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ALEC in the News: Oklahoma Punishes Solar Power Users; Wisconsin Voter ID Law Overturned
Through a shadowy group called the American Legislative Exchange Council, the billionaire Koch brothers have helped advance a number of state laws that benefit corporate and right-wing interests. An internal document shows ALEC is tracking 131 bills which, among other issues, seek to roll back renewable energy standards, combat federal coal regulations and tout the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline. ALEC’s efforts recently paid off in Oklahoma, where Gov. Mary Fallin has signed a measure allowing utilities to charge customers who generate energy from solar panels or small wind turbines. ALEC’s victory in Oklahoma comes as a federal judge has struck down a voter ID law in Wisconsin, saying it unfairly targeted the poor and people of color. ALEC has been exposed as the secretive powerhouse behind voter ID laws and other right-wing initiatives across the country, thanks largely to the reporting of our guest, Lisa Graves, president of the newly merged The Progressive magazine and the Center for Media and Democracy.TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: The billionaire Koch brothers and their allies in the American Legislative Exchange Council have won a victory in their fight against renewable energy. In a bid to protect their own corporate interests, the Kochs and ALEC have launched new efforts to roll back state policies that encourage the use of solar or wind power. Those efforts recently paid off in Oklahoma, where Governor Mary Fallin has signed a measure allowing utilities to charge customers who generate energy from solar panels or small wind turbines.
An internal document obtained by The Progressive and the Center for Media and Democracy shows the scope of ALEC’s anti-environmental efforts this year. ALEC is tracking 131 bills which, among other issues, seek to roll back renewable energy standards, combat federal coal regulations, and tout the Keystone XL oil pipeline. Eleven of the bills seek to amend state laws that allow homeowners with solar panels to sell excess electricity back into the grid, a system that helps homeowners offset the cost of installing solar panels.
AMY GOODMAN: ALEC’s victory in Oklahoma comes as a federal judge has struck down a voter ID law in Wisconsin, saying it unfairly targeted the poor and people of color. ALEC has been exposed as the secretive powerhouse behind voter ID laws and other right-wing initiatives across the country, thanks largely to the reporting of our next guest, Lisa Graves, who’s joining us from Washington, D.C. She’s president of Progressive Inc., which now includes the Center for Media and Democracy and The Progressive magazine. She’s now publisher of the magazine, as well as ALEC Exposed.
Lisa, welcome to Democracy Now! Congratulations on all your new hats. Can you talk about first the voter ID law and then this attack on solar and alternative energy sources?
LISA GRAVES: Well, thank you so much, Amy. Yesterday was a great day for voting rights in this country. A federal court in Milwaukee struck down Wisconsin’s restrictive voter provisions that were passed at the instigation of Scott Walker. Those voter provisions make it harder for American citizens to vote, impose new restrictions on how you can vote at the polls, in terms of ID requirements. And in this case, an independent federal court judge ruled that those provisions were plainly unconstitutional. They were—would have a tremendously bad effect on hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin citizens. And he went on to say that, in this particular case, there’s literally no evidence that voter impersonation is a problem in Wisconsin. There was, you know, really no evidence in recent history that there is some sort of voter fraud plague to warrant this sort of impact on American voters, and so he struck down that law. And that’s a bright spot in what really—or a plus in what really has been a sea of minuses on voting rights over the past few years, not just through the ALEC measures, which ALEC has subsequently tried to disavow, but ALEC’s effort back in 2010 to really propagate these voter restrictions—was complemented, in a way, in an unfortunate way, by the Supreme Court’s ruling last year to further undermine the Voting Rights Act. And so, there’s no doubt that voting rights is under assault in this country, but fortunately there is at least one independent judge in Wisconsin, a federal judge, who struck it down just this—just yesterday.
That defeat, in a way, for the agenda of many of the ALEC legislators, comes in the wake of a big victory for ALEC in Oklahoma, where ALEC is, you know, very favored by ALEC politicians there, by ALEC legislators and by the governor, who was the featured speaker at ALEC’s last conference in Oklahoma. And in that case in the state of Oklahoma, she signed into law a provision that would allow utilities, as you mentioned, to tax solar—people who use solar panels on their roofs. And this is a big part of the ALEC agenda, as The Guardian revealed in documents published last December, where ALEC was boasting, in essence, that these provisions were a part of their agenda because they wanted to basically punish what they called "free riders," or freeloaders, who are people who use solar panels, who put energy back into the grid. And so, this is a step forward for ALEC’s agenda; it’s a step backward for our country and for solar energy to have this provision pass in Oklahoma. And it really is, you know, a terrible—a terrible bill that passed.
But we’re not surprised in Oklahoma. Quite frankly, Oklahoma, if you’ve ever been to their State Capitol, as our research director, Nick Surgey, has, they have actually, in essence, allowed corporations to buy the Capitol, literally, or at least pay for part of the Capitol. Engraved within the rotunda of the Capitol of Oklahoma is Halliburton and the names of other corporations that helped fund a rebuilding of that Capitol.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Lisa Graves, can you talk about what the impact of the Wisconsin voter ID ruling will have on other states with similar bills?
LISA GRAVES: Well, I’m hopeful that other judges will take the advice, in essence, the analysis, the really excellent analysis, of Judge Lynn Adelman, who’s the federal district court judge in Milwaukee who issued this ruling. It’s a really powerful decision. It goes through step by step and really talks about the lack of evidence, the absolute lack of evidence, of fraud that would be prevented by these laws. He talks about how the current penalties are so stiff—it’s a $10,000 fine and a three-year prison sentence if someone does impersonate another voter—that that’s enough of a penalty, and really the lack of foundation for these laws, as well as the impact on people. There was testimony in the case before the judge showing how this law would affect American citizens who want to vote. There are other states, nearly a dozen states, where these voter ID restrictions have passed. And so I’m hoping that in other states, if those provisions are challenged in court, that other judges will look to this really excellent, thorough analysis of the federal court judge in Milwaukee.
AMY GOODMAN: And very briefly, Lisa, if you can talk about this merging of your organizations, the Center for Media and Democracy and Progressive?
LISA GRAVES: Well, we’re super excited to announce this month that the Center for Media and Democracy and The Progressive Inc. have merged. We’ve joined forces. We have work to do to integrate our operations, but it’s a really exciting time for us. We’re both independent, investigative and media organizations in Madison, Wisconsin. The Progressive has a tremendous history going back to 1909. It has been the place of some of the best writing, I think, in our country on social issues through time—
AMY GOODMAN: Lisa, we’re going to have to leave it there—
LISA GRAVES: OK.
AMY GOODMAN: —but I thank you for being with us, president of Progressive Inc. And that does it for our show. I’ll be speaking at Dartmouth College on Friday, May 2nd, at 5:00 at Moore Hall. Go to our website, democracynow.org, for more details, and on May 17th in Stowe, Vermont.
Execution Chaos: Witness Recounts Botched Killing that Caused Okla. Prisoner's Fatal Heart Attack
An Oklahoma death row prisoner has died of a heart attack after a botched execution Tuesday night. Clayton Lockett was injected with an untested cocktail of lethal drugs. After struggling violently on the gurney, doctors halted the killing 13 minutes in, when discovering Lockett was still conscious and trying to speak. Doctors say he suffered a ruptured vein, interrupting the flow of the lethal drugs. About 30 minutes after that point, Lockett apparently died of a heart attack when the drugs had spread through his body. The botched killing forced officials to cancel the execution of another prisoner, Charles Warner. Both Lockett and Warner initially won a stay of execution earlier this month after challenging the secrecy of their execution drugs. But the Oklahoma Supreme Court reversed the decision last week after Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin objected and state lawmakers threatened the judges’ removal from the bench. Warner’s execution has now been delayed for 14 days pending a review of execution procedures. We are joined by journalist Ziva Branstetter of Tulsa World, who was one of 12 media witnesses to attend the planned execution at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: An Oklahoma prisoner who was supposed to be executed Tuesday night died instead of a massive heart attack after his lethal injection was botched. Clayton Lockett was injected with an untested cocktail of lethal drugs. After struggling violently on the gurney, doctors halted the killing 13 minutes in, when discovering Lockett was still conscious and trying to speak. Doctors say he suffered a ruptured vein, interrupting the flow of the lethal drugs. About 30 minutes after that point, Lockett died of a heart attack when the drugs had spread through his body. Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Robert Patton described what happened.
ROBERT PATTON: As those that were inside witnessed, it was determined that he was sedated at approximately seven minutes into the execution. At that time, we began pushing the second and third drugs in the protocol. There was some concern at that time that the drugs were not having the effect, so the doctor observed the line and determined that the line had blown. After conferring with the warden, and unknown how much drugs had went into him, it was my decision at that time to stop the execution. I notified the attorney general’s office, the governor’s office of my intent to stop the execution, and requested a stay for 14 days for the second execution scheduled this afternoon. At approximately 7:06 hours, inmate suffered what appears to be a massive heart attack and passed away.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Robert Patton. The botched killing of Clayton Lockett forced officials to cancel the execution of another prisoner, Charles Warner. Both Lockett and Warner were convicted of murder. They each won a stay of execution earlier this month after challenging the secrecy of their execution drugs. But the Oklahoma Supreme Court reversed the decision last week after Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin objected and state lawmakers threatened their removal from the bench. Warner’s execution has now been delayed for 14 days pending a review of execution procedures.
AMY GOODMAN: Clayton Lockett’s execution was second—was the second one botched this year in the United States. In January, an Ohio prisoner named Dennis McGuire was executed using an untested two-drug method. He made snorting and gasping sounds before he died, prompting his family to file a civil rights lawsuit and a call for a death penalty moratorium. Tuesday was the first time since 1937 that two men were set to be executed on the same day in Oklahoma since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, although it’s happened in other states. The last double execution was in Texas in 2000.
For more, we go directly to Tulsa via Democracy Now! video stream, where we’re joined by Ziva Branstetter. She’s the enterprise editor at the Tulsa World. She was one of 12 media witnesses to attend the botched execution Tuesday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.
Ziva, I understand this is just hours after you have experienced what has to be extremely upsetting. And I was wondering, as you wrote up this minute-by-minute account of what you saw, could you start at the beginning, even before the execution began, what you heard in the prison as you walked to the execution chamber?
ZIVA BRANSTETTER: Well, typically inmates will bang on their cells before an execution, for most inmates who are being executed, unless it’s an inmate that none of the other inmates like. And so, we heard a lot of clanging and banging on the cell doors before we were let into the execution chambers.
AMY GOODMAN: And then describe what happened once you got to the execution chamber, and set the scene for us—where you are, where the prisoner who’s about to be executed is, how you can see him.
ZIVA BRANSTETTER: Yes. So the prisoner is in a separate room. The blinds are drawn. We’re in a room that has sound, microphone connection to the execution chamber. We’re in a viewing room. There’s two rows of metal folding chairs. We are in the back row—there’s a dozen media witnesses—two defense attorneys in the front row, and then the rest of the seats in front of us are filled up by state law enforcement officials, Department of Corrections officials, those types of folks. Behind us, there’s a small room with a one-way viewing glass where the victim’s families—relatives sit. So, we were seated. We were ready. The execution began at—began at 6:23, which is later than the other three executions I’ve witnessed. We were wondering why it took a while to start.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Ziva, at some point during the execution, they closed the blinds, even for the media witnesses. Is that right?
ZIVA BRANSTETTER: That’s correct. So what happened is, at 6:23, the execution began. The inmate had no last words. About 10 minutes later, they pronounced him unconscious. There was no reaction for about three minutes. And then, at about—about, you know, I would say three minutes after that, he began a very violent reaction. He began writhing, lifting his shoulders up off the gurney and his head up off the gurney. He was clenching his jaw, exhaling. He was mumbling phrases that none of us could really hear. The only audible word we could hear was him saying "man." And he appeared to be in pain, but we couldn’t understand what he was saying. This lasted for about three minutes. The physician in the execution chamber went over, lifted up the sheet, looked at his right arm. The warden of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, who was also in the execution chamber, said that they were going to have to temporarily close the blinds. And after that, they never reopened them.
AMY GOODMAN: I don’t understand. You were witnesses. Why did they close the blinds?
ZIVA BRANSTETTER: Their policies allow them to do that. I haven’t had time to check in detail exactly what else the policies say. Clearly something had gone wrong with the execution. My understanding—we were told later that it was a vein issue with the inmate, and they—we don’t know what happened after that. That’s part of the story that we’re going to try to find out.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Well, apparently the director of the Department of Corrections, Robert Patton, said that his veins, quote, "exploded" during the botched execution. Could you talk about, Ziva, the cocktail of drugs that was used in this execution that was apparently untested?
ZIVA BRANSTETTER: They used a three-drug cocktail of midazolam, which is a sedative; vecuronium bromide, which is a paralytic that’s intended to stop breathing; and potassium chloride, which is intended to stop the heart. The first drug was a new—was the new drug for Oklahoma. So they used 50 milligrams of that drug in each arm. It’s my understanding that Florida uses that same combination, but midazolam in a much higher quantity than Oklahoma used.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to read a statement from the attorney for Charles Warner, the second Oklahoma prisoner who was set to be executed Tuesday night before it was delayed because of, well, what happened with Lockett. Madeline Cohen, an assistant federal public defender, said, quote, "After weeks of Oklahoma refusing to disclose basic information about the drugs for tonight’s lethal injection procedures, tonight, Clayton Lockett was tortured to death." She went on to say, quote, "We must get complete answers about what went wrong. There must be an independent investigation conducted by a third-party entity, not the Department of Corrections. We also need an autopsy by an independent pathologist and full transparency about the results of its findings. Additionally, the state must disclose complete information about the drugs, including their purity, efficacy, source and the results of any testing. Until much more is known about tonight’s failed experiment of an execution, no execution can be permitted in Oklahoma," she said. That was the statement by the public defender, Madeline Cohen. Your thoughts on this and how this all happened last night? I mean, this was not in a vacuum, Ziva; there’s been a court battle with the governor around what these drugs were and whether these executions would move forward last night.
ZIVA BRANSTETTER: My thoughts are that, as a member of the media who witnessed the event itself, I would like more answers. I plan to ask for them today. I’m sure that the attorneys involved will be filing various appeals. We were told by the Department of Corrections last night that they haven’t even determined that this qualified as an execution, because he died of a heart attack 43 minutes later. So, there are some unanswered questions. And we, as members of the media, would like to have answers.
AMY GOODMAN: When the curtains were then closed on you, when you were no longer able to see what was happening, what then happened next?
ZIVA BRANSTETTER: We waited for about 10 minutes. The Department of Corrections director, Robert Patton, came in and said—told us what had happened, that the—he had—the execution had been halted. He said that the second execution had been stayed. Then he left the room. Eventually, five or so minutes later, we were told that—to leave the execution chamber. So we did. We got back into the prison vans and left and went back to the media center, where we discussed what we had seen with other reporters, as required by our pool arrangement.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: In March, Democracy Now! spoke with Susan Greene, editor of The Colorado Independent, about how one of her reporters obtained email documents showing the assistant Oklahoma attorney general joking with a Texas colleague that he might be able to help Texas get the drugs in exchange for 50-yard-line tickets for a top college football game between the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas. She also described documents that exposed how Oklahoma injected leftover lethal drugs into the bodies of dead prisoners.
SUSAN GREENE: So they had these syringes, and basically, the men would die with the first drug, the anesthetic. They would die of an overdose, which is really not how it’s intended. And because they had these two other syringes in his three-drug cocktail, to stop their breathing and to stop their heart, instead of just throwing them out, they injected them into the dead bodies for disposal purposes. So it didn’t just happen in one case; it happened in nine cases. And we’re pretty sure that the families of those men don’t know that that happened. Even though they were watching the procedure, they don’t know that those men were already dead. And instead of just throwing the syringes out and throwing the drugs out, they’re just injecting them into their bodies to get rid of them.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: That was Susan Greene, the editor of The Colorado Independent. Ziva, your response to what she had to say?
ZIVA BRANSTETTER: I think it’s interesting. I can’t speak for their reporting, since we didn’t do that reporting. I am familiar with their report.
AMY GOODMAN: This whole issue of the death penalty in Oklahoma and getting the drugs, and now the second execution put on hold for at least, at this point, 14 days, talk about the judges who first ruled that the executions should be stayed, the governor overruling them, and now the call for the judges—what is it—to be impeached?
ZIVA BRANSTETTER: There was one lawmaker who has filed articles of impeachment. Many of the lawmakers don’t think that’s going to go very far. There’s—the governor said in her executive order that she believed the Supreme Court had overstepped its authority in issuing a stay of execution. The Supreme Court in Oklahoma usually doesn’t decide on criminal cases, but they did in this case. They felt like they had the right to do so. Ultimately, they dissolved their own stay, and the execution went forward.
AMY GOODMAN: And the governor’s response, now that she pushed forward for the execution, and it has just become this debacle?
ZIVA BRANSTETTER: She has called for a full investigation, so we’ll have to see what that reveals.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Ziva, you’ve witnessed, you mentioned, three other executions in the past. How does the length of this execution, 43 minutes, if it is indeed an execution, which remains to be seen, since he did die of a heart attack, compare to the other executions you’ve witnessed? The average length is apparently six minutes.
ZIVA BRANSTETTER: Yes, it’s by far longer than any execution I’ve witnessed. But, you know, by far.
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, Ziva, I know you have to go, but your final thoughts in this—these hours after the execution?
ZIVA BRANSTETTER: My final thoughts are I want to get to the newsroom, and I have a lot of questions that I, as a journalist, want to answer so that we can tell our readers what happened. Whether you’re for or against the death penalty, you want to know what happened last night.
AMY GOODMAN: We want to thank you very much for taking this time to speak to us, Ziva Branstetter, enterprise editor at the Tulsa World, one of 12 media witnesses to attend the botched execution Tuesday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary of Clayton Lockett. The second execution was put off as a result of what happened with the first, and it was the first time since 1936 that two people were slated to be executed in one night in Oklahoma.
This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. We’re going to stay on the issue of the death penalty when we come back, but we’re going from Oklahoma to Egypt, where hundreds of members of the Muslim Brotherhood have been sentenced to death. Stay with us.
Egypt is a Police State: Senior Muslim Brotherhood Member Condemns New Mass Death Sentence for 683
Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont has announced plans to block $650 million in military aid to Egypt after an Egyptian court sentenced to death 683 alleged supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, including the group’s spiritual leader, Mohammed Badie. Leahy, who chairs the Senate subcommittee that oversees foreign aid, described the judicial proceedings as a "sham trial." Leahy’s announcement comes a week after the Obama administration said it would ease the suspension of military aid to Egypt that followed the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi last year. In another controversial move, an Egyptian court has banned the April 6 movement, a pro-democracy group that played a key role in the popular uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak in 2011. We get an update on these developments live from Cairo with Democracy Now! correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous. We also speak with Mohamed Soudan, the exiled foreign relations secretary of the Freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood.TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: We turn now to Egypt. On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont announced plans to block the Obama administration from sending $650 million in military aid to Egypt after an Egyptian court sentenced to death 683 alleged supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, including the group’s spiritual leader, Mohammed Badie. Leahy, who chairs the Senate subcommittee that oversees foreign aid, described the judicial proceedings as a "sham trial."
SEN. PATRICK LEAHY: It’s a flaunting of human rights by the Egyptian government. It’s an appalling abuse of the justice system, which are fundamental to any democracy. Nobody—nobody—can justify this. It does not show democracy; it shows a dictatorship run amok. It is a total violation of human rights. So I’m not prepared to sign off on the delivery of additional aid for the Egyptian military. I’m not prepared to do that until we see convincing evidence the government is committed to the rule of law.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: That was Senator Patrick Leahy. His comments came a week after the Obama administration announced it would ease the suspension of military aid to Egypt that followed the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi last year. On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy at the State Department. He spoke to reporters after the meeting.
SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY: We want the interim government to be successful. We are hopeful and look for a political process of inclusivity, a constitution implemented, which brings people politically to the table and broadens the democratic base of Egypt. Egypt’s constitution is a positive step forward. It has taken steps, and they are moving now to an election. But even as these positive steps have been taken, we all know there have been disturbing decisions within the judicial process, the court system, that have raised serious challenges for all of us.
AMY GOODMAN: In another controversial move, an Egyptian court has banned the April 6 movement, the pro-democracy group that played a key role in the popular uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
For more, we’re joined by two guests. In Cairo, Egypt, we’re joined by Democracy Now! correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous via—and we’re joined by Mohamed Soudan, the foreign relations secretary of the Freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. He’s speaking to us from exile in Britain.
We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Sharif, give us the lay of the land right now in Egypt. What has taken place?
SHARIF ABDEL KOUDDOUS: Well, Amy, as you mentioned, a really shocking ruling. And in the last five weeks, this same judge has sentenced more than 1,100 people to death, some of the biggest death sentence rulings in world history, and really cases which lack even the minimum requirements of due process. This latest case is over 680 people in Upper Egypt, in the southern part of the country, sentenced for the killing of a single police officer in the attack on a police station on August 14th following the violent dispersal of two pro-Morsi sit-ins that left hundreds dead. Only about 60 of those who were in this case were actually arrested; the rest were in absentia. Under Egyptian law, the—it those people turn themselves in, they should be granted a retrial. So, the verdicts are not final. Appeals—they are expected to be overturned.
But we—I mean, what this does say about the judiciary, or at least this judge, is that more than any other time in recent history the Egyptian judiciary seems to be a willing partner in state repression, that it’s not acting whatsoever as a check on the executive. If we look in history, under Gamal Abdel Nasser, he set up special courts to try dissidents. Even under Mubarak, when they were trying members of the Muslim Brotherhood and other opposition voices, they would have to resort to military courts or exceptional state security courts in order to get lengthy sentences, because the civil judiciary was either letting people go or giving them short or not long terms. And we saw in 2005, 2006, an uprising by judges who were protesting electoral fraud, and that helped lay the groundwork for the 2011 uprising. So, there has been a semblance of independence in the past, but what we’ve seen in this latest period, not just these two mass death sentence rulings, but rulings—many rulings against protesters, against dissidents, sentencing people to jail, means that this judiciary has become a willing partner in the state repression.
This particular judge has a reputation for very harsh sentences. He recently sentenced a dozen people to 88 years in prison for rioting, and he also acquitted about a dozen police officers for the killing of 17 protesters during the 2011 uprising. And also, if we look at just the sheer number of people in this latest case, 680 people in this small town, it’s almost as if every person knows someone or has an extended family member who has been sentenced to death now. And the local papers have reported a mother saying that her son was sentenced to death even though he died three years ago. A local human rights group, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, documented how two people sentenced to death for this August 14th riot were actually in Libya at the time. So, this really doesn’t satisfy even the basic—the basic requirements of due process. And, of course, this is the same judge who last month sentenced 529 people to death. On that same day, the other day, he commuted all but 37 of those death sentences. That’s still a very high number for Egyptian law. If we want to make a comparison, when—following the assassination of the Egyptian president, Anwar El Sadat, in 1981, five people were sentenced to death.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Let’s bring in Mohamed Soudan into the conversation, foreign relations secretary of the Freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. Could you explain the response of the Muslim Brotherhood to this verdict?
MOHAMED SOUDAN: I really want to assure all what Mr. Sharif just said, but also I want to add something from my perspective about what went on in [inaudible] court, that it’s only—it’s not only one judge. They are three judges, and any verdict to be agreed upon for this verdict or court decision. I think these guys, the three judges, are under big pressure from the Egyptian intelligence to issue these kind of verdicts. It’s unbelievable verdicts. It’s against the humanity. It is something no one can believe it. The judges, they are supreme judges; they are not young judges. They never do something like this. Number one, they released all the opposites, which they kill rebels in the revolution of the 25th of January, 2011. And now they are coming to issue a verdict. It’s the more than 700 people sentenced to death, and almost 500 people to be sentenced for a while, for 25 years, just to kill one officer. It’s something unbelievable, without any investigation, never giving space or time to the defenders to defend themselves or the lawyers to talk.
Here is—it’s a political verdict, 100 percent, coming from the—an order from the political authority. It’s away, away from justice. By this verdict, it’s already killed the justice in Egypt, after killing the democracy by Sisi and his group of thugs, which they occupied Egypt after they’ve been free from the military regime for more than 60 years. Now Egypt is under police state. It’s under a military state, 100 percent. This is just the beginning. And if the international community keeps silent towards all these crimes, this is a crime. This is—this is not a court. This is—those judges, even they issued this unbelievable court—the verdict. And there are others, because they sent also—or they issued another verdicts like 83-year sentences for some other protesters just to protest, or 11 years for young girls, 14 years old, just to protest at 7:00 in the morning. Here is the way which is the military coup authority in Egypt after the 3rd of July. They could control the judiciary to do whatever they want to do, to bring the—to stop or to scare the protesters in the street, to stop demonstration, to stop protesting against the coup.
But we will say that by that way, by this kind of verdict, you will not stop us to protest against you. We will squeeze us to go to violence or to commit violence. You will not ever provoke us to go to violence, because we have strategy. We have a strategy since 86 years ago to be struggling against the injustice, against the unfair trials, these crazy verdicts, with a peaceful struggling. We never will go—
AMY GOODMAN: Mohamed Soudan, I wanted to ask about Mohammed Badie, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, also being sentenced to death. And what’s happening with President Morsi right now?
MOHAMED SOUDAN: Not yet, not yet. It is pending, or still the process of the trial is still going on. He has been involved or engaged for many, many crimes. It’s comic, actually. It’s a comic trial.
AMY GOODMAN: You’re saying—you’re saying President Morsi is on trial now.
MOHAMED SOUDAN: Yeah, it’s many trials, not only one. It’s many trials. But [inaudible]—
AMY GOODMAN: Right, but Mohammed Badie being sentenced to death.
MOHAMED SOUDAN: Yes, yes, this is what issued yesterday. Mohammed Badie—
AMY GOODMAN: And what is your response to that? What is Mohammed Badie’s significance to the Muslim Brotherhood?
MOHAMED SOUDAN: He is—he is the general guidance of the Muslim Brotherhood in all the world. He said that yesterday: "If you kill us, we will not stop. Our people will not stop the protest." And this is what we always mention, that if we’ve been killed struggling to get justice, to get democracy, to get dignity to our people, then it’s a very cheap price. We never stop. We never stop.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Well, another opposition group targeted by the Egyptian government is the April 6 movement, a pro-democracy group that played a key role—
MOHAMED SOUDAN: Yes.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: —in the popular uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak in 2011. April 6 member Mohamed Yousef said the group would defy an Egyptian court’s ban on its activities.
MOHAMED YOUSEF: [translated] This is a decision only on paper that will not stop the activities of 6th of April. To the contrary, tomorrow we will be in the streets to tell them that this banned group is only banned in your imagination and in your dreams. This ruling will not stop the members of the movement demonstrating, will not stop them from saying what they believe, will not stop us standing up to any despot however powerful he might be and however many institutions he can control to push his ideas through.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: That was April 6 Youth Movement member Mohamed Yousef. Sharif, could you talk about what’s happening with the April 6 Youth Movement? Its leaders are in prison. And also explain—you talked about how the judiciary in Egypt was previously more independent. What do you think accounts for the fact that they’re complicitous with the military government in all of these trials?
SHARIF ABDEL KOUDDOUS: Well, the April 6 Youth Movement is a very important group here in Egypt. It was founded on April 6, 2008—that’s where it takes its name from—to support what became a thwarted strike in the Delta town of Mahalla el-Kubra and has since become an important protest group and organizing group. It played a key role in the 2011 uprising. Following Mubarak’s ouster, when the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces took over, they continued with their street pressure against the military council. You know, they were feted by everyone in Egypt initially after the uprising, but then very quickly demonized. The military council continued to portray them as foreign agents and saboteurs, and this court ruling accuses them of espionage and defamation of the state.
The Muslim Brotherhood also vilified and demonized the April 6 Youth Movement, especially when they began to protest what they saw as violations by the Morsi government. We have to remember that the April 6 Youth Movement actually supported Mohamed Morsi in the runoff against Ahmed Shafik in the 2012 presidential election. They supported him as a protest vote against Ahmed Shafik, who they saw as representing the old regime. They began to break away from the Morsi government in the fall of 2012 following the killing of one of their members by police forces, known as Jika, in November of 2012 and Morsi’s fateful constitutional declaration that gave him far-reaching powers. And they eventually began to protest against the Muslim Brotherhood and eventually joined the big anti-Morsi protests on June 30th. However, after Morsi was ousted by the military on July 3rd, they quickly began to criticize the military regime that came in its place.
And so, they really have taken principled positions over the past three years, standing up against authoritarian governments and different authoritarian regimes. And they’ve been vilified by much of the state media, much of the private media. And their founders, Ahmed Maher and Mohamed Adel, are now serving three-year prison sentences for violating a very draconian protest law that was passed by the Cabinet last fall.
And they are now calling for a protest today to demonstrate against this latest court ruling. This is the same court that ruled against the Muslim Brotherhood back in September, banning the group, which resulted in a thousand of the group’s schools and charities and clinics being shuttered and having their assets frozen. The April 6 Youth Movement has far less in terms of that. We’ll have to see, going forward, whether this will actually have an effect on the group itself, whether more people will be arrested or not. But certainly a very troubling ruling and one, I think, that many in the April 6 Youth Movement will not take lying down.
AMY GOODMAN: Mohamed Soudan, your response, as a spokesperson for the Muslim Brotherhood, to the banning of the April 6 movement, which has often been very critical of the Muslim Brotherhood?
MOHAMED SOUDAN: I want to say that the military coup authority, they will take, one by one, all their partners in their conspiracy. When they did their conspiracy on the 3rd of July, the April 6 movement were—they were a partner for them. But I believe that they do not understand what’s going on in the ground in that time. They don’t know that there are a conspiracy. What they are doing, that they share, they’ve been failed in the fabricated crisis, which in the Egyptian intelligence, in the Egyptian army intelligence, as well, was the conspiracy against the legitimacy, against the democracy, to have the power back to the military regime, because they are not satisfied that the—that the power hand over to the civilian in that election of the 2012, 2012, and got the power in the hand of President Morsi, the first elected president in Egypt. They are not satisfied about it. And then, they are trying to make this conspiracy for one year, and then, unfortunately, they are some of the movement. They do not understand the reality in Egypt, and then they share, Sisi and his group and Salvation Front, to be anti-Morsi and to uprise against Morsi and the regime. And they don’t understand that all the crisis in that time, that was being fabricated, like the lack of electricity or lack of water or lack of fuel. That was fabricated crisis. The intelligence, Egyptian intelligence, did it against Morsi, and they have a lot of partners. Unfortunately, April 6, they were a part from this conspiracy, but I understand they didn’t know that.
But now they woke up, and they understood that the military regime, or the military coup regime, they are going to eat all their partners. All the partners, if they’ve been opposed them, then they’re going to take them and send them to jail, or maybe they’re going to kill them, because this is the system. They don’t want any opposition: "If you are on my side, then you are my friend; if you are against me, then I’ll kill you—either kill you or send you to jail." That is the way of the—
AMY GOODMAN: One of the voices of Egypt’s 2011 revolution and its aftermath has just died in an accident. On Tuesday, Bassem Sabry reportedly took a fatal fall off a balcony in Cairo, a prominent journalist and strategist for the liberal party, Dostour. I wanted, Sharif, to ask you about his significance. And also, you have gotten a chance to interview one of the Al Jazeera reporters who was jailed. On Monday, Al Jazeera served Egypt with a $150 million compensation claim for what it said was damage to its media business inflicted by Cairo’s military-backed rulers, three Al Jazeera journalists being tried in Egypt on charges of aiding members of the, quote, "terrorist" organization. Can you talk about both?
SHARIF ABDEL KOUDDOUS: Well, first, on Bassem Sabry, really a tragic, tragic loss here in Egypt, really a wonderful humanist person, someone who had very clear, levelheaded analysis, very astute analysis of what was happening in Egypt. In the most polarizing and difficult times, he remained optimistic, yet levelheaded, and was really just a wonderful human being. And this is really a tragic loss and very difficult to bear in these very tough times in Egypt right now, that we have bad news like this and lose one of Egypt’s best to such a tragedy.
With regards to the Al Jazeera journalists, I’ve been covering the trial very closely, have had an opportunity to interview one of them, Mohamed Fahmy, when he got a scan on his shoulder. The trial, the next session of the trial, the seventh session, is scheduled for May 3rd, which is Saturday, which—
AMY GOODMAN: Looks like we just lost Sharif in Cairo, Egypt. So I want to thank you both for being with us. Our satellite has now gone down. Both Mohamed Soudan, foreign relations secretary of the Freedom and Justice Party, political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, thank you for joining us from Britain, and thank you very much to Sharif Abdel Kouddous, Democracy Now! correspondent in Cairo.
When we come back, we will be talking about the Wisconsin voter ID law that has been struck down by a federal judge. Stay with us.
Headlines:
Botched Oklahoma Lethal Injection Causes Fatal Heart Attack; Gov. Delays 2nd Execution
An Oklahoma death row prisoner has died of a heart attack after a botched execution Tuesday night. Clayton Lockett was injected with an untested cocktail of lethal drugs. After struggling violently on the gurney, doctors halted the killing 13 minutes in when discovering Lockett was still conscious and trying to speak. Doctors say he suffered a ruptured vein, interrupting the flow of the lethal drugs. About 30 minutes after that point, Lockett died of a heart attack when the drugs had spread through his body. The botched killing forced officials to cancel the execution of another prisoner, Charles Warner. Both Lockett and Warner initially won a stay of execution earlier this month after challenging the secrecy of their execution drugs. But the Oklahoma Supreme Court reversed the decision last week after Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin objected and state lawmakers threatened the judges’ removal from the bench. Warner’s execution has now been delayed for 14 days pending a review of execution procedures. We’ll have more on this story after headlines.
Supreme Court Upholds EPA Air Pollution Rule
The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the Environmental Protection Agency’s effort to reduce emissions of dangerous chemicals from power plants nationwide. The EPA’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule sharply limits emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide at plants in 28 states. The EPA has estimated the rules could save up to 34,000 lives per year and result in tens of billions of dollars in health benefits. But after a major push by utilities and corporate groups, an appeals court ruled in 2012 the regulations exceed the EPA’s authority. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court overruled the lower court in a six-to-two decision. In a statement, the Natural Resources Defense Council praised the ruling, saying: "The EPA safeguards follow the simple principle that giant utility companies shouldn’t be allowed to dump their dirty emissions onto residents of downwind states."
Powerful Thunderstorms Sweep Midwest, South After Tornadoes Kill 34
The death toll from tornadoes in the Midwest and South has risen to at least 34. The storms have caused deaths in Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Iowa, Oklahoma and the worst-hit state, Arkansas. President Obama has declared Arkansas a major disaster area. More than 200 people have been wounded and more than 2,000 homes damaged or destroyed. Strong thunderstorms are now battering the region today, hampering the recovery effort and threatening more damage.
NBA Bans Clippers Owner for Life over Racist Comments
The National Basketball Association has issued a lifetime ban on Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling over the racist comments that ignited a national controversy. A leaked recording captured Sterling berating his girlfriend for associating with African Americans in public. After a two-day investigation, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced Sterling is banned for life and will be pressured to sell the team.
Adam Silver: "Effective immediately, I am banning Mr. Sterling for life from any association with the Clippers organization or the NBA. Mr. Sterling may not attend any NBA games or practices. He may not be present at any Clippers facility. And he may not participate in any business or player personnel decisions involving the team. … As for Mr. Sterling’s ownership interest in the Clippers, I will urge the Board of Governors to exercise its authority to force a sale of the team and will do everything in my power to ensure that that happens."
Sterling has also been fined $2.5 million, the maximum under league rules. He is the first sports owner ever to receive a lifetime ban from his league. The NBA will need approval from two-thirds of owners to force a sale. Several teams have already signed on to voting for Sterling’s expulsion.
Union: NBA Players were Prepared to Boycott Playoff Games to Force Sterling’s Ouster
The NBA commissioner’s move followed an outcry led by players past and present. In what would have marked a historic display of protest, the NBA Player’s Union has confirmed players were prepared to boycott Tuesday night’s three playoff games if Sterling did not receive the maximum punishment. NBA union Vice President Roger Mason Jr. said players now want an exact timetable for when owners will vote on Sterling’s forced sale.
Roger Mason Jr.: "I reached out to other players around the league and made it clear that the players were ready to boycott the games if this type of action was not something that Adam Silver felt was necessary. I’m happy to come here today and say that, as players, we’re very happy with the decision, but we’re not content yet. We want immediate action. We want a timetable from the owners as far as when this vote’s going to happen."
While Sterling’s comments sparked national outrage, the case has drawn attention to how previous allegations of racial discrimination went largely unnoticed. In 2009, Sterling paid more than $2.7 million to settle federal allegations of driving out people of color from apartment buildings he owns. A former Clippers general manager also sued Sterling for racial bias, but lost in court.
Iraq Holds National Elections, Maliki Seeks New Term
Iraq is holding nationwide elections today, the first since U.S. forces withdrew in late 2011. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is seeking a new term in what is expected to be a tight race. The voting takes place amidst Iraq’s worst violence since the sectarian conflict of 2006 and 2007, when tens of thousands were killed.
Separatists Gain Ground as Ukraine Gov. Claims "Helpless" to Stop Unrest
Pro-Russian separatists have seized new areas of eastern Ukraine as the central government in Kiev loses further control. On Tuesday, hundreds of people stormed a government building in Luhansk without resistance and later fired on the local police headquarters. By taking the city, the pro-Russian militants now control two provincial capitals in eastern Ukraine. Earlier today, the separatists also seized government buildings in the town of Horlivka. Ukraine’s interim government said today it is "helpless" to quell the unrest.
Mideast Peace Talks Miss U.S. Deadline as Report Finds Massive Settlement Expansion
The United States has failed to meet Tuesday’s self-imposed deadline for a framework accord on a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The Obama administration had hoped to reach an agreement on the broad outlines of an eventual final settlement. But the talks have repeatedly broken down over Israel’s refusal to halt settlement construction in the occupied West Bank. A new report from the Israeli group Peace Now says Israel has laid plans for building nearly 14,000 settlement homes since resuming talks with the PA last July. Peace Now’s Lior Amichai said Israel has sought to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Lior Amichai: "The report that we, the Peace Now movement in Israel, issued today shows all that the government of Israel did in the past nine months or since the negotiation period between Israel and the Palestinians began. It shows that Israel promoted almost 14,000 different housing units in the West Bank settlements, if by publishing new tenders or by promoting them through the different planning procedures of the West Bank settlements. To us, it shows that the government, the current government of Israel, does not have any intention of reaching a two-state solution, but rather did all it can in order to prevent such a thing."
On Tuesday, Israel carried out new demolitions in the West Bank, destroying a mosque and three homes. The United Nations says Israeli demolitions have displaced more than 400 Palestinians so far this year.
Federal Judge Strikes Down Wisconsin Voter ID Law over Discrimination
A federal judge has struck down Wisconsin’s voter identification law, saying it targets the poor and people of color. The law requires all voters to present photo ID at the polls, a provision that would exclude anyone without a birth certificate. In her ruling, District Judge Lynn Adelman said the law mitigates "the effects of past or present discrimination," burdening those less likely to have photo ID. In a move that could spur challenges in other states, Judge Adelman cited Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which bans voting practices that disproportionately impact people of color. In a statement, the American Civil Liberties Union called the ruling "a warning to other states that are trying to make it harder for citizens to vote." The Wisconsin law is the latest voter ID law to be struck down, following similar measures in Arkansas last week and in Pennsylvania in January.
White House Unveils Sexual Assault Guidelines for College Campuses
The White House has unveiled a new set of guidelines to address the epidemic of sexual assaults on college campuses. A new task force report urges colleges to conduct anonymous surveys and adopt proven strategies for combating assault. Speaking at the White House, Vice President Joe Biden said campuses nationwide are failing to protect female students.
Vice President Joe Biden: "We all know that many of our schools just aren’t safe. We know the numbers. One in five of every one of those young women who’s dropped off that first day of school, before they finish school, will be assaulted — will be assaulted in her college years. We have to do everything in our power to protect them. These are our children. These are our wives, our daughters, our sisters. These are — these people are you. I’m really proud that now you all have a report with very clear recommendations."
The task force says the official rate of one in five female student victims is likely too low because many do not report the crimes against them. The report follows a rash of high-profile cases where schools across the country, from Brown to Florida State University, have been accused of mishandling sexual assault.
Tennessee Enacts Law Criminalizing Drug Use in Pregnancy
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has signed a bill allowing mothers to face potential jail time if they use drugs during pregnancy. The measure says women can be criminally charged if their babies are born dependent on drugs. The bill sparked a national outcry from medical experts and reproductive health advocates who say it could discourage women from seeking help for addiction. In a statement, the American Civil Liberties Union said: "The Tennessee governor has made it a crime to carry a pregnancy to term if you struggle with addiction or substance abuse."
Gunman Wounds 6, Takes Own Life in Georgia
A gunman wounded six people at a FedEx facility in Georgia on Tuesday before taking his own life. Two of the victims are in critical condition. The shooting comes days after Georgia enacted a law that massively expands weapons permits in public places.
Report: U.S. Prosecutors to Charge Credit Suisse, BNP Paribas
Federal prosecutors are reportedly preparing criminal charges against two large French banks. Credit Suisse is being targeted for offering tax shelters to Americans, while BNP Paribas faces prosecution for doing business with countries targeted by U.S. sanctions. The New York Times reports the cases "could produce the first guilty plea from a major bank in more than two decades."
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