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Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Sept. 28, 2000
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------RNC resistance continues in court
By Joe Piette
Philadelphia
Over 100 protesters arrested at the Republican National Convention in August appeared in court Sept. 16 to defend themselves against multiple misdemeanor charges. Most of the demonstrators were arrested while protesting the prison-industrial complex, police brutality and the death penalty, and demanding a new trial for political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Activists also targeted the role played by the Republican and Democratic parties in aiding big-business control of global economic, cultural and political institutions.
After being flooded for weeks by phone calls and letters in support of the activists, Philadelphia District Attorney Lynn Abraham offered most defendants the option of accepting "accelerated rehabilitative disposition." The deal amounts to six months' probation and a $300 fine, ending with a clean record.
Almost all of the arrestees refused to accept the offer immediately, choosing to wait until Sept. 30 to make a decision. Another 200 defendants are scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 23 and 30. The first group of defendants want to make sure the same offer is made to everyone. They also want an opportunity to talk with each other and their lawyers before making a decision.
Abraham refused to offer the deal to high-profile activists John Sellers, Terrence McGuckin and Kate Sorensen, as well as other defendants facing felony charges.
Some arrestees refused the offer on the spot. "I'm not guilty of anything. I'm not going to accept a compromise except a full acquittal," Jennifer Kates said. Her trial is set for October 23.
Up to 420 protesters face misdemeanor and felony charges, which activists say are grossly exaggerated, trumped up or patently false.
The R2K arrestees made the following statement to the court and the media in response to Abraham's offer:
"The abuses of the criminal injustice system that we protested during the Republican National Convention have not gone away. Our experiences of mistreatment while in police custody and the inhumane conditions of the general prison population that we witnessed have confirmed our conviction that it was necessary to speak out.
"We would like the court to know that while we will consider all options offered to us, we are fully prepared to take our cases before juries to see justice served.
"The people of Philadelphia and of this nation need to know there are no 'good' or 'bad' protesters. We all engaged in non-violent, conscientious political action against racism, police brutality, the death penalty, and the imprisonment of Mumia Abu-Jamal as well as other political prisoners.
"Those who have been arbitrarily targeted with trumped-up felony charges weigh heavily on our minds and we are acting in solidarity with them."
Piette, a member of the International Action Center affinity group at the RNC, was among those arrested Aug. 1.
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