Return to the Hawaiian Independence Home Page, the News Articles Index, or the Political Prisoner page
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 1995 16:36:34 CDT
----------------------------------
Reply-To: ww@wwpublish.com
Sender: Activists Mailing List
From: NY Transfer News Collective
Subject: Hawaiian activist jailed (WW 8/31)
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the August 31, 1995, issue of Workers World
newspaper
---------------------------------
FBI agents arrested Dennis "Bumpy" Kanahele, leader of the pro-sovereignty group Nation of Hawaii, at Honolulu airport Aug. 2.
Kanahele is being held without bail at the Halawa Correctional Facility in Oahu. He is charged with "harboring a fugitive"-- Nathan Brown, a Hawaiian tax protester.
Kanahele's trial is slated for October.
On Aug. 7 Kanahele told reporters, "I'm a political prisoner."
INDIGENOUS STRUGGLE
The Nation of Hawaii organization does not recognize the legal authority of either the U.S. government or the state of Hawaii.
Members fasten "Nation of Hawaii" license plates onto their cars to substitute for state plates. They have repeatedly defied state authorities' threats to move against their community.
They have actually distributed legal warrants against state and federal officials. The warrants declare that the officials are violating Hawaiian law and committing "crimes against humanity" by harassing Hawaiian people.
When Kanahele was denied bail, U.S. Attorney Les Osborne accused the Nation of Hawaii of stockpiling weapons near its village in Waimanalo on Oahu. Many Hawaiians consider this charge both false and ludicrous. Waimanalo is a stone's throw from the giant Marine base in Kaneohe. There, U.S. soldiers conduct round-the-clock maneuvers with the most modern, destructive weapons.
Last year, the U.S. government finally apologized for illegally taking over the Hawaiian Islands in the 1890s. But the racist denial of the right of indigenous Hawaiian people to self-determination continues.
On Aug. 4, hundreds of people demonstrated in support of Kanehele at the Oahu Federal Building and on the neighboring islands of Kauai and Maui. They demanded his immediate release.
(Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted if source is cited. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: ww@wwpublish.com. For subscription info send message to: ww-info@wwpublish.com.)