BURMA OUT!! (r)

[policy.office@xxxxxxxxx]

Katya, is also the lady lawyer who will be taking the CIA 
to court in the USA with a civil action about their connections 
to drug production, transportation and sales..

Comments more related to Burma would be welcome.

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(by way of Michael Novick <part2001@xxxxxxx>)

Subject: Katya Komisaruk: Peace Activist, Felon, Attorney, Crusader

Activist, Felon, Lawyer, Crusader

Kelly Flaherty

The Recorder/Cal Law

April 26, 1999


Twelve years ago on a June evening, Katya Komisaruk embarked on a
dangerous mission that would both mark her as a convicted felon and
launch her career as a lawyer.

Armed with a bolt cutter, a crow bar and an electric drill -- as well as
a bouquet of roses, a box of chocolate chip cookies and some stationery
-- the 29-year-old peace activist broke into Vandenburg Air Force Base
on the Central Coast and dismantled a multimillion dollar computer.

She was out to destroy a missile guidance system capable of directing a
first strike against the Soviet Union. Humming the theme to Mission
Impossible, Komisaruk left the roses, cookies and a friendly note at a
gate, hoping to throw off any armed military police.

After a few hours of smashing equipment and painting slogans, she
hitchhiked a ride back to San Francisco and arranged for a press
conference at the federal building. About an hour into the conference,
the FBI showed up and arrested her.

Although she was not a lawyer, Komisaruk had planned her legal defense
before she even broke into Vandenburg. Defense attorney Leonard
Weinglass, famous for his work on the Chicago Seven trial, took on her
case.

But her trial did not become the platform for anti-nuclear protest she
had hoped for.

Then-Assistant U.S. Attorney Nora Manella won a key pretrial motion that
barred the defense from discussing Komisaruk's political motives or
international law. Despite the odds, Komisaruk gave her own closing
argument.

"There were 'no-no' words in court -- for example, we couldn't say
nuclear weapon," she says. "It was like one of those nightmares where
you are screaming but no sound will come out of your throat."

The jury convicted her of destruction of government property and U.S.
District Judge William Rea gave her five years in prison, where she
studied law with a fellow inmate.

A gifted student who had already earned an M.B.A. from UC-Berkeley,
Komisaruk set about applying to law schools.

She received an acceptance notice from Harvard Law School the week she
was released on parole -- after serving approximately half her sentence.

Thanks in part to other protesters-turned-attorneys, such as San
Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan, who helped pave the way,
lawyers with criminal records are allowed to join the State Bar as long
as their crimes do not involve "moral turpitude" or breach of fiduciary
duty.

Komisaruk says she has dedicated her career to defending the three "Ps"
-- protesters, potheads and prostitutes -- and recently added pie

throwers to that list.

Last year she represented one of the "Cherry Pie Three" who targeted San
Francisco Mayor Willie Brown in protest of his treatment of the
homeless.

She is also co-counsel on a recent class action filed in Oakland federal
court that would hold the CIA liable for the crack cocaine epidemic of
the 1980s.

But she says her favorite legal moment so far came when she defended a
Wisconsin couple accused of sabotaging an antenna that sends signals to
nuclear submarines.

She was able to put on the defense in that trial -- complete with
experts on nuclear war and international law -- that hadn't been allowed
at hers.

The jury came back with a split verdict, acquitting the couple of
sabotage but convicting them of destroying property.

"When I did my closing argument the court clerk cried," Komisaruk says.
"I want to do it again and win totally."

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So Mihra awarded Katya a special place in the womens only 
Mihra medal race ... ;-)    And sent her this...

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Katya Komisaruk  gets into a famous Mihra Club, the only 
womens only section we have.

They do show the men a thing or two when it comes to 
actually heaving butt over fences..


Remember this?


On a freezing January morming Joanna Wilson, Lotta Kronlid,
Andrea Needham and Angie Zelter cut through the perimeter 
fence at British Aerospace at Warton in Lancashire in the north 
of England and within an hour totally disarmed a Hawk attack 
aircraft which was to be delivered to Indonesia the next day.

This case has wide implications for the international arms trade 
as the women caused over 2,000,000 pounds damage and 
delivery was cancelled.

They were then cleared of the charges of criminal damage. 

The Hawk was one of twenty four ordered by a regime which, 
according to a welter of documentation, has extinguished more 
than a third of the population of East Timor.

The Music Industry Human Rights Association applauds the 
courage of these four brave women. 

Under the Constitution of the United Nations, Indonesian 
genocide in East Timor is the greatest crime of the 
second half of the 20th Century.

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Follow the appreciations of the Shan Democratic Union, 
film maker John Pilger, HH the Dalai Lama, Dennis Skinner MP, 
Tony Benn MP, parliamentarians, sportspersons, musicians 
and numerous others.  
Support a REAL war on drugs : Sydney 2000 : Burma Out!

Music Industry Human Rights Association

http://www.mihra.org / policy.office@xxxxxxxxx 
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click on roger / then click on news desk

Mihra was founded during UN50 to advance and protect 
creators rights in a cultural market monopolised by the 
recording  / publishing Grand Cartel. Mihra's roots are in 
music and anti-racism and was first in line in calling for a 
sports boycott of Burma for the Sydney 2000 Olympic 
Games.

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