Fight Back! interviewed Josh Sykes of the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera about facebook shutting down the “Free Ricardo Palmera” group on June 30. Then, on July 7, facebook disabled Josh Sykes’ personal account, along with the accounts of Angela Denio and Tom Burke.

Asheville NC – In a move to censor the voices of solidarity and human rights, Facebook shut down the “Free Ricardo Palmera!” page, claiming it violates their terms of use.

Detroit, MI – Fight Back! interviewed James Jordan, the U.S. representative of the International Committee in Solidarity with Colombian Political Prisoners, at the U.S. Social Forum here, June 23.

Detroit, MI – Fight Back! interviewed Tom Burke, spokesperson for the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera, at the U.S. Social Forum.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) on the decision by the Israeli authorities to extend the isolation of Ahmad Sa'adat. Ahmad Sa'adat is an important leader of the movement to end the occupation of Palestine.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

The National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera is launching a petition campaign targeting U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. The National Committee is demanding the U.S. government immediately release the Colombian revolutionary and stop violating Palmera’s human rights. Angela Denio said, “The U.S. government is acting like a tyrant in Colombia and abusing Ricardo Palmera in a Colorado prison by chaining him from head to toe with the constant threat of electric shock. It is outrageous. Where is Obama on all of this? He promised to stop torture.”

Tom Burke, spokesperson for the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera, urgently requests, “Help and aid from Americans, Colombians, and the international community to stop a crime.” Professor Palmera is being put on trial in Colombia while held in solitary confinement in the U.S. He is being forced to wear prison clothes, shackled at the hands and feet and then chained together around the waist, with the ever-present threat of electrical shock if he moves too quickly. This ‘trial’ is a violation of Professor Palmera’s dignity and his rights as a prisoner of war. Tom Burke says, “There is nothing fair or just about the trials and imprisonment of this brave Colombian freedom fighter Ricardo Palmera. Ricardo Palmera should be set free.”

_Interview with Ala Jaradat _

Fight Back! interviewed Ala Jaradat, a Palestinian who lives in the West Bank and is the program manager for Addameer – a Palestinian prisoners support group. Ala Jaradat was in the Twin Cities in November and spoke at Hamline Law School and the University of Minnesota, during a nine-city tour of the United States. Israel currently holds more than 8000 Palestinian political prisoners.

Speaking with Fight Back! Dec. 15, a leader of the U.S.-based National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera, Tom Burke, slammed a Nov. 12 lawsuit filed in Florida Middle District Court against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Burke stated, “This is nothing more than an attempt by a group of U.S. mercenaries to gain publicity and put some more money in their pockets. The lawsuit fits into a larger agenda – to criminalize the main Colombian rebel group, the FARC, an organization that is fighting for a free, just and independent Colombia.”

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat.

Bogotá, Colombia – Liliany Obando es poderosa. Ella es una de los miles de prisioneros políticos de Colombia. Ya por un año, le conozco por carta. Por fin, nos conocimos en persona en tres ocasiones, durante una delegación patrocinada por la Campaña de Derechos Laborales (basado en los EEUU) y el Red de Acción Colombiana. Yo representé el Red Internacional en Solidaridad con los Prisioneros Políticos Colombianos.

A spirited picket line protested outside the Colombian consulate in Chicago Oct. 1. 30 students, solidarity and labor activists chanted in support of political prisoners held by the Colombian government of President Uribe. Passersby stopped to read leaflets and listen to chants of, “Free Lily Obando,” “No to U.S. bases,” and “The people of Colombia are under attack! What do we do? Stand up! Fight back!” Chicagoans were joined on Michigan Avenue by activists from Arizona, Minnesota, Ohio, California, Florida and Washington D.C. for this international day of action.

Bogotá, Colombia – Liliany Obando is powerful. She is one thousands of Colombian political prisoners. For a year now, I have known Liliany through letters. We finally met face-to-face on three occasions, during a delegation sponsored by the U.S.-based Campaign for Labor Rights and the Colombia Action Network. I represented the International Network in Solidarity with Colombia’s Political Prisoners.

Washington, DC – Ricardo Palmera (Simon Trinidad) negociador de paz de las FARC tomará el estrado de la corte para testimoniar en su propia defensa en la segunda semana de este mes. Los miembros del Comité Nacional para la Libertad de Ricardo Palmera (CNLRP), estarán presente el día 8 de abril en el juicio. El CNPLRP urge a todos los partidarios y simpatizantes de la lucha por la libertad del revolucionario colombiano a unirse a ellos.

El juez Lamberth forzado a anular el juicio

Washington, D.C. – El revolucionario colombiano Ricardo Palmera (Simón Trinidad),obtuvo otra importante victoria contra la administración de George Bush y la política intervencionista y guerrerista de Estados Unidos (EE.UU), en la Corte Federal del Distrito de Columbia en la ciudad de Washington D.C..El juez Royce Lamberth fue forzado a declarar el juicio como nulo y viciado. Los fiscales federales de EE.UU. han rehusado comentar al respecto sobre su derrota en el juicio en que acusaban al professor Ricardo Palmera y a las FARC de tráficantes de estupefacientes (drogas)..La nulidad del juicio fue producto de un jurado que no se puso de acuerdo después de cinco semanas de deliberaciones, siete de los doce jurados querían un veredicto de “no culpable”. Esto es una gran victoria y muy significativa para el combatiente colombiano por la libertad, la justicia social y la paz.Y a su vez, destruye la tentativa del gobierno de los EE.UU. de pintar a las FARC como tráficantes de drogas y terroristas.

Desde la prisión federal de Victorville, California, Gerardo Hernández envía un mensaje a todos aquellos que apoyan la lucha en favor de la liberación de los cinco cubanos: “Nuestra alegría y felicitaciones a todos nuestros compañeros y compañeras cuya solidaridad ha hecho posible este triunfo”. Al comentar el fallo emitido el 9 de agosto por la corte del Onceno Circuito, que revoca las sentencias y ordena un nuevo juicio fuera de Miami, Hernández reitera su firme convicción en la victoria.

Dice a revolucionarios Colombianos: 'Vengan a D.C.'

Washington, D.C. – Un Juez de Estados Unidos puso un aviso en periódicos de Colombia la ultima semana de agosto, “ordenando” a las FARC – las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, presentarse en su corte en Washington D.C. Esto se suma a una lista de extraños procedimientos relacionados con la extradición, encarcelamiento y juicio de Ricardo Palmera, un importante líder de las FARC. El Juez de Distrito de Estado Unidos Thomas Hogan ridículamente afirma que miembros de las FARC deben salir de su patria y venir a los Estados Unidos para comparecer los cargos de, “secuestrar rehenes en violación de leyes norte americanas.”

Washington D.C. – Ricardo Palmera, a Colombian revolutionary and political prisoner held in solitary confinement by George Bush and the U.S. government, goes on trial for a second time on March 26. The first time, Palmera won a big victory when Judge Hogan was forced to declare a mistrial. Some of the American jurors found professor Palmera’s personal testimony convincing and failed to agree on a verdict. Not satisfied with this outcome, the Bush administration is trying Palmera again for the same charges.