© The Progressive Press
Civil liberties advocates are raising alarm over the treatment and detention of three Seattle area activists with ties to area anarchist collectives and the Occupy Wall Street movement. "The Grand Jury Refusers," as they're referred to by the area bloggers, have become subculture icons within the activist circles since their detention in September, for refusing to answer questions regarding their political affiliations and contacts.
The questions come purportedly as part of a larger federal investigation into the May 5th "May Day"
protests, during which substantial amounts of property were damaged and vandalized.
According to Matthew Duran, Katherine Olejnik and Maddie Pfeiffer, all of whom are presently in solitary confinement at the
SeaTac Federal Detention Center under (civil) contempt charges, the questioning and subsequent detentions are part of a greater effort by the federal authorities to crack down on activists and dissidents.
The FDC (Federal Detention Center) has declined to state to the press or to the lawyers of the detained, exactly why the three are being held in solitary. However, Brendan Kiley of the Seattle news site, "
The Stranger," notes in his most recent piece that their move from the standard pre-trial general population units to the Special Housing Unit (SHU), came after the publication of an
article about visiting with Duran and Olejink in which they describe the events of the secret grand-jury hearing.
Comment: Argentina freezes supermarket prices in attempt to break inflation spiral brought on by skyrocketing food prices
Price controls have not caused shortages in Cuba and Venezuela: embargoes imposed by the U.S. has prevented goods from reaching those countries.