Court fines Christic Institute to cover up gov't drug-running
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June 1988, tour days betore the trial was Honey. They charge that members of the The Atlanta court ruling came under Rule press conference in a failed attempt to assas11, a provision that allows judges to punish sinate a rival contra leader, Eden Pastora. courts. Court disregarded key evidence The defendants sued by the Christic Insti- The Institute argues that the Miami court The following press release was issued by the Christic Institute, a public-interest law firm, on Nov. 13, 1989. Socialist Action joins the dozens of religious and civil-rights organizations in protesting the $1 million court-imposed sanctions order against the Institute.
This heavy fine against the Christic Institute is clearly aimed at preventing the American public from finding out the truth about Washington's drugs and arms running to finance the contras. Among other things, the U.S. ruling class-its courts and its media-are determined to hide President Bush's direct involvement in overseeing this drugsfor-arms program in Central America, a program that involved Panama's Gen. Manuel Noriega.
This explains the unprecedented attack on the Christic Institute. It explains why the Iran-contra investigation ended in a total cover-up of those at the top directly involved in the scandal namely Ronald Reagan and George Bush.
And it also explains why top U.S. officials, according to several "off-the-record" news reports, are wary of having Gen. Noriega stand trial in a U.S. court on drug charges. They are concerned he might spill the beans on President Bush, for whom he worked when Bush was CIA chief and later vice president. After all, didn't Noriega threaten to blackmail Bush when he said he had "Bush by the balls?"
Socialist Action readers are urged to protest the Atlanta court's sanctions order against the Christic Institute. For more information about how you can help, please call the Institute at (202) 797-8106.-the editors WASHINGTON—Several churches, public-interest organizations, and legal experts filed briefs in the Atlanta Federal Appeals Court on Monday, Nov. 13, opposing the largest sanctions order ever imposed on a law firm by a U.S. court.
In February, a federal court in Miami ordered the Christic Institute, a religious public-interest law firm in Washington, to pay more than $1 million to 15 defendants named in the Avirgan v. Hull civil lawsuit. The same court had dismissed the suit in scheduled to begin.
lawyers for bringing "frivolous" lawsuits to tute in Avirgan v. Hull include contra leader Adolfo Calero, retired Army Major Gen. John Singlaub, retired Air Force Major Gen. Richard Secord, and Robert Owen, formerly Oliver North's liaison to the contras. Also named as a defendant is accused drug-trafficker John Hull, a U.S. citizen who owns extensive land holdings in Central America and has admitted he acted as the CIA's liaison with contra forces in Costa Rica.
Avirgan v. Hull alleges that the defendants were members of a criminal racketeering enterprise that conspired to aid the contras in violation of federal law. The lawsuit charges the enterprise with murder, arson, and illegal traffic in drugs and firearms.
One of the fundamental issues in the lawsuit is a terrorist bombing at a press conference in La Penca, Nicaragua. Several journalists were killed or wounded in the attack. One of the survivors, ABC cameraman Tony Avirgan, is a plaintiff in the Institute's lawsuit, along with his wife, journalist Martha racketeering enterprise conspired to bomb the which dismissed the charges in June 1988 disregarded most of the evidence on the bombing—it addressed only 17 of the 699 exhibits submitted—as well as the plaintiff's other allegations.
Key elements of the lawsuit have also been verified by Congress and the courts. Six months after the case was filed, for example, the Iran-contra scandal surfaced in the press, and a year later House and Senate investigating committees confirmed the existence of the arms-smuggling enterprise.
The lawsuit's allegations that contra bases were used to smuggle cocaine from Colombia to the United States were confirmed in February by the Senate Narcotics Committee. In the past year, several of the Institute's defendants have been convicted or indicted on criminal charges by federal courts. Defendant John Hull fled Costa Rica after a legislative committee identified him as a cocaine trafficker.
In their briefs, the numerous organizations supporting the Christic Institute argue that the sanctions order imposed by the Atlanta Federal Court has no merit and is only designed to block citizens from bringing controversial lawsuits to the courts.
Christic Institute lawyers have asked the Federal Appeals Court in Atlanta to reverse the sanctions ruling and reinstate the case. They say they expect a decision on this appeal later in 1990.
If the appeal is not granted, the Institute would have to be shut down and its assets transfered to these right-wing defendants, some of whom have already been indicted or convicted on criminal charges, to pay the $1 million sanctions order.