Leonard Peltier Is Getting What May Be His Last Chance At Freedom

WASHINGTON ― After nearly 50 years in prison, Native American rights activist Leonard Peltier is about to get what may be his last chance at freedom.

Peltier, 79, is up for a parole hearing on Monday.

His last parole hearing was in 2009. Given his poor health and the many years he’d likely have to wait for his next hearing, it is unlikely he would survive to make another one.

The U.S. government put Peltier in prison in 1977 after he was convicted for killing two FBI agents in a 1975 shoot-out on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. But his trial was riddled with misconduct, and his prolonged imprisonment has drawn sharp condemnation from prominent human rights leaders, including Pope Francis, Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela. Dozens of U.S. senators and members of Congress have urged his release. So have dozens of Indigenous legislators.

Amnesty International, an organization typically focused on human rights violations abroad, has an entire campaign centered on Peltier’s case.

“Leonard Peltier has been imprisoned for nearly 50 years, and now suffers from severe health issues,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, told HuffPost in a statement. “It’s time for him to go home and live out his remaining days with his family and his community.”

There was never evidence that Peltier committed this crime. The FBI and U.S. attorney’s office never did figure out who killed those agents.

But Peltier, who was one of dozens of people present at the shoot-out, was the only person left for them to go after. He had been separated from his co-defendants, all of whom had already been acquitted on grounds of self-defense. Prosecutors in his trial hid key evidence. The FBI