Friday, January 28, 2011

DVD showing GIRL WITH PEARL EARRING/Creech 14 - guilty

The Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration Committee is hosting its latest FILM & SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS DVD SERIES. The series theme is THE INDIVIDUAL IN A TIME OF CONFLICT.  The first film in the series THE GIRL WITH THE PEARL EARRING [United Kingdom, 2003] will be shown on Fri., Jan. 28 at a private residence. If interested in seeing the DVD, RSVP to Max at 410-366-1637.

Directed by Peter Webber from a screenplay based on the novel by Tracy Chevalier, the film stars Scarlett Johansson as Griet, Colin Firth as Johannes Vermeer, the magnificent Dutch painter, Tom Wilkinson and Cillian Murphy. Griet is a young woman living in Holland in the 17th century. Her father, a Delftware painter, has gone blind, causing the family financial difficulties. She is sent to work as a maid in Vermeer’s home, and the artist discovers her artistic talents. But this is a man's world.  The film is excellent on many levels, as it explores relationships in a time when a woman has very little to say and the division between rich and poor is cavernous. Finally, Vermeer painted in a time when empires were in conflict. 

 

Doors open at 7 PM, and the DVD starts at 7:30 PM.  There is no charge, and refreshments will be available.  A discussion will follow.

 

Voices for Creative Nonviolence <info@vcnv.org>

 

On April 9, 2009, Voices for Creative Nonviolence Co-coordinators Kathy Kelly and Brian Terrell and 12 other activists were compelled to deliver a message to Creech Air Force base personnel who are responsible for operating drones. Drones kill innocent civilians, as well as combatants in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

 

In September 2010, moved by the testimony of three expert witnesses, Judge Jansen took three months to review the legal arguments presented by the defendants. On January 27, 2010 Judge Jansen found the "Creech 14" guilty of criminal trespass, disregarding the defendant's claim of the necessity defense.

 

http://vcnv.org/creech-14-found-guilty-of-trespassing-judge-says-go-in-peace

 

 "Creech 14" Found Guilty of Trespassing, Judge Says ‘Go in Peace’

Dave Toplikar
Las Vegas Sun
Jan. 27, 2011, Creech Air Force Base

A Las Vegas judge on Thursday handed down a decision that got a mixed reaction from protesters of drone warfare who were arrested for trespassing nearly two years ago at Creech Air Force Base in Southern Nevada.

Judge William Jansen, in a 20-page decision, ruled that the “Creech 14” who protested April 9, 2009, at the base, were guilty of the crime of trespassing.

But the judge also decided that the defendants, who stood trial for the misdemeanor offense last September in his courtroom, would be given credit for the time they served in jail and would be free to go.

“Go in peace,” were Jansen’s final words to the defendants after an hour-long court proceeding this morning in Las Vegas Justice Court.

The judge also urged them to use diplomacy, rather than trespassing, in their attempts to get U.S. drone warfare policy changed.

There was some scattered applause in the crowded courtroom upon hearing the defendants wouldn’t get jail time — but the defendants weren’t pleased about the judge’s guilty verdict.

The protesters had argued there was “necessity” that compelled them to act. As someone might trespass onto private property to save a child from a burning building, they said they were trying to stop drone warfare from killing civilians thousands of miles away in Afghanistan.

However, in his conclusion, Jansen said that “Defendants’ motivation for why they committed the offense is irrelevant and does not constitute a defense to the charge. Moreover, defendants are unable to show that their conduct was compelled by true ‘necessity’ as that doctricne has been defined by various courts.”

Before handing down sentences, the judge allowed each of the defendants to make statements. Each of those who spoke said they disagreed that what they were doing wasn’t out of necessity.

Those found guilty of the misdemeanor charge are the Rev. John Dear, a Jesuit priest; Dennis DuVall; Renee Espeland; Judy Homanich; Kathy Kelly; the Rev. Steve Kelly, a Jesuit priest; Mariah Klusmire; Brad Lyttle; Libby Pappalardo; Sister Megan Rice, a member of the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus; Brian Terrell; Eve Tetaz; and the Revs. Louie Vitale and Jerry Zawada, both Franscican priests.

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The "Creech 14" speak to Judge Jansen upon hearing their sentences.

 

Brian  Terrell

 

Thank you for your listening, the time you took to study and your thoughtful response.

 

I spent three weeks in Afghanistan where I saw and witnessed the harm drones cause.  I met a nine year old child who lost an arm in a drone attack

 

An airman at Creech wrote, “I am 7,000 miles away from the killing….  I am 18 inches away from the killing.”   He was referring to his proximity to seeing human beings dismembered on the video screen.

 

This is precisely what the drones are doing…giving an illusion of distance.   We are very close to the destruction.  The harm is imminent. The harm is real

 

The analogy is so close to the reality, it is the reality.

 

Read all the "Creech 14" sentencing statements here:

http://vcnv.org/creech-14-sentencing-statements

 

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Press Release: "Creech 14" Verdict

 

For Immediate Release

January 27, 2011

 

Contact: Jim Haber Coordinator, Nevada Desert Experience 415-828-2506 and  Kathy Kelly 773-619-2418

 

Creech 14 Anti-drone protesters vow to continue activism following guilty verdict in Las Vegas courtroom

 

Las VegasOn Thursday, January 27th, activists charged with trespass, along with their supporters, filled Judge Jansen’s courtroom to hear his verdict regarding their April, 2009 protest at Creech Air Force Base Crews at Creech control the drones used in these expanding wars, killing civilians in remote controlled assassination attacks.

 

In a 20-page written decision, Judge William Jansen found the fourteen guilty of trespass as charged, ruling that their defense did not meet the legal requirement of immanence for acquittal based on necessity.

 

Read the press release:

http://vcnv.org/press-release-creech-14-verdict

 

Our mailing address is:

Voices for Creative Nonviolence

1249 W Argyle Street

Chicago, IL 60640

 

Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218.  Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net

 

"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs

 

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