Washington, September 12 (Prensa Latina)-- New demands to President Joe Biden for the freedom of Native American activist Leonard Peltier, considered the oldest political prisoner in the United States, will arrive today, when he turns 79 years old -- 47 of thost years in unjust captivity.
A caravan of Peltier's supporters, led by Colectivo NDN, will gather in a peaceful demonstration this Tuesday in front of the White House to demand his release from prison, taking into account his delicate health situation.
As part of the actions in favor of Peltier, there is an online petition of signatures in favor of his release; there is also a call to call the White House or send emails and write to the representative in Congress to support his release.
"We're going to put pressure on this administration so that people don't forget Leonard Peltier's fight," said Nick Tilsen, president and CEO of NDN Collective.
Last year, then-Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, in calling for clemency for the inmate, said, "There is no question that our criminal justice system is imperfect, and Peltier knows firsthand how imperfect it can be."
According to Leahy, his country's criminal justice system "has been contorted to propagate injustices."
Senator Brian Schatz also sent a letter to Biden in which he insisted that "Peltier was convicted of murder in 1977 after a controversial investigation and trial."
Many civil rights leaders and legal experts called that trial unfair, including the U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the case, he said.
In his message, Schatz cited "a loophole in current law that unfairly disqualifies him for compassionate release." "Peltier has consistently maintained his innocence because the facts (...), as well as the actions of the federal agents and prosecutors involved, raise serious questions about whether he received a fair trial," the Hawaii lawmaker said.
According to the prisoner himself, the conditions of his confinement in the Florida penitentiary are like a "torture chamber." "The loneliness and lack of attention are like a torture chamber for sick and elderly people," denounced the activist of Anishinaabe Lakota descent.
The leader of the American Indian Movement (AIM), an organization that emerged in the 1960s in the heat of the struggles for Civil Rights, was born on September 12, 1944 in Grand Forks, in the U.S. state of North Dakota.
Leonard Peltier was indicted for the 1975 murder of two FBI agents during a shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, for which he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences.
