Journalist still in jail after protest against G8 2005 in San Francisco

from IMC Indybay : 19.03.2007

A freelance journalist and filmmaker has been held in jail for 209 days as of today for resisting a subpoena. San Francisco based Josh Wolf refused to testify in court and hand over his source material.

The G8 2005 is over, the summit leaders went home years ago, the hotel is open to business as usual. While protesters are preparing for the upcoming G8 in Germany this year, others are still dealing with the aftermath of 2005.

After witnessing and videotaping a violent arrest during protests against the G8 2005 in San Francisco and publishing an editied version, he got more attention than expected: an FBI agent showed up at his house. To summarize a long story, they wanted his testimony and tape "so that the grand jury can determine what, if any, crimes were committed." On February 6th 2007 Josh Wolf was jailed for contempt longer than any other journalist in American history. In 2006 he received the Society of Professional Journalists Freedom of Information Award as Journalist of the Year and this year's James Madison Award for Online Free Speech.

On his website a call for support action is published:

"Josh has asked his supporters to write letters to the new US Attorney Scott Schools both email and snail mail. Phone calls and faxes are even better. Since he’s new and the wheels of justice grind slow, Mr. Schools lacks a personal email address at DOJ. The best DOJ email address for him is his secretary’s: natalya.labauve@usdoj.gov. Please CC supportletters@joshwolf.net.

DOJ phone number is 415-436-7200.
Fax is 415-436-7234

Snail Mail Address:
The "Honorable" Scott Schools
US Attorney’s Office
Northern District of California
450 Golden Gate Avenue, 11th Floor
San Francisco, California 94102-3495

Here are some points you might keep in mind for your letter:

1. Urge him to drop the case

2. Point out the assault upon civil liberties of free speech and free press

3. Mention that the police car in question suffered very minor damage (a broken tail light) and the punishment of Josh for filming at this event is totally disproportionate to any minor crimes he could have filmed from the location he was at during the protest

4. Let him know this sends a very harmful message to Americans and to the world about the state of press freedoms in the United States

5. Professional Journalist Groups who support him: two awards from Northern California Society of Professional Journalist, Reporters Without Borders, Committee to Protect Reporters, National Newspaper Guild"

Find out what else you can do and more about the case at: www.joshwolf.net

Coverage on Indybay:
http://indybay.org/newsitems/2007/02/04/18357266.php

Society of Professional Journalists:
http://www.spj.org/joshwolf.asp

Reporters Without Borders:
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=21229

Democracy Now! Interview with Josh Wolf:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/12/1540208

Time Blog: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1222780,00.html

Homepage: http://www.joshwolf.net

See also: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/03/365447.html

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