The Institute for Citizen Journalism

Exposes disinformation campaign against John Graham

The following letter from US prisoner Leonard Peltier to former UBC professor and Canadian Amnesty International worker Dr. Jennifer Wade, written April 18, 2007; postmarked in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania May 4, 2007; received May 10, 2007 in Vancouver. The letter exposes elements of a disinformation campaign against John Graham in Vancovuer, BC, Canada, specifically a bogus “Peltier Defense Committee Representative,” Bob Robideau, who toured British Columbia denouncing Graham.

The letter has been reproduced exactly as received, without addition, deletions, or changes, except for minor corrections of spelling such as “hassle” for “hassel.” [bracket items are editor’s notes for clarity]. Underlines are in the original. Copies of the original letter are available from the Institute for Citizen Journalism in Vancouver.

Notes and additional sources below.

Rex Weyler, journalist
The Institute for Citizen Journalism
Vancouver, BC, Canada

Text of Leonard Peltier Letter

Leonard Peltier
#89637-132
US Penitentiary
Box # 1000
Lewisburg, PA, 17837

[To:]
Dr. Jennifer Wade
[address withheld]
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Dear Jennifer!

Please allow me to begin by apologizing for not responding to your letters, it was not [that] there is anything personal etc, al, it’s just that I have so much on my plate at times I don’t know if I’m coming or going, and to even have the time to answer my friends becomes a hassle!

“Do I support Bob [Robideau] in his efforts to get John [Graham] railroaded into prison? Hell No! I’d be a goddamn hypocrite if I did. Because I know just about as much as Bob knows about Anna Mae’s murder and that is not a goddamn thing. I know Bob is full of shit and that if the truth be known he did not even know her. He my have spoken a casual Hello or something like that, otherwise he did not know her.

What is his alternative(s)? Well, in his mind, which as far as I’m concerned is very small!, this keeps his name in front of the public and he has an issue to keep his name in Indian issues. You will notice Bob does not go and make these statements on Pine Ridge or anywhere in Indian Country. He would get his ass beat down bad! A dry snitch is just as bad as a snitch! And that is what he is doing, dry snitching, saying shit he has no proof of. Hey, if he had real proof, he would have sold it along time ago, because this is his real motive, $ $.

Bob got hooked up with B[arry] Bachrach while he was still living in Spain. He actually became Bob’s lawyer more than mine. I told them repeatedly I did not want any involvement in what they were trying to do with John G. [Graham]. Finally last month I accepted Barry’s resignation, and I’m waiting for Bob to do the same. Remember Jennifer, I am damned if I do and damned if I don’t, and believe me that is one Hell of a burden to have to endure. So I have to wait for his [Robideau’s] resignation. [small angry face drawn on original]

The government does not want the whole truth to come out about Indian peoples’ struggles. Clear up to the current day & time, they have always denied their genocidal attacks and continue to do so today. And any Indian who works with them supports their claims [that] the genocide never happened.

Look, I don’t know if John is guilty or innocent. What I do know is this: He will not receive a fair trial if he is returned, so we will not know any more than we know now what happened to her [Anna Mae Aquash]. I don’t know how I can help. I cannot even help myself. It looks more & more every day that I will die in prison. Personally, I know the government was involved some how? This is how COINTEL works.

Well my friend, I need to end this. Please contact the director Toni of the L.P.D.C. [Leonard Peltier Defense Committee; phone # withheld, available on request]. We need to keep in touch. Take care.

In the spirit of Crazy Horse,

[signed] Leonard

P.S. Yes, I heard Harriet died.

[Harriet Nahanee, Salish elder; small sad-face drawn on original.]

====================

Notes:

“Dry snitch; dry snitching”: refers to someone who is misguided, has been duped, or is serving the government’s prosecutorial interests for other reasons.

“B. Bachrach”: Barry Bachrach, former Peltier lawyer, dismissed by Leonard Peltier.

“COINTEL”: US FBI domestic Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO), designed to neutralize perceived political enemies or public dissidents; involving the FBI, US Marshals, NSA, Pentagon, and other agencies. COINTEL has infiltrated and disrupted the Civil Rights movement, Martin Luther King’s inner circle, the women’s movement, American Indian Movement, environmental groups, and other public political groups.

Why this letter is significant in the John Graham Case

In April, 2007, Bob Robideau toured British Columbia, claiming to represent the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, denouncing John Graham, accusing him of murder, and disrupting and dividing local native groups. Some observers at the time, including Jennifer Wade, Lyn Highway, and others in Vancouver suspected Robideau misrepresenting his role with the Peltier defense and of serving the interests of US prosecutors to prejudice Canadian opinion against Mr. Graham. This letter confirms the former suspicion and suggests the latter.

Impact for all Canadians

The US case against John Graham, featuring spurious “evidence” and this disinformation campaign to prejudice Canadian public opinion, exposes the dangers and flaws in the Canadian Extradition treaty with the US.

The extradition agreement with the US

The treaty gives the US the authority to grab any Canadian citizen and take them to the US for trial on the mere say-so of a US Attorney, based on a claim of evidence (not the evidence itself!); and denies Canadian courts the right to investigate the evidence or confirm its accuracy.

US “evidence” used to extradite native American Leonard Peltier

In 1976 the phony affidavits used to extradite Peltier were proven false and fabricated in a US courtroom. In Canada, former Solicitor General Warren Allmand acknowledged later that Peltier was extradited on completely phony “evidence” and he formally apologized. Nevertheless, Peltier remains in a US jail, and as this letter reveals, he expects he will die there.

In the Peltier case, the FBI kidnapped a poor native woman in South Dakota, Myrtle Poor Bear, threatened her, threatened her children, and intimidated her into signing three false and self-contradictory affidavits. On this “evidence” Canada sent Peltier to the US, where he remains in jail.

Graham case: dead “witness,” phony evidence, and dis-information campaign

Graham's lawyers have already shown in a Canadian courtroom that U.S. Attorney Robert Mandel, who filed the U.S. request to extradite Graham, has presented phony evidence. In a letter on January 26, 2004, Mandel assured Canada that “the evidence . . . is available for trial” and sufficient to prosecute. Graham's attorney, Terry LaLiberte showed in the extradition hearing that the evidence Mr. Mandel put forward is spurious:

(a) Mandel told Canada that spiritual leader and elder Al Gates was "available for trial" and could testify that Graham was present at the murder. This is false. Mr. Gates had been dead for nine months when Mr. Mandel put his name forward.

(b) Arlo Looking Cloud, the only alleged witness to Aquash's murder, says the FBI induced him with heroin and alcohol to give a false statement. He now insists he will not testify against Graham.

(c) A third witness, Frank Dillon, has denied making any incriminating statements against Graham, and claims Mandel's letter misrepresented him.

LaLiberte and Graham have both said they would welcome a trial in Canada, where the counterfeit evidence could be exposed. LaLiberte says he wants Mandel to explain in court the gaps, misrepresentations, and flaws in the extradition request. He said "In Canada, I'd drive a truck through the holes in this case."

Leonard Peltier states in his letter: “He [Mr. Graham] will not receive a fair trial if he is returned.”

Supreme Court Challenge to the Extradition Law

In July of 2006, Canada's Supreme Court, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin presiding, registered concerns that the Extradition Law may violate Canadian citizen rights confirmed by the Charter of Rights.

The case was brought to the Supreme court by Criminal lawyer Edward Greenspan.

The court established a new test for judges when deciding whether or not an accused should be sent to the US. The court stated that the evidence to extradite must amount to a case that could go to trial in Canada and potentially result in a guilty verdict. (No dead witnesses, no intimidated witnesses, or false affidavits.)

The court ruled that “This may require the extradition judge to engage in limited weighing of the evidence.”

Justice McLachlin wrote that the extradition process must be independent in appearance and in substance and that the extradition process “must provide real protection against extradition in the absence of an adequate case against the person sought.”

Anna Mae Aquash murder

Anna Mae Aquash was murdered in 1976 under extremely odd circumstances.

Tuchone-Canadian John Graham, who went to the US as a youth to help in the native movement, has been charged by the US Attorneys with killing Anna Mae Aquash 31 years ago.

However: There exists considerable evidence that the FBI itself was complicit in the death of Anna Mae Aquash, that they falsified an autopsy, claimed not to recognize her, and buried her in a nameless pauper's grave after severing her hands. There is evidence to show that Ms. Aquash had been arrested many times by the FBI and specifically threatened with death by FBI agent David Price and others.

John Graham Appeal hearing: Thursday May 17th, 9AM
BC Law Courts, 800 Smithe Street, Vancouver

Original copy of the letter:
Contact Rex Weyler at The Institute for Citizen Journalism
Vancouver, BC, Canada
604-737-4841
weyler@telus.net