Ford okays amnesty; reshsters ridicul WASHINGTON IUPII President Ford Monday offered ■ onditional amnesty to an estimated 28,000 Vietnam war resistors in return for up to two years' public service and an oath of allegiance He called it “an act of mercy to bind the nation s wounds Spokesmen for draft evaders and military, deserters in Canada and Sweden denounced the plan as "absurd” and “a gross miscarriage of justice,” and predicted few would accept Ford's proclamation, twice delayedwhile with the Nixon pardon and economic issues, offered conditional am nesty to those who deserted or evaded'the draft between Aug. t. 14M. and March 28. 197',!. the date the United States with drew its last soldiers from Vietnam Later, at his news conference. Ford was asked why he granted onlv conditional amnesty to war protestors while granting a full pardon to former President Nixon. He said the aim of each action was to "heal wounds” the nation has suf fered, and that “this is the only connection between the two." Those wishing rehabilitation and freedom from prosecution must surrender to a U S attorney or military official before USG insurance By SHEILA McCAULEY Collegian Staff Writer Undergraduate Student Govern ment President George Cemusca last night said a decision involving the insurance case should come in the next few days. Cernusca defended his right as president to create a permanent insurance committee of two Academic Assembly members, two USG Senators, two USG executives and two USG Executive Council members to look into future student insurance matters. Cernusca said that within the next calendar week there would be decisions "which affect im plementation of the insurance program." Cernusca added there is "a good chance of deciding on an insurance company within a week." The Senate's insurance in vestigators questioned Cernusca’s right to form the permanent in surance committee. USG Senator Pam Michaels said the resolution creating the Senate committee gives that committee authority to recommend an insurance company once the court has niled on the case. But Cernusca said that decision will be made when the court decides the •s* '■ 1 ■ * 'Vi r* ■ ' •i 7 i ;,! "' : m4-SIC i 1 | - -*- «f George Cernusca expects <r . case. If the court rules in favor of Cernusca, he said the Higham- Nielson contract then is automat ically valid. Cernusca said the resolution creating ai special committee did give the compiittee power to make recommjendations on the insurance policy. But Cernusca saidjthe special committed will not be ready to act as soon as is necessary. . - - Special Committee Member Gary Lightmanjsaid the committee asked for extension of its two-week deadline because [ many aspects of the case needed verification. Lightman said he had read only half of the 300-page testimony but had already found “conflicting testimony” between Cernusca! and Arthur Williams, professor of insurance. Cernusca, said the danger of statement was that people might misinterpret what he said as a negative judgment on particular testimony. Cernusca also announced he will appoint two Senate members to serve on the permanent insurance com mittee he created, because the Senate itself will nbt do so. The Senate went on record 16-4 as negating the two Senate appointees’ power to speak for the entire Senate on future insurance matters. next Jan. 31. Basically, they vyill then earn forgiveness by: Agreeing to perform "a period of alternate service in the national interest” in puch areas as public health and safety jobs but not including “the privilege” of military service. Ford set the service period at 24 months fajut said it could be reduced in individual cases at the recommendation of various designated officials or a clemency board established by the proclamation. | Taking an oath! of “allegiance to ttie Country and its constitution". | 1 A spokesman for the Selective Service, which will ad minister the alternate service program, said about half the amnesty workers would likely serve in hospitals or homes for the aged or children. He said many others would find work in conservation or with jreligious service groups. In addition to social rehabilitation, military deserters will first receive an undesirable discharge a category con sidered less punitive jthah dishonorable and, upon com pletion of alternate Service, a “clemency discharge” not affording any veterans benefits. ; . N. l '. t’ . ii' ■ • , ' ‘ . • ■ \\.- ! .: . ■ ■ IN®.\ LV'A; B ’-!''-; \ Coll«gtan Photo ruling case See Related story page 8. Judge berates prosecution as AIM leaders are freed ST. PAUL, Minn. (UPI) A federal judge yesterday dismissed all charges against American Indian Movement leaders Russell Means and Dennis Banks, bringing a sudden end to the 8- month-old Wounded Knee trial. The judge said he was “ashamed” of the prosecution’s handling of the case. U.S. District Court Judge Fred Nichol announced his ruling after doctors said a woman juror had suffered a-stroke last Friday and could not continue deliberations. The woman had been hospitalized over the weekend. The government had refused to en trust its case to the remaining 11 jurors. Jury members questioned by report ers late yesterday said the 11 had already reached a unanimous verdict of innocent for both men bn a conspiracy charge and were running heavily for acquittal on a larceny) charge against each man. Banks and Means also had been charged with three counts of assault in last year’s 71rday armed occupation of Wounded Knee, S.D., a hamlet on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation. When the dismissal was announced, defense attorneys William Kunstler and Mark Lane exchanged smiles with colleagues at the defense table. There was a burst of applause from the packed cdurtroom, but Nichol quickly restored order. One defendant later said, “Thank God.” Assistant U.S. Attorney R. D. Hurd from South Dakota, chief prosecutor in the case, and other government at torneys slumped in their chairs when the decision was read. CIA active WASHINGTON (UPI) Saying he would not pass judgment whether in ternational law permitted it, President Ford admitted frankly last night that the United States had intervened in Chile but denied involvement in the actual overthrow of President Salvador Allende. “Our government had no involvement whatsoever in the Allende coup,” Ford said at his second news conference. But he added that the United States had made an effort to “assist" the ac tivities of opposition newspapers and opposition political parties in the years immediately prior to the Marxist leader’s overthrow by a military junta last September. Allende and several thousand others died in the upheaval. Ford said over a period of time, thrqp or four years ago, there was an effort made by the Allende government “to destroy opposition media, both writing and electronic media, and to destroy opposition political parties, and the effort that was made in this case was to help and assist the preservation of op position newspapers and electronic media and to preserve opposition political parties.” “I-think this is in the best interests of the people in Chile and certainly in our best interests.” When asked by a newsman what right the United States had to “destabilize” the constitutionally elected government of another country, Ford replied: “I am not going to pass judgment, on whether it is permitted or authorized under international law. It is a recognized fact that historically and presently such actions are taken in the best interest of the countries involved.” “Desertion in time of war is a major, serious offense,” Ford said. “Failure to-respond to the country’s call of duty is also a serious offense. Reconciliation among pur people does not require that these acts be condoned. “Yet reconciliation calls for an act of mercy to bind the nation’s wounds and to heal the scars of divisiveness.” Ford briefed congressional leaders on the plan before making it public and they told newsmen it would have the support of both Congress and the military. But spokesmen for anti-war and amnesty groups reacted with disappointment and hostility. “It’s alcoverup, it’s not amnesty,” said Dee Knight, a member ,of the National Council For Universal and Un conditional Amnesty in Washington, D.C. Knight jsaid it was unjust to give Richard M. Nixon un conditional pardon while requiring “further punishment”’ for the war resisters and predicted “very few, if any” of those who have) fled abroad .would return. In Toronto, spokesmen for the Amex Canada expatriates group called Ford’s offer a “gross miscarriage of justice” compared to Nixon’s pardon and urged its members to reject The judge took the occasion of the dismissal to chastise government at torneys for allegedly trying to keep from the court a criminal charge against a key prosecution witness. “1 was ashamed the government was not represented better,” Nichol said. He also criticized the FBI for “stooping so low” in its investigation of the case. And, referring to Watergate and President Ford’s pardon of former President Richard Nixon, Nichol said: “This has been a bad year for justice. From what has happened this past year I have not been so proud of the country I love.” After the hour-long session was ad journed, there was another outburst from the defense table and about 20 supporters who had been present for most of the trial. “Today is a blow for freedom for everybody,” Kunstler said. But he voiced fears the public would not un derstand Nichol’s ruling. “They didn’t understand the judge in the Ellsberg trial and they won’t understand this one,” he said. Means said, “Thank God. Members of AIM believe more in the American judicial system than in the govern ment.” Banks tossed a bag of Wounded Knee pins into the air and supporters grabbed them and put them on. The jury had begun deliberations Thursday in the long and occasionally turbulent trial. Deliberations were halted Friday by the illness of Mrs. Therese Cherrier, 53. Other jury members had been sequestered over the weekend, pending in Chile Ford said the so called “40 Com mittee” was first established in 1948 with the responsibility of reviewing “every covert' operation undertaken by our government” and reports regularly to both Senate and House review com mittees. The 40 Committee includes Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger as chair man, CIA Director William E. Colby and one member each from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the State and Defense Depart ments. The President said it is his feeling that the -40 Committee should continue in existence and he plans to meet withsthe Congressional oversight committees involved “to see if they want any change in the review process so Congress as well as the President stays fully aware.” The Senate Foreign Relations Com mittee was to meet in executive session Tuesday morning to consider ,the disclosure by press leaks of secret testimony by Colby this summer that the CIA had been authorized to spend up to $8 million in intervening in Chile bet-, ween 1970-1973. Sen. Frank Church, D-Idaho, and others are reported by congressional sources to be concerned that some Nixon' Administration officials may have perjured themselves in congressional testimony in 1973 by saying that the United States had not been involved in Chile. Weather Partly cloudy and milder through tomorrow. High today 70. Low tonight 54. High wmorrow '75. Ten cents per copy j Tuesday, September 17|, 1974 Vol. 75, No. 42 8 pages University Park, Pennsylvania Published by Students )of The Pennsylvania State University a .decision on future deliberations. When they checked out of their hotel yesterday, members of the panel said the first vote on a conspiracy charge was 8-3 for acquittal and a second ballot was unanimous for acquittal. On a larceny charge, the first vote was 8-4 for acquittal of Means and 11-1 for acquittal of Banks, jurors said. Nichol said Hurd had deceived the court regarding i a key prosecution witness Louis ! Moves Camp, 22 when Hurd said he knew of no more serious charge against Moves Camp than public intoxication. The defense claimed Moves Camp also had been charged with rape but that the FBI had persuaded local authorises not to prosecute him on that charge. “This hurt deeply and it will take a long time to forget this sordid story,” Nichol said. The judge said .Hurd was guilty of “errors of judgment” and negligence, which he said would not have happened if the government, had been “half as thorough” in investigating the case as the defense attorneys.* Moves Camp had given the govern ment’s most damaging testimony against Banks and Means, each charged with one count of larceny, three counts of assault and one count of conspiracy. During the weekend, while court of ficials and doctors watched Mrs. Cherrier’s condition, the defense moved to acquit Banks and Means on grounds Ford: 'No deals' WASHINGTON (AP) President Ford declared last night he is absolutely convinced he made the right decision in pardoning a “shamed and disgraced” Richard M. Nixon. He said there were no secret deals and no sjecret reason for the pardon. . And Ford added; that the former president’s acceptance of the pardon can be construed as an admission of Watergate guilt. “I must say that the decision has created more antagonism than I an ticipated,” Ford acknowledged at a White House news conference. But he said it was right for!the nation, for the sake of national healing and unity. “ ... As I look over the long haul with a trial or several trials of a former president, criminal trials, the possibility of a former president being in the dock so to speak, and the divisions that would have existed ... I'm still convinced that despite the public reaction so far that the Shots fired near embassy THE HAGUE, Holland (UPI)—A man in a speeding car fired shots last night at police standing guard outside the French embassy where three Japanese gunmen held nine hostages, including the French ambassador, under a death threat. The shooting came as the takeover of thp embassy went into its fourth day, wijih the Japanese still negotiating with Dutch officials by telephone for safe passage out of the country. Authorities said there had been some progress in the talks, but a police official said no breakthrough was expected before today. , Police said a man driving a.Fiat sped past the besieged embassy, fired at a policeman and roared off. They said the shots missed. ; it. In Sweden, American exiles called the program “absurd and “a punishment, not an amnesty.” Ford set up a nine-member Clemency Board to help ad minister the program. It will deal with the cases of those already convicted of draft evasion offenses or military men already given punitive discharges for:unlawful absences. Ford urged it to give priority consideration to releasing the estimated 130 persons now imprisoned for such offenses. The White House has estimated there are about 15£00 draft evaders and about 12,500 military deserters at large and eligible for amnesty, including about ■ 4,500 evaders and deserters in Canada. - Ford assigned the director of the Selective Service’to set up the programs of '‘alternative service" for amnesty ap plicants. 1 He empowered U.S. attorneys, 'the armed service secretaries and the Secretary of Transportation who has jurisdiction over the Coast Guard and the Clemency Board, in various circumstances, to recommend reduced • periods of alternate service where “mitigating circumstances" favor an individual. f that the prosecution violated ethical and professional standards. Nichol said he treated the defense motion for a judgment of acquittal as a motion to dismiss because he felt it was a matter of misconduct by the govern ment not one: of insufficiency of evidence. Defense attorneys, headed by William Kunstler, had favored letting the 11 jurors decide the case-if the judge did not order acquittal. But the government, feeling Mrs. Cherrier was in favor of conviction, opposed this. Several times the judge criticized the FBI, once saying “I didn’t realize the tUI was stooping so low." The judge® ticized Joseph Trimbach, special agent in charge of the FBI for Minnesota, North ;Dakota and South Dakota, for not ordering a lie detector test for Moves Camp before he was used as a’ government witness. Nichol also criticized the FBI for keeping Moves Camp at a vacation resort in Wisconsin while he was waiting to testify and the government for allegedly paying him more than $2,000. Regarding the involvement of the military during the Wounded Knee takeover, the judge said, “We don’t want the military running civilian affairs in this country running the U.S. mar shals and the FBI.” Under the law, he said, the military cannot be used to enforce civil laws in the United States. decision I made was the right one." Again and again at the nationally broadcast • and televised news con ference, questioning turned .to the pardon, and Ford defended it. ”... I had no secret reason," he said at the outset. Nor, said Ford, did he have inside information on Nixon’s health although he was not oblivious to reports that the former president was ailing. And later. Ford said there were no private deals: “There was no understanding, no deal between me and the former president nor between my staff and the staff of (he former president, none whatsoever.” Instead, Ford said, there was his concern that Nixon would be indicted for Obstructing justice and possibly 10 other counts, that the proceedings would drag out for well over a year, and that they would worsen the national wounds of Watergate. Police said they had no further details on the incident. Early yesterday, the gunmen released two women hostages and threatened to kill the nine remaining male captives. French Foreign Minister Jean Sauvagnargues said negotiations had taken a “very positive turn," but he did not elaborate. Police said they felt the guerrillas would probably wait until today before fleeing to avoid attempting the 25-mile drive to the airport at night. Dutch Premier Joop den Uyl said the two young w>men were released by the guerrillas after an Air France Boeing 707 jetliner demanded by the guerrillas arrived from Paris at Amsterdam’s- Schipol airport, 25 miles away from the embassy.
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