Thursday 22 November 2012
Judge Denies Bail Request from Accused Stratfor Hacker Jeremy Hammond.
Federal judge Loretta Preska has rejected a request by lawyers for accused hacker Jeremy Hammond to release the imprisoned activist into house arrest. Jeremy Hammond is accused of being a member of the hacker group “Anonymous” and has been charged with hacking into the computers of the private intelligence firm Stratfor. The whistleblowing website WikiLeaks has continued to release the Stratfor documents, which number in the millions. Jeremy Hammond has been held without bail or trial for more than eight months. His lawyers argued Tuesday the accused hacker would be unable to review the troves of digitized evidence related to the case from jail, but their request for his release was denied. Jeremy Hammond supporter Sue Crabtree defended his alleged actions.
"The media calls Jeremy a hacker, and a member of Anonymous, the courts and those pursuing his prosecution, call him a criminal. But we call Jeremy a hero, and we ask what crimes has Jeremy committed that haven’t equally exposed the very crimes by the state prosecuting him. And again we say, exposing the crimes of the state is not a crime."
Loretta A. Preska’s Undisclosed Conflict.
A judge at Tuesday’s bail hearing, Loretta A. Preska, portrayed Jeremy as a terrorist more dangerous than murders and sexual predators, denied his bail and, before Jeremy and a gathering of his friends and family, announced the sentence he would face if found guilty: 360 months to life. It is very difficult to find the words to express the pain we feel after the court’s decision Tuesday to deny bail for Jeremy Hammond. It is an inconsolable sadness that relates those that share it to one another and solidifies our commitment to Jeremy’s cause. Jeremy, only 27 years old, has spent most of his young life contributing to charitable efforts and acting on his principles to right what he perceives as wrong. Now, due to his contributions to the Anonymous collective, Jeremy could, if found guilty, spend 30+ years in prison.
Jeremy was vilified and his contributions bastardized. All of this was done with absolute impunity by those prosecuting him. The court, however, underestimated the weight of Jeremy’s contributions and the passion his actions and the actions of other Anons have inspired in so many people. Most importantly, the court underestimated the Anonymous collective and the networks supporting Anons facing prosecution. There is no comfort for us so long as Anons are prosecuted. If a life sentence is what the State deems an appropriate punishment for the so called crimes that Jeremy is alleged of having committed, then it is our lives that we are willing to commit to Jeremy’s cause and to the cause of all Anons facing prosecution. We will not weary. We will not be discouraged.
