By Eileen Buckley
Buffalo, NY – An American Indian activist serving a life sentence for the murder of two FBI agents lost another attempt to have secret government documents released. Leonard Peltier has already served 30 years in prison. But attorneys are not giving up on their attempt to have his conviction overturned.
The latest blow to the Peltier defense team came on Monday in Buffalo. US District Judge William Skretny ruled that the FBI is allowed to withhold some documents in the Peltier case in the interest of national security. Peltier was convicted in 1977 for the deaths of the two FBI agents during a stand-off that occurred on a South Dakota reservation.
But one of his Buffalo attorneys, Michael Kuzma, paints a different setting. He claims it was the federal agents who entered the reservation, with an arrest warrant for someone who stole some cowboy boots, triggering the events that occurred in 1975.
"The case is fraught with government misconduct," Kuzma said.
Since his conviction, supporters of Peltier say he was treated unfairly because of his political activism and remains a political prisoner.
"The government has admitted that they don't know who shot the agent," Kuzma said. "There were two other individuals who were tried, and found not guilty."
Kuzma says in 2004, the Buffalo FBI office did released close to 800 pages of material on the Peltier case. But other documents were withheld due to national security concerns and confidentially. Supporters and Kuzma want to examine the thousands of pages of 30-year-old documents that they say should be have been available for Peltier's trial.
"What we have discovered is every FBI field office in America has a file related to Leonard Peltier or RESMURS, which stands for reservations murders," Kuzma said. "Under the Freedom of Information Act, you can file suit in one of three locations."
Attorneys say they are not giving up on Peltier's case. An appeal will be filed. Kuzma says he was disappointed with the latest ruling, but not shocked. He says they will continue to fight for release of the FBI files, and even plan to lobby Congress.