BY JOHN STUDER
DES MOINES, Iowa - "We received the parole papers for Mark Curtis from the state of Iowa on December 27," Illinois corrections officials told Jed Stone January 4. Stone is a Chicago defense lawyer recently retained by Curtis to aid in finalizing his release from the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison. Curtis has requested to be paroled to Illinois, in order to move to Chicago to live with his wife Kate Kaku, get a job, and resume political activity outside prison.
The Illinois state authorities told Stone they intend to conclude their investigation into Curtis's parole plan by the end of January.
Curtis, a member of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and of the Socialist Workers Party, was imprisoned in Iowa in 1988 on frame-up charges of attempted rape and burglary. His real "crime" was participating in a defense campaign for 17 co-workers from Mexico and El Salvador who were seized by federal agents in an immigration raid on the Monfort packing plant where they worked.
While in custody, the cops beat him bloody and called him "a Mexican lover, just like you love those coloreds."
Curtis has remained politically active behind bars. The Mark Curtis Defense Committee, formed to campaign for his freedom, has publicized his case and fought for his release on parole. On November 21, after seven years of imprisonment, the Iowa State Board of Parole voted to grant Curtis his release. He will be freed on parole after the completion of the investigation by Illinois corrections officials into Curtis's living situation in Chicago and potential job offers.
Curtis backers continue to gather political and financial support. Nearly $20,000 has been collected toward a $25,000 fund drive, launched by the committee on the announcement Curtis had won parole, in order to cover ongoing legal expenses.
The political activist will face new political challenges upon his release. They include whatever conditions Illinois parole authorities may impose on him, special restrictions from a law recently enacted in Illinois that attacks the rights of those convicted as "sex offenders," and potential challenges from political supporters of his victimization by the police. That is why Curtis has retained Stone, as well as well-known Chicago civil liberties lawyer Matt Piers, who will serve as his general counsel.
The framed-up unionist continues to receive congratulations from around the world for his parole and for his tenacity in fighting for freedom.
The Committee in Defense of Liberties and the Rights of Man in France and in the World sent such a message December 27, entitled "Mark Curtis is Finally Free." It read in part, "This significant victory - and no one should doubt how this has come about - is the fruit of his courage and the determination he has shown, regardless of what they threw at him he held his head high while imprisoned, and because of the broad support won in the United States and around the world.
"The Committee in Defense of Liberties and the Rights of Man, chaired by George Marchais, is proud to have participated in this struggle, and sees this victory as an advance for the struggles of others in France and in the world against inequality and for justice."
Curtis also received a letter headed "CONGRATULATIONS!" and signed by 11 union and political activists in Athens, Greece.
"You always said `stay strong' and it is precisely by you staying strong that this victory became possible," they wrote. "We are gathered in Athens for a small celebration in your honor but we will remain vigilant until you walk out of the prison walls and take your rightful place on the front lines of fighting free men and women."
The signers included airline workers, members of the Union of Filipino Immigrant Workers in Greece, garment workers, a member of the Network for Social and Political Rights, and an activist from the African National Congress in South Africa currently living in Greece.
People who have just heard of Curtis's fight also continue to write in. One person wrote from Chicago to say he had seen a note on the Internet on the case and was writing to find out details.
To contribute to the defense committee fund drive, or to get more information, contact the Mark Curtis Defense Committee, Box 1048, Des Moines, Iowa 50311.