Peltier Case, Canada Has a Role to Play

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www.freepeltier.org/windsorstar_appeal092403.htm

Windsor Star
September 24, 2003

Leonard Peltier, despite having spent almost 27 years in prison, has consistently been denied the basic right to a parole hearing by the U.S. government. The native activist was convicted of killing two FBI agents during a range war on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation in 1976. But he has always denied having a role in their deaths, and troubling questions surrounding his case have never been fully answered.

Now, there is at least a glimmer of hope for Peltier. His legal team is appealing to Denver's 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals with the hope that Peltier will finally be granted a parole hearing. The only time a parole hearing has been scheduled for Peltier was in 1986, and that hearing was inexplicably delayed until 2008 ? even though he had already served the mandatory 200 months that apply in most cases involving murder.

Peltier's plight continues to be a source of embarrassment for our country. In 1976, Peltier was extradited from Canada under questionable circumstances for the murders. He was convicted in the U.S. one year later. Peltier continues to serve two concurrent life sentences.

Peltier's extradition from Canada was based solely on the testimony contained in affidavits from Myrtle Poor Bear, who said she was Peltier's girlfriend when the shootings occurred. She also claimed to have witnessed the murder of the agents, and wrote detailed accounts to this effect.
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