Vol. 77/No. 31      August 26, 2013

BY BRIAN WILLIAMS  
NEW YORK — Jailed attorney Lynne Stewart’s plea for compassionate release was rejected yet again, this time by a federal judge. Stewart, 73, who’s suffering from breast cancer that has spread to both her lungs, lymph nodes and bones, is a criminal defense lawyer who often took cases other attorneys shunned for political and career reasons and defended working people who could not afford typical lawyers’ fees.

At an Aug. 8 court hearing, Judge John Koeltl, the same judge who sentenced Stewart to prison for 10 years, “said if I order her release, I’ll be breaking the law,” Stewart’s husband Ralph Poynter told the Militant in an Aug. 9 phone interview.

The judge was referring to the 1984 Sentencing Reform Act, which says a court decision for compassionate release must be based on a petition from the Bureau of Prisons.

Stewart filed for compassionate release in April. The prison warden recommended the request be approved, but the Federal Prison Bureau rejected it June 24.

“Even though everyone admits Lynne is dying and complies with all necessities for compassionate release, the government is saying it doesn’t have to grant it to you,” said Poynter.

The Bureau of Prisons stalled for two months on taking any action on Stewart’s request while her condition continued to worsen in prison, Poynter said. Stewart has filed a second request for compassionate release based on medical evidence of her deteriorating condition.

Stewart has been in jail since Nov. 2009 on trumped-up charges for violating Special Administrative Measures that shut off communication with the outside world for prisoners designated as “terrorists.” The measures — set up after Sept. 11, 2001 — were imposed on her client Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, a blind Muslim cleric convicted in 1995 of “seditious conspiracy” for alleged links to a plot to bomb the United Nations and assassinate former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

For facilitating a press release to Reuters from Abdel-Rahman commenting on a cease-fire between the Islamic Group and the U.S.-backed Mubarak dictatorship, Stewart was convicted of “providing material support to a terrorist organization” and other lesser charges.

“It’s a bitter pill to swallow when you see what you know is coming to fruition for someone you care about very much,” Poynter said. “We’re on the verge of losing another battle, but we’re never going to quit this fight.”
 
 
Related articles:
Paintings by political prisoner Oscar López shown in NY
Judge denies compassionate release for Lynne Stewart
Rally backs California prisoners on hunger strike
 
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home