via Yahoo News!
- News From Bangladesh - Jan 29 9:58 PMVICTORY! Late tonight the US Army announced it has dropped its subpoena of Sarah Olson in the Ehren Watada court martial. The news broke in an article in the Honolulu Advertiser.
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Defend The Press Coalition Declares Victory for Journalist Sarah Olson
Mon Jan 29, 11:07 PM ET
To: NATIONAL EDITORS
Contact: Scott Goodstein, of Defend the Press +1-202-256-8320, sgcatalyst@aol.com; or John Stauber, of Center for Media And Democracy +1-608-260-9713, john@prwatch.org
WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Statement from Sarah Olson and Defend The Press Coalition in reaction to announcement that Army is dropping subpoena against her in the US v Watada Court-Martial.
Source: Honolulu Advertiser http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Jan/29/br/br6319027548.html
Quote From John Stauber of The Center For Media And Democracy:
"This appears a great victory for journalist Sarah Olson and our Defend the Press coalition," said John Stauber, executive director of the Center for Media and Democracy of Madison, Wisconsin. "This is a testament to what one determined and courageous reporter, Sarah Olson, can accomplish in the face of government intimidation. These subpoenas were simply an effort to harass journalists who are reporting on the growing anti-war sentiment among rank and file soldiers. This is a blow for press freedom and for free speech."
Quote From Journalist Sarah Olson:
"This is obviously a great victory for the principles of a free press that are so essential to this nation. Personally, I am pleased that the Army no longer seeks my participation in their prosecution of Lieutenant Watada. Far more importantly, this should be seen as a victory for the rights of journalists in the U.S. to gather and disseminate news free from government intervention, and for the rights of individuals to express personal, political opinions to journalists without fear of retribution or censure. I am glad the growing number of dissenting voices within the military will retain their rights to speak with reporters. But I note with concern, that Lt. Watada still faces prosecution for exercising his First Amendment rights during public presentations. The preservation of these rights clearly requires vigilance.
Journalists are subpoenaed with an alarming frequency, and when they do not cooperate they are sometimes imprisoned. Videographer Josh Wolf has languished in federal prison for over 160 days, after refusing to give federal grand jury investigators his unpublished video out takes. It is clear that we must continue to demand that the separation between press and government be strong, and that the press be a platform for all perspectives, regardless of their popularity with the current administration."
Quote From Olsons Attorney David Greene, The First Amendment Project
"This is a tremendous victory for both Sarah and for every journalist who fears being dragged into the middle of a dispute between a source and the government."
Sarah Olson and Defend The Press will be holding a Press Conference at 2pm on Thursday Feb 1st 2007 at The National Press Club in Washington, DC.
The Defend The Press http://www.defendthepress.org/ coalition, founded by the Center for Media and Democracy, announced itself on January 24, 2007. Among its supporters are notable journalists, authors and free speech activists including Phil Donahue, producer and commentator; Sydney Schanberg, author; Linda K. Foley, president, The Newspaper Guild-CWA; Larry Gross, director, School of Communication, Annenberg School, USC; Tony Kushner, playwright; Robert McChesney, founder, Free Press; Geneva Overholser, professor, University of Missouri School of Journalism; Gloria Steinem, publisher, journalist; Jerry Zremski, journalist and president, National Press Club.
For a complete list of Coalition members visit: http://www.prwatch.org/defendthepress/coalition.html
For more information visit: http://www.defendthepress.org/ http://www.freepresswg.org/
SOURCE Defend The Press
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The Seattle Times
Army drops 2 charges against officer
Seattle Times staff reporter
In a deal with defense attorneys, the Army has dropped two misconduct counts against a Fort Lewis officer who refused to serve in Iraq.
The agreement — confirmed Monday by an Army official — knocks two years from a maximum six-year prison sentence that 1st Lt. Ehren Watada initially faced at a court-martial scheduled to begin next Monday at Fort Lewis.
"The bottom line is that he now faces a maximum of four years in prison," said Joe Piek, a Fort Lewis spokesman.
The agreement also means the Army will not try to call journalists as witnesses in the trial, according to Piek.
Watada has claimed the war is illegal, and that he was duty-bound by his officer's oath not to obey the order to deploy. The case has drawn international attention.
Watada had faced up to two years in prison for his refusal to deploy with his brigade last June, and up to one year in prison for each of four statements in which he said the war was illegal, denounced the Bush administration for lying to the American public and accused the Army of war crimes.
Monday, the Army agreed to drop two of the misconduct charges in exchange for Watada's admission that he made all the statements included in the two remaining misconduct charges, relating to a June 7 news conference in Tacoma and an Aug. 12 speech before the Veterans for Peace convention in Seattle.
"Today, I speak with you about a radical idea," Watada said in his Aug. 12 speech. "That to stop an illegal and unjust war, the soldiers can choose to stop fighting it ... "
Defense attorneys maintain that all of Watada's statements made in public appearances and to journalists are protected by the Constitution, according to Eric Seitz, a civilian attorney representing Watada.
The Army will seek to prove at the court-martial that the June and August statements amounted to misconduct.
The two charges that were dropped involved statements Watada had made to journalists.
In an effort to prove those statements in court, the Army had subpoenaed journalists and was prepared to compel them to testify or face up to six months in prison under contempt charges
The agreement removed those two counts from the charges, so the Army will no longer seek to compel journalists to testify, according to Piek.
One of those journalists, Sarah Olson, said Monday afternoon that she had yet to hear from the Army about that decision.
"I certainly would be greatly relieved that would be fantastic," said Olson, an independent journalist who published a Watada interview on Truthout.org.
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