Washington, DC – Leaders from a wide range of advocacy groups will join with Greenpeace at a Dec. 11 press conference to call on Attorney General John Ashcroft to drop his prosecution of Greenpeace for a nonviolent protest by several of its supporters.
The criminal prosecution of an advocacy group for the free speech activities of its members – and the chilling effect on its activities – is unprecedented in the U.S. It sets a dangerous precedent threatening the First Amendment right to peaceful protest.
Greenpeace is facing criminal charges by the Justice Department for an action in which two activists boarded a ship carrying illegal mahogany off the coast of Miami. They carried a banner urging President Bush to stop illegal logging. The Ashcroft Justice Department indicted Greenpeace by unearthing an 1872 law enacted to prevent “sailor mongering” – whereby owners of brothels and taverns sought to lure sailors off their ships. There are only two prosecutions on record under this law – the last one 113 years ago.
This press conference takes place on the eve of a Dec. 12 hearing in Miami, at which Greenpeace will ask the federal court to dismiss the indictment against it.
WHAT:
EMS Press Conference to Call for Halt to Greenpeace Prosecution
WHEN:
Thursday, December 11, 10 a.m. EST
WHERE:
The J.W. Marriott Hotel — the Russell Room
1331 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. (14th & Pennsylvania Ave)
WHO:
