Support Icelandic Activist in arrest

Dear Indymedia readers

Here is a petition you might consider signing:

It goes to althing [at] peace.is and is based on the below article was printed on my website, TokyoProgressive, from a peace group in Iceland I know little about.

THAT ARTICLE: Peace 2000 leader arrested and imprisoned & our computers confiscated in Iceland! URL http://tokyoprogressive.org/news/comments.php?id=P47_0_1_0

I was concerned because I do not know PEACE 2000 and I wondered whether he was arrested because the government misunderstood HE was theatening the airlines instead of warning them that Iceland's support of militarism constituted a threat to civil aviation. So I got more information:

I first heard about it from Mitchel Cohen of the Greens/Green Party USA and then asked some contacts in the U.S. peace movement, who asked people at the International Peace Bureau, who confirmed that while there is some difference of opinion on tactics, he is legitimate and that "he has taken a stand against the militarization of the civilian aircraft industry (he is a pilot), against Iceland being drawn into into its NATO military role, and has paid a price. He deserves some support."

With that response, I suggest people send email to althing [at] peace.is as follows:

SUGGESTED TEXT As a peace loving person, I protest the recent arrest of Astthor Magnusson without explanation as well as confiscation of his organization's data. It has been alleged that this action was taken to present a discussion of the danger that your government has imposed on civil aviation by agreeing to carry munitions and military personnel on behalf of NATO. I am concerned that the Icelandic authorities, in bowing to militarism, are also emulating the U.S. government in suspending civil liberties by restricting free speech, thereby stifling the democratic process.

I therefore request that you immediately renounce your actions and/or explain to the public why you have engaged in such disreputable activities. I further demand that you convince me that the Icelandic government has not itself become a rogue nation in eyes of the peace-loving people of the world. I expect a personal response to this letter.