Court Throws Out U.S. Charges Agains Greenpeace

People form an image of Pablo Picasso's "Endangered Freedoms" on Miami Beach January 17, 2004   (Photo: Robert Visser / Greenpeace USA)

(ENS) MIAMI -- A federal judge May 19 dismissed charges brought by the U.S. Justice Department against Greenpeace USA for violating an obscure 1872 maritime law prohibiting "sailormongering."

Judge Adalberto Jordan of the U.S. District Court in Miami ruled there was not enough evidence to try the case. He accepted Greenpeace's claim that the U.S. government provided insufficient evidence for the case to be presented to a jury.

Granting a jury trial in the case last month, Judge Jordan expressed doubts about the Justice Department's ability to prevail against Greenpeace's claim that the criminal statute involved is unfairly vague. "It is not a good sign," he wrote, "when the government resorts to defining a phrase by repeating the phrase itself."

Speaking from the Miami Federal Courthouse, Greenpeace USA Executive Director John Passacantando said, "America's tradition of free speech won a victory today, but our liberties are still not safe. The Bush administration and its allies seem bent on stifling our tradition of civil protest, a tradition that has made our country stronger throughout our history."

On April 12, 2002, two Greenpeace volunteers carried out a peaceful protest against a cargo ship, the APL Jade, which was transporting illegal mahogany from the Brazilian Amazon. The protest was part of Greenpeace's ongoing campaign to save the world's forests from destructive logging.

Scott Anderson, a third and fourth grade school teacher from Utah, testified that he had boarded the APL Jade. He explained that he asked ship's crew for permission to board and was greeted warmly and helped aboard. He and Hillary Hosta came aboard using the same ladder that the pilot had.

After boarding the ship, they said they explained to the crew why they were there and what they intended to do, which was to hang a banner. The banner read, "President Bush, Stop Illegal Logging."

In its allegations of conspiracy against them, the Justice Department said that after reaching the APL-JADE's pilot house, Hosta and Anderson attempted to evade the ship's crew but were apprehended and detained until the ship moored and law enforcement arrived.

The two protesters who boarded the ship and four others who maneuvered in the area flying Greenpeace flags, all expected to be arrested and charged as part of the demonstration. They were charged with illegally boarding a vessel before its arrival in port and conspiracy to do so and have settled the charges against them.

The case before Judge Jordan was brought by the U.S. Justice Department against Greenpeace USA as an organization, the first case of its kind.

In granting a jury trial, Judge Jordan agreed with GreenpeaceÕs assertion that the case was essentially a free speech case. The judge ruled that "the indictment is a rare -- and maybe unprecedented -- prosecution of an advocacy group" for conduct related to free speech.

Passacantando said, "The unprecedented nature of this prosecution has the potential to transform an important aspect of our nationÕs legal and political life, significantly affecting our tradition of civil protest."

"The conduct for which the Ashcroft Justice Department seeks to prosecute Greenpeace was, essentially, whistle-blowing -- publicly exposing and preventing violations of U.S. law prohibiting the importation of illegally harvested mahogany wood."

The 1872 law under which Greenpeace was prosecuted was originally designed to discourage owners of inns and brothels from boarding ships, as they are about to enter port, in order to lure the sailors into their establishments. It has only been used twice in its history, most recently in 1890.

Former Vice President Al Gore called the case "highly disturbing" and Senator Patrick Leahy warned that a successful prosecution would "have a chilling effect on free speech and activism of all kinds."

In another high profile demonstration of support for Greenpeace, more than 1,200 people gathered on Miami's South Beach January 17 to create a massive human art image by arranging their bodies to form a replica of a 1959 Picasso work of art showing a prisoner and words "Endangered Freedoms." It was photographed from a helicopter above Miami Beach.

"Greenpeace is grateful to everyone who stood with us, from Al Gore and Julian Bond to the citizens of Miami and people around the world. We will never give up the struggle to protect our forests, our air and oceans, and to build a green and peaceful future," said Passacantando.

A record number of more than 100,000 people from around the world sent protest messages to President George W. Bush and U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft demanding that the case be dropped.

"Nothing better illustrates the frivolous nature of this prosecution than the fact the judge threw the case out without even needing to hear from the defense," said David Bookbinder, Sierra Club's Washington Legal Director. "We wish that the Bush administration would have devoted the time and money spent on this case to instead focusing more on the central issue -- stopping the import of illegally harvested timber."