Terrell’s subpoena, which refers only to “possible violations of federal criminal law,” was delivered by a detective from the Polk County sheriff’s office who reports on a day-to-day basis to the FBI Terrorism Task Force.

Terrell wrote that proceedings of the grand jury “will be behind closed doors. We may not have an attorney present. We have the right to plead the Fifth Amendment, refusing to answer questions that might incriminate us. The government, then, can offer us immunity from prosecution, in which case we will be obliged to answer under threat of contempt of court and could be imprisoned for the length of the grand jury session, 18 months, should we continue to refuse to answer.”

Stephen O’Maera, the U.S. attorney in the southern district of Iowa, told the Des Moines Register that he is not allowed to reveal the subject of the grand jury’s investigation. Grand juries traditionally function as fishing expeditions or political witch-hunts aimed at those challenging the actions and policies of the capitalist system.

The jury has also subpoenaed records of the Drake University chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG). Over its history, the chapter has defended many social activists and partisans of the labor movement. Last year it added its name to the victorious defense campaign mounted by supporters of Róger Calero, an editor of the Spanish-language monthly magazine Perspectiva Mundial who was placed under threat of deportation by the government.

Sally Frank, a Drake University law professor and NLG member who has defended several antiwar protesters in court, described the grand jury as “an attempt to put a chill on the peace movement in Iowa.”

Heidi Boghosian, a spokeswoman for the NLG’s New York office, said the subpoenas seek the identities of the officers of the Drake chapter in November 2003, the location of any local offices, and “any meeting agendas or annual reports.”

According to the Register, Boghosian said that federal lawyers had sent the Polk County attorney’s office an e-mail contact list used by organizers of demonstrations last November against Washington’s occupation of Iraq. Elton Davis, who is one of those subpoenaed, was arrested in a November 15 protest of 70 people outside the Iowa National Guard headquarters, while Terrell was quoted in a newspaper report of the action.

The Iowa Peace Network and other opponents of the grand jury’s actions have called a February 10 rally in defense of Terrell and the others at the U.S. Courthouse, at 123 E. Walnut Street in downtown Des Moines. The rally will begin at 12:15 pm.  
 
 
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