Nuclear Activists Sentenced for "Sabotage."
MEDIA RELEASE
February 18, 1999
Contact: Bill Sulzman (719) 389-0644 Citizens for Peace in Space
Byron Plumley (303) 623-3464 American Friends Service Committee
Peace activists Daniel Sicken, Brattleboro, Vermont, and Sachio Ko-Yin,
Ridgewood, New Jersey, were sentenced on February 18th in Denver Federal
District Court. Sicken was sentenced to 41 months and Ko-Yin to 30
months. The court imposed standard conditions for the mandatory payment
of
restitution. The government claimed damage at $21,299.40.
The Plowshares activists commemorated the 53rd anniversary of the atomic
bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, last August 6th by using sledgehammers to
symbolically disarm an active U.S. Air force Minuteman III strategic
nuclear
missile silo in northeast Colorado. They also painted on the underground
silo's concrete cap the images of a gravestone and a broken rifle, the
international symbol of disarmament.
Sicken, 57, an Air Force veteran, is self-employed in electrical and
plumbing home repairs. Ko-Yin, 26, is a nursery school teacher. They
represented themselves in a three day jury trial, November 2-4, 1998, and
were found guilty of sabotage, conspiracy, and destruction of government
property charges. A formal defense was prohibited, such as the
"necessity
defense" or "Nuremburg defense." Immediately following the trial, the
activists were incarcerated at Englewood Federal Detention Center,
outside
Denver. Sicken was assigned to federal detention at Ft. Devens, MA. and
Ko-Yin at Allenwood, PA.
Arguments made for downward departure were accepted based on the Judge's
decision to apply the principle of gradation of offense. Thus the
sentencing guidelines of 63-97 months became 30-41 months. Sicken and
Ko-Yin repeated their earlier assertions that their actions were morally
and
legally justified. Byron Plumley, American Friends Service Committee,
said
"the outcome represented the reality that legal and moral action are not
the
same as the court upheld the nuclear policy of the United States."
This act of beating swords into plowshares is one of over 60 similar
Plowshares-disarmament actions that have occurred since 1980, largely
inspired by the biblical prophecy of Isaiah 2:4. 500 Minuteman III and
50
MX missiles are just one leg of the first strike strategic nuclear triad
of
hydrogen bombs deployed in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. The other two legs
are
comprised of 18 Trident submarines and a bomber fleet. A single
Minuteman
III missile has the equivalent destructive power of 58 Hiroshima-type
bombs.
Bill Sulzman, representing the Minuteman III Plowshares group stated his
strong disappointment that Judge Miller chose to put his personal stamp
of
approval on America's (Colorado) weapons of mass destruction. Sulzman
said, "Unfortunately nice men like Judge Miller keep the nuclear system
functioning smoothly."
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