JUDGE DENIES RELEASE FOR JAILED JOURNALIST

Free Josh Wolf Support Group

Contact:

Mahdis Keshavarz 425 591 8781


JUDGE DENIES RELEASE FOR JAILED JOURNALIST

Attorneys for Josh Wolf Petitioned District Court for Full Release

or Thanksgiving Furlough


November 22, 2006-- San Francisco, CA – Attorneys for jailed
journalist, Josh Wolf appeared Tuesday before Federal District Court
Judge Alsup arguing for his release from Federal Prison, where he has
been held now for over 90 days. Wolf, 24, honored as Journalist of
the Year by the Society of Professional Journalists, was incarcerated
earlier this year for contempt after refusing to hand over his
unedited video of a 2005 G-8 protest in San Francisco. His
incarceration is virtually unprecedented for a journalist refusing to
hand over information to a Grand Jury.



“Jailing a journalist in order to force him to give information about
an anti-Bush anti-G8 demonstration is an affront to the very
principles of freedom of press this country was founded upon” said
Martin Garbus, attorney for Wolf.



Attorneys had argued for his immediate release or at minimum, a
furlough for the Thanksgiving holidays. Wolf has never been charged
with any crime and is widely believed to become the longest held
journalist in U.S. history.


“The U.S. Attorney and the federal government can not engage in this
kind of abuse of grand jury power, using it to harass, repress and,
yes, punish activists and journalists,” said Carlos Villarreal,
Executive Director of the National Lawyers Guild San Francisco Bay
Area. “One wonders if Wolf would be in prison today if he covered
anti-choice or anti-gay marriage rallies instead of anti-war or
anarchist demonstrations.”

More information can be found at http://www.joshwolf.net. A copy of the
motion can be found at http://www.nlgsf.org/docs/Ex-ParteMotion11-13-06.pdf.

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