WASHINGTON -- Imprisoned American Indian leader Leonard Peltier asked the Soviet Union to grant him political asylum, saying there is 'no justice for my people' in the United States, a letter released Friday showed.
In the letter, the Ojibwa-Lakota Indian told the Soviets 'fake evidence was presented' to convict him and destroy the American Indian Movement, which he leads.
Peltier, 42, is serving two consecutive life terms in the federal prison at Leavenworth, Kan., for the shooting deaths of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota in 1975.
Members of the Leonard Peltier Defense Fund released the letter, dated July 9, at a Washington news conference.
'No man nor woman who truly loves their homeland wants to leave; however, because there is no justice for my people, I am making this request for political asylum in your great nation,' Peltier wrote.
The State Department said the Soviets have embraced the Peltier case to counter repeated charges by the West of Soviet human rights violations.
The Soviet Embassy could not immediately be reached for comment on Peltier's request.
Dacajeweia, a spokesman for the Peltier defense fund, said the Indian's request for asylum will be 'a long drawn out process,' and there is no indication he would be let out of jail even if the request were granted.
However, he said Peltier is 'crying out' for the due process he has been denied, and he is going to use 'whatever means are necessary to get out.'
'If the American government has to be embarrassed into granting him jusitce, he's using whatever means are necessary to get out. Including seeking help from other governments,' said Dacajeweia.
William Kunstler, Peltier's lawyer, said a laboratory report that was suppressed during his trial casts doubt on the only significant evidence against the Indian, a shell casing found in the car of the dead agents.
The report said the casing could not have been fired from the rifle found in Peltier's car, Kunstler said.
