I see my appeal as an attempt to challenge my criminal conviction by affirming who I am and was, by affirming the essential thread that ran through all aspects of my political commitments. – Kurt Stand, July 2007

August 16, 2007

Dear Friends:

In a couple of months, Kurt Stand will reach the one-decade mark of his imprisonment for “attempted espionage.” Whether we knew Kurt before 1997 or learned of his case since then, we share a strong sense of the injustice behind his arrest and prosecution following a year and a half of FBI surveillance and ultimately a “sting” operation, all of which failed to uncover any evidence that Kurt or his former wife Theresa Squillacote had ever illegally provided information to a foreign power.

Perhaps we have been hopeful but not overly so, as his appeal has sputtered and crawled through the federal courts and as we also watched the judiciary pass into increasingly unfriendly hands.  Nevertheless, this year Kurt at last was granted a hearing on very narrow legal grounds. The hearing will take place sometime in the months ahead. His lawyers know they are up against an unsympathetic trial judge; they must make a fine-pointed legalistic argument – concerned with matters between his original lawyer and Squillacote’s that unfairly affected how Kurt was defended in the 1998 trial.

Despite these circumstances, Kurt views this next legal phase as his best opportunity so far to begin to tell his story, for the public record -- as well as to get a break in his sentence which he otherwise still would have five more years to endure.

For Kurt, there is an ‘essential thread’ in the argument that he was disadvantaged by his defense in the 1998 trial. His legal team did not actively engage the jury with the fact that Kurt’s relations outside the United States were at all times legal. Nor did his lawyer use or develop facts to challenge the government’s portrayal of Kurt’s political activities as shady and even treasonous. Ultimately, Kurt's  defense failed to recognize his real, legitimate politics or represent his actions as consistent with his innocence.

We are writing you to ask for your help again. Kurt’s current lawyer, Leonard Weinglass, has been a wise and dedicated advocate since 2001. He has also been professionally generous in making his talents affordable, relative to typical costs of criminal defense work.

Preparing the best possible case, picking up that essential thread on Kurt’s behalf, will exhaust the defense fund. Please help with a contribution as soon as possible. And please talk about the case with friends and associates who might be able to help as well.

Contributions should go to Friends of Kurt Stand, c/o Bill Mosley, 1742 Hobart St NW, Washington, DC   20009.

Kurt’s recent Letter to Friends, quoted above, is here. To read more of Kurt’s recent writings or for updates on his case, click here.

Thank you!

Friends of Kurt Stand