CIA whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling has been in prison for six months. Today, we're launching a campaign to get him out.
You can help now. Click here to sign the petition telling President Obama: "We request the immediate pardon of Jeffrey Sterling."
Almost two months ago -- at a news conference in Washington co-sponsored by RootsAction.org, Reporters Without Borders and ExposeFacts -- Jeffrey's wife Holly released a letter to the president asking him to pardon Jeffrey. The White House did not respond.
Undaunted, Holly Sterling is leading the way to free her beloved husband. It's time to boost the pressure for justice by signing the new petition now.
As Holly says, Jeffrey "was convicted of seven counts of espionage on January 26, 2015 -- for merely communicating with New York Times journalist James Risen. He's now serving a 3.5-year prison sentence in a federal correctional facility in Colorado."
In prison for communicating with a journalist. In "the land of the free."
Please sign the petition against this terrible injustice.
"During Jeffrey's trial," Holly points out, "the Department of Justice was unable to present any direct evidence proving that he divulged classified information to Risen." Instead,prosecutors relied entirely on circumstantial evidence, devoid of content -- in what the BBC has called a "trial by metadata."
Holly explains that "Jeffrey utilized proper channels and informed the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence of his concern for the safety of the American people -- as such, Jeffrey is a whistleblower."
She's asking for active solidarity: "Please join me and the coalition of organizations led by Reporters Without Borders, RootsAction and ExposeFacts in my request to the Obama administration to immediately issue a pardon for my husband."
Holly's struggle for justice and truth has profound implications.
"President Obama publicly committed to a transparent government, yet it has been shrouded in mistruth and secrecy," she said today. "Jeffrey's conviction is only the latest chapter in the administration's war on whistleblowers and sets a dangerous precedent for freedom of information. In fact, the Obama administration has prosecuted more whistleblowers under the Espionage Act than all previous administrations combined."
Take action now.
After signing the petition, please forward this message to your friends. You can also share it from the webpage after taking the action yourself.
This work is only possible with your financial support. Please chip in $3 now.
-- The RootsAction.org Team
P.S. RootsAction is an independent online force endorsed by Jim Hightower, Barbara Ehrenreich, Cornel West, Daniel Ellsberg, Glenn Greenwald, Naomi Klein, Bill Fletcher Jr., Laura Flanders, former U.S. Senator James Abourezk, Coleen Rowley, Frances Fox Piven, Lila Garrett, Phil Donahue, Sonali Kolhatkar, and many others.
Background:
>> AFP: "Pardon Sought for Ex-CIA Officer in Leak Case"
>> Marcy Wheeler, ExposeFacts: "Sterling Verdict Another Measure of Declining Government Credibility on Secrets"
>> Norman Solomon, The Nation: "CIA Officer Jeffrey Sterling Sentenced to Prison: The Latest Blow in the Government's War on Journalism"
>> Reporters Without Borders: "Jeffrey Sterling Latest Victim of the U.S.' War on Whistleblowers"
>> ExposeFacts: Special Coverage of the Jeffrey Sterling Trial
>> BBC News: "Jeffrey Sterling's Trial by Metadata"
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