(The following article is from the February 15-28, 2009, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

There are new fears for the safety of Native American political prisoner Leonard Peltier. Incarcerated in various prisons for over thirty years, Peltier has reportedly been victimized since being transferred to U.S. Penitentiary Canaan in Pennsylvania on January 14.

     Shortly after arrival, he was jumped and brutally beaten by gang members, none of whom he knew. He was subsequently put in solitary confinement in the "hole" and on restricted meals, endangering his diabetic condition, and is being allowed only one telephone call per month. He is being prevented from meeting face-to-face with his lawyers.

     Convicted in the late 1970s for allegedly murdering two FBI agents, Peltier has never been given a fair trial. U.S. federal authorities have quashed or destroyed thousands of pages of evidence that might have freed Peltier decades ago.

     The Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee points out that "Documents show that although the prosecution and government pointed the finger at Peltier for shooting FBI agents at close range during the trial in 1976, for three years the prosecution withheld critical ballistic test results proving that the fatal bullets could not have come from the gun tied to Leonard Peltier. This trial also denied evidence of self defense."

     During subsequent oral arguments, the prosecutor stated: "We can't prove who shot those agents" and the Eighth Circuit Court found that "There is a possibility that the jury would have acquitted Leonard Peltier had the records and data improperly withheld from the defense been available to him in order to better exploit and reinforce the inconsistencies casting strong doubts upon the government's case."

     Judge Heaney who authored the denial, now supports Peltier's release, stating that the FBI used improper tactics to gain the conviction.

     Now 64 years old, Peltier is suffering from diabetes and a other serious ailments brought on by his decades in prison. He has great-grandchildren he has never seen.

     A new international petition for Peltier's release says in part, "The gross miscarriage of justice in the case of Leonard Peltier has gone on long enough. He should be released immediately. Since he is a member of a sovereign Native nation, I ask that President Obama work `nation to nation' with the Turtle Mountain Chippewa to bring Peltier home to North Dakota. Furthermore, Peltier has been a model prisoner for decades. He is long overdue for parole, but the FBI is improperly intervening to prevent his release. At a time when the government is seeking to restore its international reputation by moving to close down the prison at Guantanamo, Leonard Peltier has been languishing unjustly in the U.S. prison system for decades longer than the Guantanamo prison has existed. Release Leonard Peltier now!"

     The petition can be signed online at http://www.iacenter.org/native/leonardpeltierpetition. For more information, go to http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info.