MIM Notes 229                   March 1, 2001

Leonard Peltier denied clemency: Turns out money does buy 
political favors

Ex-president Clinton pardoned hundreds of people in a last minute 
rush before he turned over the keys to the white house to George 
W. Bush. Supporters of American Indian Movement activist Leonard 
Peltier had been working for almost two years on petitioning 
Clinton for clemency. Clinton said he would review the case 
carefully, but revolutionary activists were skeptical. In the end, 
Bill knew it was too politically risky for him and now-Senator 
Hillary. FBI agents had protested against amnesty for Peltier in 
the weeks before Clinton stepped down.

Leonard Peltier was convicted of killing two FBI agents on June 
26, 1975, despite the lack of eyewitness testimony and 
contradictions in the prosecution's case. There were numerous 
problems with this trial -- important witnesses against Peltier 
later admitted they lied, the prosecution withheld ballistics 
information which would have exonerated Peltier from the defense, 
the defense was prohibited from discussing the FBI's practice of 
using false affidavits and of intimidating witnesses, and so 
on.(1) Peltier was convicted in a sham trial because the united 
$tates government needed a scapegoat and he was a participant in a 
militant movement for self-determination for First Nation peoples.

Clinton's pardons were par for the corrupt course. He pardoned 
Susan McDougal of the Whitewater scam and his own brother, Roger 
Clinton. Among the surprises was Marc Rich, a billionaire who 
bilked the Amerikan government out of 48 million dollars in taxes 
and spent 17 years in exile in Switzerland rather than face a 
trial and prison time in the united $nakes. Rich's ex-wife gave a 
lot of money to Hillary's senate campaign, and begged Clinton to 
let her ex-husband "come home".

If we Peltier supporters had hundreds of thousands of dollars to 
bribe Klinton perhaps he would be coming home by now. But we 
didn't -- all we had was the truth and a commitment to help the 
oppressed. Evidently these don't count for much with the Amerikan 
bourgeoisie, whose courts have refused to even consider the 
possibility of reasonable doubt in the case.

Clinton's decision reaffirms the need for a long-term, broad 
strategy, even in legal battles which can be won under capitalism. 
If Clinton had given Peltier amnesty, for example, it would not 
have been because of a handful of lawyers. Rather, it would have 
been the result of the political pressure of the masses, aroused 
and organized by activist groups like the Leonard Peltier Defense 
Committee and the MIM.

Furthermore, we are bound to suffer some defeats. But even these 
defeats give us the opportunity for future victories. We can use 
them to further expose the corruption of the Amerikan imperialist 
government. As Leonard Peltier said hiself in a 30 January 
statement to his supporters, "We can see who was granted clemency 
and why. The big donors to the President's campaign were able to 
buy justice, something we just couldn't afford. Meanwhile, many 
political prisoners continue to languish unjustly, proof that this 
nation's talk about reconciliation is nothing but empty rhetoric."

Notes:

1. "Leonard's attorney rebuts the FBI," http://www.lpsg-
co.org/peltier.harbury.html.