Parole Denied: A Second Exclusive HPR Interview with Leonard Peltier

The following interview with Leonard Peltier took place by telephone on August 25, 2009. It is a follow-up to the August 11, 2009 High Plains Reader interview which was published as Peltier awaited the parole decision from the U.S. Federal Parole Commission. Once again, Peltier spoke to HPR from the federal penitentiary in Lewistown, Pennsylvania.
Pamela Sund for HPR: Good morning, Mr. Peltier. How are you?
Peltier: Well… still hanging in there.
It must have been devastating to be denied parole. Can you describe your response?
It’s despressing… it’s just very, very depressing.
How did you find out about the parole denial?
Some guys here heard it on the news… first one inmate… then two others, and they told me.
You mean the courtesy of notifying your attorney, who would then notify you, wasn’t part of the process? That doesn’t seem right.
Courtesy?... no… it was the three inmates who told me.
Do you feel defeated?
Of course I do, personally, yes, but I am not giving up. We are the victims here. What I mean is that the public has to ask, who made them [presumably, prosecutors and FBI agents] more powerful than the Constitution of the United States? They just made stuff up and the public needs to know this. There was something about bodily harm [in the parole documents]... how can they just make things up? I am no more guilty than my co-defendants who were acquitted. Also, when I was convicted, ten years was a life sentence, but it looks like they want me to do 50 years or longer. [Peltier has served 34 years in federal prison.]
U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley wrote a long letter to the Fargo Forum opposing your release during the hearing deliberations. Was this appropriate?
No. He didn’t come up here and say what prosecutor Lynn Crooks said about the case…. Remember, we talked about what Crooks said… there were false statements made, but Wrigley didn’t say what Crooks said. [“The government does not know who killed our agents nor what part Leonard Peltier had in this, if any.”]
What is the next step in the legal process?
Why don’t you do an interview with Bruce Ellison? You should interview my attorneys… talk to them, and I will try to do a follow-up interview with you. I really need people to help out… even with pocket change if that’s what it takes. I don’t have any big supporters right now, though I have lots of support. I talked with Peter Matthiessen and they’ve talked with the Kennedys and others… so there is still lots of support… I don’t have many minutes left….
What can HPR readers who support your release do to assist you? And did you feel you were accurately represented by the last HPR interview and article?

Peltier: Yes, it was very accurate… thank you, thank you. Supporters can help the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee. The committee has many needs….
Note: Peltier was tried and convicted in Fargo, North Dakota in 1977 in connection with the deaths of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Controversy has clouded the validity of Peltier’s conviction, which has been labeled unfair and unjust by Amnesty International and many other human rights organizations. Those who signed petitions supporting his release from prison include The Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev and many others.
HPR intends to publish ongoing interviews with Leonard Peltier and Leonard Peltier’s attorneys. The Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee is located in Fargo, North Dakota. For information contact 701-278-2968 or visit the website at http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info. The paintings of Leonard Peltier are on exhibit at the Spirit Room, 111 Broadway, Fargo, North Dakota, through September 2009. Telephone: 701-237-0230. Proceeds from the sale of Leonard Peltier paintings fund humanitarian efforts and the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee.

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