From: jd@homxc.att.com (John A Dinardo)
Subject: Gov't Tries to Destroy Christic Institute for La Penca Bombing Lawsuit
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Keywords: Christic Institute, CIA bombing at La Penca
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1992 19:18:54 GMT

                                          July 18, 1991


Hon. Dean Gallo (R-NJ)
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Congressman Gallo,

The following is my commentary and review of the details 
surrounding the current vendetta being waged by the Federal 
Government against the Christic Institute, text which I had
posted to the Usenet computer network. 

You should recognize that the Federal Government is abusing its
power and is violating the law by its punitive actions against
the Christic Institute. Please bring this unlawful case to the
attention of the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.


                                          Respectfully,


                                          John DiNardo

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
It appears that the Christic Institute has been marked for
destruction. If this happens, the American people will have been
deprived of one of their most valuable public interest agencies.
A $1.2 million fine is being imposed to bankrupt the Institute
in reprisal for its lawsuit against alleged murderers on
OUR payroll in the Federal Government.

Here is the story behind the assassination attempt on the
Christic Institute. Knowing the story will lead people to 
take up Christic's defense -- a defense that may be soundly 
based upon citizens' demands that the House Judiciary Committee 
examine the possibility of malfeasance by some of the federal 
judges who are involved in this game of inverted jurisprudence 
against the Institute.

    John DiNardo

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
Date:         Tue, 25 Jun 91 10:51:27 PDT
Reply-To:     christic%igc.org@uga.cc.uga.edu
From:         christic%igc.org@uga.cc.uga.edu
Subject:      COURT DISMISSES CHRISTIC SUIT
To:           Multiple recipients of list ACTIV-L <ACTIV-L@UMCVMB>

/* Written 10:50 am  Jun 25, 1991 by christic in cdp:christic.news */
/* ---------- "COURT DISMISSES CHRISTIC SUIT" ---------- */
-------------------------------------------------------------------
CHRISTIC INSTITUTE CALLS APPEALS RULING AN `HYPOCRISY'

By RICK EMRICH
Christic Institute, Tuesday, June 25, 1991

On June 18 an 11th Circuit Court of Appeals panel of three judges
refused to set aside Miami Federal District Judge James Lawrence
King's 1988 dismissal of Avirgan v. Hull, the civil racketeering
lawsuit filed by the Christic Institute against 29 contra
supporters, former U.S. officials and others accused of terrorist
acts, drug trafficking and arms smuggling. The panel also allowed
to stand King's 1989 ruling that the Institute, its general counsel
and its clients, Tony Avirgan and Martha Honey, must pay $1 million
in court costs and attorneys fees for filing the action.

Christic Institute General Counsel Daniel P. Sheehan called the
ruling ``an act of judicial hypocrisy of the highest order,'' and
said that the Institute will ask for a review of the three-judge
ruling by all twelve judges of the 11th Circuit. ``If this fails,''
he says, ``an appeal to the Supreme Court will be taken.''

Sheehan said the appeals court expressly ignored critical evidence
supporting the charges made in Avirgan v. Hull, including the
murder indictment in Costa Rica of the two key defendants, contra
supporters John Hull and Felipe Vidal, for the very crimes with
which they stood charged by the Institute.

``It is absurd that, with all the public evidence that demonstrates
the veracity of our charges, the Circuit Court will not allow us to
present our case to a jury,'' said Sheehan. ``It is preposterous
that the Court says we filed our suit in `bad faith'.''

``The appeals panel claims that we `must have known' that we would
never be able to prove our charges at the time we filed our suit,''
said Sheehan. ``On the contrary, the panel must have known that
virtually all of our claims have already been proved. We deserve
our day in court.''

Avirgan v. Hull was filed in Miami in May 1986 on behalf of
journalists Tony Avirgan and Martha Honey. Though it was filed six
months before the Iran-contra affair became public, the names of
the defendants in the suit would later read like a Who's Who of the
scandal. Former Generals Richard Secord and John Singlaub; former
C.I.A. clandestine operations specialists for George Bush, Thomas
Clines and Theodore Shackley; American contra supporter John Hull;
and Rob Owen, Oliver North's contra courier, were all named as
participants in the criminal Enterprise.

A total of 29 defendants were charged with participating in the
federal racketeering ``enterprise'' which smuggled weapons to the
contras, smuggled drugs through the contra support infrastructure
into the United States and participated in illegal paramilitary
operations on behalf of the rebels. According to the suit, in May
1984, members of this enterprise carried out the terrorist bombing
of a press conference given by contra commander Eden Pastora at his
jungle outpost in La Penca, Nicaragua. The bombing killed three
journalists and five other persons and injured 20 more, including
plaintiff Tony Avirgan. Pastora himself was injured, but survived
the blast.

``From the time the suit was first filed, the Christic Institute
has fought an uphill battle to present charges to a jury,'' said
Sheehan. ``The evidence uncovered by our plaintiffs, Christic
Institute investigators and others has consistently confirmed our
original charges,'' he said.

In 1987, the Congressional Iran-contra investigations confirmed the
existence of the illegal operation to support the contras in which
all of the defendants named in Avirgan v. Hull were proven to have
participated; in 1989, a Senate subcommittee released a report that
acknowledged the role of contra supporters--including Hull--in
cocaine smuggling.

Since then, the Costa Rican government has formally indicted Hull
and Vidal for first degree murder for planning the bombing at La
Penca, and has said that Oliver North aide Rob Owen probably knew
about the bombing in advance, as well.

Sheehan says the appeals panel's ruling is only the latest in a
growing string of court decisions that have protected participants
in the Reagan Administration's semi-private operation to support
the contras by blocking juries from hearing the evidence of their
crimes. ``When juries are allowed to see the evidence of the crimes
committed by contra supporters, they convict them,'' he said. ``By
keeping the evidence away from juries, the judicial branch is
actively abetting an assault upon our democratic system. The
American people are losing control of the people who are supposed
to serve us.''

Sheehan said that it is now clear that the judicial branch cannot
be expected to resolve this issue. ``We have an executive branch
that is directly involved in criminal activities, a Congress that
has deliberately failed in its investigation of those crimes, and
now the judicial branch is actively obstructing--rather than
aiding--the effort of private citizens who are trying to do the
work the government should be doing,'' said Sheehan. ``The Christic
Institute will continue to fight--in all available arenas--to make
sure that the truth about Iran-contra is told. The American people
must insist that our government act truthfully and honestly to
bring these people to justice.''

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Rick Emrich                    151251507 CHRISTIC             telex
The Christic Institute            christic                 PeaceNet
1324 North Capitol St., NW
Washington, D.C. 20002              tcn                      tcn449
202-797-8106 voice             christic@igc.org            Internet
202-529-0140 BBS             uunet!pyramid!cdp!christic        UUCP
202-462-5138 fax            cdp!christic%labrea@stanford     Bitnet

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *  
                      (TO BE CONTINUED)

I hope you will disseminate this report to anyone whom you think
might care enough (e.g. leaders of religious congregations, senior
citizens groups, conscientious citizens in your community, etc.)
to contact their Congressperson and insist that the House Judiciary
Committee investigate this matter.

      John DiNardo


Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive