Mary Kelly: Sentencing To Take Place Wednesday December 1st: UPDATE - 2 YEARS (Suspended!!)

galway | anti-war / imperialism | feature

Saturday November 27, 2004 20:48

by Tommy Donnellan - Galway Alliance Against War

Mary recently published the below as a comment on a newswire article

banners support Mary Kelly in Shop St., Galway I enclose comment from Ramsey Clark ex US Attorney General, who due to Judge Moran's adamant "opinion" that any evidence I brought forth relating to the US Military presence in Shannon or the war on Iraq was irrelevant, was not allowed testify at my trial. His evidence, plus that of Denis Halliday, ex Assistant General Secraetary of the UN, Dr Curtis Doebbler, Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon whistleblower, and Dr Siegwart Hosrt Guenter, the world's leading expert on Depleted Uranium, would have informed the jury greatly and put my action firmly in the context in which it was taken. Instead the jury were forced to see me as a vandal.

Dear Mary,

Your conviction is like the re-election of George W. Bush here – a cause for despair – to which we cannot yield. The Irish jury like the American voter was poorly informed and misinformed and that information largely controlled by government here/prosecutor and court there and the corporate owned media which serves economic power and glorifies war and other violence.

You performed a miracle under the circumstances in emboldening two jurors to vote for acquittal.

I am very concerned about your sentencing and must hope the Court can understand that a government that punishes people for acting, effectively and harming no living thing, on moral principle to prevent war will destroy itself.

Thanks for your courageous struggle.

Keep in touch.
Ramsey

Day of Action against Mary's Sentencing: Mary would like people who are protesting on Dec 1st to carry a flower in memory of the 100,000 Iraqi dead. Details here

Background Information on Mary's Trial / Report from Mary's Galway Supporters / Reflection on Mary's Trial from Professor Curtis Doebbler (University of Najaf, Palestine) at the Link Below

From the newswire (with minor editing):
Banners Support Mary Kelly in Shop St., Galway The pedestrians of Shop St., Galway were leafleted by a diverse group of activists on Sat. Nov 27th 2004 in order to draw attention to the continuing saga of the case of peace campaigner, and direct action activist, Mary Kelly. Nick from the Galway Mary Kelly Support Group, Spanish Veronica from the Nunca Mais movement, me fein (Tommy Donellan) and Tony of the SWP.

Before the lashing rain forced us to wind-up the leafletting prematurely, a not inconsiderable number were handed out on the crowded street, eliciting warm support, except for vicious comments from two head bangers.

With the denouement of her long travail against the murdering Yanks and their contemptible apologists in this country happening in Limerick City this Wednesday, December 1st (when she is up for sentencing before Judge Moran with the possibility of a savage custodial sentence), we felt that Curtis Doebbler's thoughtful analysis of the provenance of the shameful jury verdict and pussy Moran's pusillanimity had to be disseminated and, as such, that was the content of todays leaflet.

With the jury exoneration of 'Robocop' Corcoran and this June's Referendum result, it is self-evident the collective Irish psyche/ethos is deeply twisted. We urge all activists and people of conscience to demonstrate their anger on the streets of Ireland on Wednesday when, as expected, the fuckers make a martyr out of her and put the frighteners on the Pitstops and all cutting edge activists. Activists in Galway and Limerick cities will certainly be doing their duty on the streets this Wednesday.

The International Human Rights lawyer, Professor Curtis Doebbler (University of Najaf, Palestine) on the Ennis trial of Mary:

It is often hard for a competitive and individualistic society to understand one who acts out of moral necessity to help others. Most individuals, judges and lawyers alike, confine their understanding of right and wrong to their narrow vision of the law. They neither appreciate the significance of their own acts nor the acts of others for society as a whole. Instead, they merely satisfy themselves with reiterating the status quo that they think is the best that they and society can achieve.

Banners Support Mary Kelly in Shop St., Galway Mary Kelly's actions disturbed this smug intellectual charade by showing that individuals can act in meaningful ways to change the world around them for the better. Rather than being confined by short-sighted legal traditions, her acts were based on respect for the most basic traditions of human dignity. Her attempt to stop an act that would lead to the death of others, a clear violation of international law, reflected her belief that we can do better as individuals and as society.

Ironically, this is the belief upon which our modern society has been based at least since the end of World War II, when governments agreed to respect some basic human rights of all individuals and some basic principles of international law.

Mary Kelly's actions and her attempted defence of these actions before Judge Carroll Moran in the Ennis courtroom, reflected the basic values of human dignity that were established by a consensus of our society more than half a century ago, to guide us into a future of peaceful coexistence.

Such ideals were too much for Judge Moran to grasp, instead, he retreated to the security of the status quo and rejected the possibility that an individual could act to improve the world. It was not surprising and not unexpected. It is, however, very disappointing to see that a senior judge lacked the courage and the foresight to follow the path set by so many courageous men and women - many of them fellow lawyers - who put our communal aspirations to paper so long ago. These aspirations have formed the basis of our rule of law ever since, but they are now being challenged by policies of lawlessness and violence.

banners support Mary Kelly in Shop St., Galway The silver lining,perhaps, is that both Mary Kelly's actions and her pro se defence remind us that everyone can defend the values of human dignity. No social or political podium or starched wig of legitimacy can distract from the basic natural right of every human being to act in the name of the most basic laws decreed by society and to defend their actions based on these laws.

Both Mary, and those observing her trials might be consoled by remembering that it has often been individuals like Mary who have kept humanity on course through such treacherous waters as we face today. And it is often after the worse wrecks that we most clearly reflect on the beacon of human dignity that guides us. After all, even the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted without dissent by the majority of states in the international community and today largely a reflection of established customery international law, was only born from the ruins of the Second World War.

Background information and links: