|
Franciscan Fr. Jerry Zawada, Betsy Lamb and Mary Burton Riseley were arrested around 1 p.m. on Sunday, November 18, 2007, after walking past temporary barricades placed at Ft. Huachuca's main gate. When prevented from proceeding further onto the fort, they knelt down and were soon handcuffed and led away. The three had intended to hand out flyers and speak with enlisted personnel and officers, to express their concern about interrogation training and the use of torture. They all received federal citations for trespass and conspiracy to trespass, and a state citation for failure to obey a police officer. After being processed, they were released.
At their arraignment on December 4, the three pled not guilty to all
charges. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Marshall granted the prosecution's request to have
Lamb and Zawada jailed until trial, due to the failure of each to heed court orders in
cases pending in other jurisdictions. Prosecutor Evan Seamone repeatedly told the court
that Lamb and Zawada's records of protest and defiance created a "danger to the
community." Marshall set a detention hearing for the pair two days later in front of
Magistrate Hector Estrada. Lamb and Zawada were immediately taken to the CCA prison in
Florence, Arizona. Riseley was released on her own recognizance.
On February 4, 50 people held a support rally outside the federal courthouse in downtown Tucson before packing the courtroom for the trial of the three anti-torture activists, Betsy Lamb, Mary Burton Riseley and Fr. Jerry Zawada. The three were represented by a legal team - Bill Quigley, Rachel Wilson, Meredith Little, Dan Gregor and Andy Silverman.
Three hundred people, from Arizona, Texas, Colorado, California, New Mexico and elsewhere, gathered that day outside Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista, Arizona to call for an end to torture and torture training. The main gate of the fort had been closed that day in anticipation of the protest.
The demonstration took place in conjunction with the annual vigil at Fort Benning, Georgia (see coverage here), calling for closing the infamous School of the Americas (now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation). Dozens of Latin American military leaders who trained at the "School of Assassins" have since been convicted of torture, murder, and other heinous crimes in their own countries.
ABOUT THE ARRAIGNMENT AND DETENTION HEARING
On December 6, the two jailed defendants were brought to Estrada's courtroom for their detention hearing. Estrada was the magistrate who presided over the case of Frs. Louie Vitale and Steve Kelly, arrested at Ft. Huachuca in 2006 during a similar witness against torture. He had sentenced the two priests to 5 months in prison in October 2007.
During the hearing, Seamone described the defendants' peaceful passage through police barricades at Ft. Huachuca as violent trespass, which he said warranted pretrial detention for the safety of the community. Estrada then denied Lamb and Zawada bail, ordering that they be kept in custody until their February 4 trial because they "remain a flight risk, and are a danger to the community."
ABOUT THE TRIAL AND SENTENCING
A few days before, military prosecutor Capt. Evan Seamone and the defense had agreed that the government would drop the conspiracy charge in return for the defendants stipulating to the facts describing their alleged crimes at Ft. Huachuca on November 18.
After taking a recess to read the stipulation of facts, Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Marshall found Zawada, Lamb and Riseley guilty of the charges of trespass and failure to obey an officer.
Capt. Seamone then explained why more prison time would be an appropriate deterrent for each defendant. The magistrate suggested that a large fine would be more of a deterrent, and might begin to repay the government's expense of prosecution.
The defendants then made very moving and eloquent pre-sentencing statements, in the process putting torture on trial. The three spoke from their hearts about their backgrounds and their motivations to act against torture.
Bill Quigley suggested a sentence of time served for all of the defendants. He informed the court of a sentence recently served by a soldier convicted of the negligent homicide of an Iraqi general during interrogation: two months confinement to base. He asked what message would be received when those who protest torture nonviolently are punished more severely than someone guilty of homicide during interrogation.
Judge Marshall then imposed the same sentence on each of the three: two years of supervised probation, and a $5000 fine or 500 hours of community service. She told the defendants that they could do their community service by participating in demonstrations, handing out leaflets and other legal forms of protest.
Supporters left the sixth floor courtroom to the sight of a large, brilliant rainbow outside the large courthouse windows. Soon after, Lamb and Zawada were released from custody.
For additional accounts of the trial, see: Press Release, Hated Nation: Federal courtroom becomes healing balm and Torture on Trial in Tucson.