3 Nuns convicted of sabotage in the U.S.

national | miscellaneous | news report Wednesday April 09, 2003 02:55 by Ciaron - Ploughshares/Catholic Worker

3 Dominican nuns in U.S. jails since their October plowshares disarmamanet action on an ICBM missile silo have been convicted of sabotage. The nuns have been denied a fair trial in which they coould defend themselves under international law and the Nuremburg Principles. IN previous cases U.S. plowshares activists have received 8 & 18 year sentences when convicted of sabotage. The nuns face a max of 30 years.

It would be an understatement to say that we are broken-hearted. The jury
just came in (like 15 minutes ago (3:30ish p.m.) with a guilty verdict on
both counts. Before their lunch today they sent 3 questions to the judge:
Is it a sabotage charge? He answered that it was not - which is a lie.
Under the intent injunction, there is an and/or conjunction, the jurors
asked which it was and he responded that it didn't make any difference.
They asked for a definition of intent and the judge told them that they had
their instructions. Susan Crane interpreted the judge's response as
holding the intent in the nuns' favor

At this juncture, we do not know sentencing date or appeal calendar. We'll
let you know when we do. The nuns had anticipated a 10 week lapse between
conviction and sentencing and then another two weeks before being
transferred to federal prison. You can probably use their address at Clear
Creek County Jail for the duration - Box 518, Georgetown CO 80444.