Recently I've seen some posts on the Internet claiming that Native American activist Leonard Peltier has been freed from prison. Unfortunately, that is not the case.
Peltier, who has been in prison since 1977 for the deaths of two FBI agents, was denied parole on August 21.
The human rights group Amnesty International has long held that Peltier should be released on parole based on "[concerns] about the fairness of the process leading to his conviction, including questions about evidence linking him to the point-blank shootings and coercion of an alleged eye-witness."
Furthermore, according to an Amnesty International press release, "One of Amnesty International's concerns is that Leonard Peltier's extradition from Canada in 1976 -- where he had fled following the shootings -- was secured on the basis of the coerced testimony of an alleged eye-witness which the FBI knew to be false. The witness, Myrtle Poor Bear, later retracted her testimony that she had seen Leonard Peltier shoot the agents but the trial judge did not allow her to be called as a defence witness at his trial. Other concerns include the withholding by the prosecution of evidence, including potentially key ballistics evidence that might have assisted Leonard Peltier’s defence."
But those concerns apparently were not good enough for the parole board. And so, sadly, Peltier remains a prisoner.
>> Read Amnesty's full press release (including background info)
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