[syndicate] Re: free kurtz

[ctgr-pavu.com]

free kuuuuuuuurtzzzzzzzzzz !!!!!

et qu'on en finisse de ces conneries!
--
OG


Le 1 juil. 04, à 22:04, A Dontigny a écrit :

>> At 20:33 01/07/2004, you wrote:
>>> -/ free kurtz !!! he is an innocent !!! /-
>>
>> innocent of what ?
>>
>
> June 29, 2004
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> "BIOTERROR" CHARGES DOWNGRADED TO "MAIL FRAUD" IN STEALTH INDICTMENT 
> U.S.
> Attorneys attempt to cast $256 technicality as health and safety issue 
> in
> "stealth" indictment
>
> Professor Steve Kurtz was charged today by a federal grand jury in
> Buffalo, New York--not with bioterrorism, as listed on the Joint 
> Terrorism
> Task Force's original search warrant and subpoenas, but with "petty
> larceny," in the words of Kurtz attorney Paul Cambria. (See
> http://www.caedefensefund.org/ for background.)
>
> Also indicted was Robert Ferrell, head of the Department of Genetics at
> the University of Pittsburgh's School of Public Health. The charges
> concern technicalities of how Ferrell helped Kurtz to obtain $256 
> worth of
> harmless bacteria for one of Kurtz's art projects.
>
> The laws under which the indictments were obtained--Title 18, United
> States Code, sections 1341 and 1343, covering mail and wire fraud--are
> normally used against those defrauding others of money or property, as 
> in
> telemarketing schemes.
>
> This is a far cry from the bioterrorism charges originally sought by 
> the
> District Attorney. To make a "federal case" out of such minor 
> allegations,
> the District Attorney will have the burden of proving criminal intent.
>
> "There was very obviously no criminal intent," said Kurtz attorney
> Cambria. "The intent was to educate and enlighten." Cambria suggested 
> that
> the pursuit of such a minor case at the federal level was profoundly
> absurd. "If the University of Pittsburgh feels that there was a 
> contract
> breach, then their remedy is to sue Steve for $256 in a civil court."
>
> A STEALTH INDICTMENT
>
> The U.S. District Attorney attempted to cast the issue as one of public
> health and safety in a public press conference called without the
> knowledge of either defendant's lawyers, thus eliminating the chance of
> rebuttal. During the conference, parts of which were broadcast on local
> Buffalo news channels, U.S. Attorney William Hochul and U.S. District
> Attorney Michael Battle repeatedly alluded to "dangerous" and
> "bio-hazardous material," even though the charges have nothing to do 
> with
> such issues, and scientists universally regard the materials in 
> question
> as safe.
>
> At one point in the press conference, U.S. Attorney Hochul stated that
> Serratia marcescens, one of the two bacteria ordered by Ferrell, "is in
> fact a dangerous material in that it can cause pneumonia." Serratia 
> cannot
> cause pneumonia, only aggravate it in someone who already has it, and 
> very
> rarely at that. Furthermore, it would be hard to characterize as a
> "dangerous material" something that high school students routinely use 
> in
> biology class experiments. (Easily trackable by its bright red color, 
> S.
> marcescens is commonly used to demonstrate the many ways microbes can 
> be
> destroyed--e.g. with household bleach. The other bacterium, Bacillus
> globigii, is also used in experiments as a stand-in for dangerous
> microbes--precisely because it is harmless.)
>
> Many believe the attempt to cast the $256 technicality as a public 
> health
> and safety issue is a face-saving measure by the government, which has
> already expended an enormous amount of time and money in their 
> fruitless
> pursuit of this case.
>
> ONLY THE BEGINNING
>
> Although the original bioterrorism charges are now completely off the
> table, the trial still promises to be financially and psychologically
> draining for the defendants.
>
> The international support of the defendants by artists, scientists and
> other citizens has been remarkable; it is crucial that this support
> continue as the government extends this outrageous and wasteful
> persecution into a grueling trial.
>
> --
> -- 
> --
> a_dontigny
>
> http://www.notype.com/a_dontigny/
> http://www.notype.com/mdm/
> --
>
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