Transcripts

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SPEAKER 1: Leonard Peltier has had his appeals exhausted and been denied a new trial, despite the fact that the Eighth Circuit court did find that had the FBI not improperly withheld evidence, his case might have been overturned or the jury might have found him innocent.

So his appeals are exhausted. His chances for parole are pretty much nil unless he confesses to a crime that he did not commit. So therefore, executive clemency is one of his only remaining avenues for release. And as President Clinton leaves office, support for Leonard Peltier has been on the rise in the hope that he will grant him clemency.

STEPHEN: So you think there's been an exerted effort in the recent past now that has finally gotten President Clinton to take a look at Peltier's case?

SPEAKER 1: Yes, I think so. Amnesty International has taken a stronger stance. Desmond Tutu has voiced his support, and a lot of prominent people have re-examined the case and looked at the current situation and renewed their support for his release.

STEPHEN: Have you spoken to Leonard Peltier about the recent news?

SPEAKER 1: Yes, I have.

STEPHEN: And what is his reaction?

SPEAKER 1: I think it's a pretty stressful place to be in knowing that this decision could go one way or the other and basically decide his fate. So it's a difficult place to be in, but he's very hopeful and very grateful that President Clinton will be looking at the merits.

STEPHEN: And does he think that he will be out of prison soon?

SPEAKER 1: He is cautiously optimistic.

STEPHEN: What do you think would become of Leonard Peltier if he is released from prison or when he is released from prison?

SPEAKER 1: I know that he's planning on building a foundation that will support the rights of Native peoples in the United States and Canada, helping to uplift Native communities by building schools and drug and alcohol treatment programs and things like that.

SPEAKER 2: When I saw that he had granted clemency or relief to the FALN terrorists in Chicago recently over the strong objections of the FBI and other law enforcement that it worked so hard to arrest the group of terrorists and put them away, the fact that he's going to review Peltier's plea for clemency is not a big surprise.

STEPHEN: Are you still and will you, from this point forward, still actively work to keep Peltier behind bars?

SPEAKER 2: Oh, I think that anybody who has knowledge of the facts of that situation, it's incumbent upon that person to speak out because June 26th, 1975, 25 years ago is a long time to test one's memory, the public's memory about what really happened. And my main role, Stephen, has been to remind the public what happened out there.

The fact that Peltier had access to the best legal minds in the country and was tried and convicted, received two consecutive life sentences, clemency to a fellow like this--

I think in the general public's mind, if a person accepts the fact that he or she did something wrong, has a sense of regret, a feeling of remorse, and a contrite heart and can make some adjustments, then I think a great deal of the objection to that person being released might be dealt with because they have seen the error of their ways.

Peltier has never acknowledged the fact that he did it. He has lied about it right from the start. He has taken many different positions. Mr. X did it. I wasn't there. Then he says that, yes, I was there. I shot at the FBI agent. So he's a bad person and he should not be released. But the president is going to do what the president is going to do.

STEPHEN: Do you think the president will grant clemency?

SPEAKER 2: I think the president has shown bad judgment nearly his whole term of office, and it wouldn't surprise me to see him exercise bad judgment again and release Peltier.