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Tuesday, August 12, 2003
The Price of Freedom
Trevor Mendham (The Chestnut Tree Cafe)
(0)   Civil liberties

In an amazingly petty act of vengeful spite, the US Treasury Department is fining a peace protestor $10,000. Faith Fippinger was one of many who went to Iraq to act as a "human shield". She has now been told that her action was in breach of trade sanctions because whilst in Iraq she spent around $200, mainly on food and water. She has also been accused of "providing services" to the Iraqi regime by her presence.

If she can't or won't pay she could face 12 years in jail.

Whether or not you supported the war, the right to protest against it was supposedly one of the things that US citizens had and Iraqi citizens were denied. Now a minor technical breach of sanctions legislation is being used to punish a citizen who dared exercise her civil liberties.

The message from King George's regime is clear: defy us at your peril.

BBC report here

Cross-posted from An It Harm None


Comments

The US State Department routinely fines Americans who it finds have visited Cuba, too. Again it is petty, anti-freedom, and contrary to the sorts of principles the American nation normally represents.

Posted by: Michael Jennings on August 12, 2003 08:35 PM

Volunteering as a human shield is a war crime. She is lucky to have only been issued a fine. Seriously, I wish they'd throw her in jail and let her rot for such stupidity.

Posted by: Jackie D on August 15, 2003 05:36 AM

By going there she risked being killed. If she was killed than ok, but she was not. We proved her wrong by taking over. She did not "provide services" to the regime. The above mention of Rachel Corrie is valid. She made the choice to put herself in harms way. We can choose to treat Faith Fippinger with disdain but we should not fine her $10,000

Posted by: Christian on August 20, 2003 07:15 PM
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