the appeal will pres-
ent new evidence of the fraud committed on
the Canadian court system by the FBI and
used by them to extradite Peltier to the
United States.

“One of the things that is very important
about the material we’ve filed is that Peltier
never had the opportunity to argue in the
United States, in any real way, the fraudu-
lent extradition, “ Martin said.

“The material we’ve filed revealing the
extent and the nature of the FBI wrongdo-
ing has never before been examined by a

May Day Greetings

CUPE Local 3351
Marpole Adult Day Care

“Providing quality service
for our seniors ...”

MAY DAY GREETINGS

members and staff of

Carpenters Shop
Local 1928 Industrial

To the friends of
labour, from the

4457 East Hastings St. Vancouver

lf

(MAY DAY GREETINGS

from the executive and membership of the
Cement Mason’s Union, Local 919

WARREN ALLMAND ... re-introduced
private member’s bill calling for annul-
ment of extradition.

court. And indeed, though lawyers of Pelt-
ier have known about it for some while, no
court has up to now had the opportunity to
examine the depth and breadth of the FBI
effort to extradite Peltier,” she said.

Ethel Pearson of the Kwakiutl nation in
B.C., adoptive mother to Peltier, said the
only way the authorities could correct the
injustice done to Peltier and to other Native
people is to return him to his mother and to
his nation.

“He is my son. I want him out of prison.”

(With files from Darrell Rankin)

Greetings on May Day
in solidarity with the
working people of B.C.

FRONTLINES
ART GROUP

SOS
OSS
DA

Innu acquitted

Four Innu walked out of a Newfound-
land court room April 18 acquitted of
mischief charges for their part in protests
low-level flight tests by NATO fighter-
bombers.

Judge James Igloliorte, an Inuit,
cleared Greg and Elizabeth Penashue,
Ben Michel and David Ashini, saying the
four were acting to protect their tradi-
tional lands, based on the belief that the
territory used for the test flights had
never been seceded by treaty.

Igloliorte added that if Canada was
going to be viewed as an egalitarian
society, it had to recognize the different
cultural values of its aboriginal peoples.

Greg Penashue told the media he was
elated by the ruling and vowed to keep
up the protests against Ottawa’s plans to
establish a NATO training base at Goose
Bay, Labrador.

Ottawa votes
against ARMX

Ottawa city council voted April 19 to
ban all future exhibitions of military
hardware in the city. The motion, by
councillor George Brown, was promp-
ted by plans from peace groups to protest
against the giant ARMX show to be held
in Lansdowne Park next month. This
will be the third time ARMX, featuring
acres of military hardware and high tech
gear, has used Ottawa as a location. In
the past, the show has attracted over
13,000 visitors and exhibitors from 12
countries.

Brown said ARMX gives Ottawa an
undesirable image as the arms capital of
Canada, attracts buyers from repressive
regimes and is out of step with citizens’
desires for peace and stability.

ARMX’s other shows have passed
with little attention. This time peace
groups in Quebec and Ontario are plan-
ning to bus in hundreds of protesters.

May Day Greetings —

United Fishermen &
Allied Workers Union
: Local 7

‘May Day
greetings’

L.S. (Larry) Armstrong
President

Serving workers in the telecommunications industry since 1949.

5261 Lane Street, Burnaby, 437-8601

Doreen McMillan
Secretary-Treasurer

Pacific Tribune, May 1, 1989 « 7