Lawyer Stewart faces 30 years for having legally defended Muslim cleric
Radical human rights attorney Lynne Stewart has been falsely accused of helping terrorists. Now convicted, she faces 30 years in prison. On Tuesday, April 9, 2002, she was arrested and agents searched her Manhattan office for documents. She was arraigned before Manhattan federal Judge John Koeltl. This is an obvious attempt by the U.S. government to silence dissent, curtail vigorous defense lawyers, and install fear in those who would fight against the U.S. government’s racism, seek to help Arabs and Muslims being prosecuted for free speech and defend the rights of all oppressed people.
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‘Accompany human rights lawyer to court’
Lynne Stewart to be sentenced Oct. 16
Catch a train or a plane, walk, hail a cab or carpool it, but show up for court in lower Manhattan on Monday, Oct. 16, when human rights defense lawyer Lynne Stewart faces sentencing.
Supporters of this long-time legal activist from far and wide are asked to accompany Stewart to court that morning at 9 a.m. An overflow crowd will rally in Foley Square at Centre and Worth Streets.
On the eve of sentencing, a rally and tribute to Stewart has been organized to honor her long legal efforts and activist political life. The event will begin at 4 p.m. at Riverside Church—between 120 and 122 Streets and Riverside Drive on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Stewart, who is 66 years old, is facing decades in prison. She was convicted for violating a gag order imposed on her client, Muslim cleric Sheik Abdel-Rahman.
Then-Attorney General John Ashcroft had actually announced Stewart’s indictment on the David Letterman show in April 2002.
After her conviction, the National Lawyers Guild stated: “The U.S. Department of Justice was resolute from day one in making a symbol out of Lynne Stewart in support of its campaign to deny people charged with crimes of effective legal representation. The government is bent on intimidating attorneys from providing zealous representation to unpopular clients.”
For more information, visit www.lynnestewart.org
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