August 17, 2002
Dear
Supporters and friends of Wen Ho Lee,
Dr.
Wen Ho Lee was free on September 13, 2000 after spending nine months in
solitary
and punitive confinement in a New Mexico prison. Judge Parker gave
an
unusual apology To Dr. Lee in front of the entire courtroom audience right
before
his release.
WenHoLee.org
just collected 15,000 signatures and delivered to President
Bush
with a cover letter signed by Congressman Mike Honda (D-San Jose) and
co-signed
by Congressman Pete Stark (D-Fremont) and Congresswoman Barbara
Lee
(D-Oakland) on July 29, 2002.
To
commemorate the second anniversary of Lee's return to freedom we would
like
to send an additional 15,000 (total 30,000) signatures to President
Bush
before the end of September. By signing this Pardon petition you made
your
voice known to the president of the United States. To sign this
forward
this email to two of your friends and asked them to do the same.
Judge
Parker's apology can be viewed in full context at
http://www.wenholee.org/Parkerapology.html
or an excerpt of an apology
printed
on September 15, 2000 by Albuquerque Tribune is included as
follow:
-
***************************************************************************
I
believe you were terribly wronged by being held in custody pretrial in
the
Santa
Fe County Detention Center under demeaning, unnecessarily punitive
conditions.
I
am truly sorry that I was led by our Executive Branch of government to
order
your detention last December. Dr. Lee, I tell you with great sadness
that
I feel I was led astray last December by the Executive Branch of our
government...
I
am sad for you and your family because of the way in which you were kept
in
custody while you were presumed under the law to be innocent of the
charges
the Executive Branch brought against you.
I
am sad that I was induced in December to order your detention, since by
the
terms of the plea agreement that frees you today without conditions, it
becomes
clear that the Executive Branch now concedes, or should concede,
that
it was not necessary to confine you last December or at any time before
your
trial.
It
is only the top decision makers in the Executive Branch, especially the
Department
of Justice and the Department of Energy and locally, during
December,
who have caused embarrassment by the way this case began and was
handled.
They did not embarrass me alone. They have embarrassed our entire
nation
and each of us who is a citizen of it.
I
might say that I am also sad and troubled because I do not know the real
reasons
why the Executive Branch has done all of this...
...I
sincerely apologize to you, Dr. Lee, for the unfair manner you were
held
in custody by the Executive Branch.
Court
will be in recess.
****************************************************************************
In
solidarity,
Cecilia
Chang
Executive
Director
WenHoLee.org
P.O.
Box 120
Fremont,
CA 94537
510 537-2929
Fax 510 272-0384
p.s.
If you like what we are doing please visit