Honorably
Discharged Marine Adam Kokesh
Please attend with banners, flags, signs of support!
For Further Information Contact:
Adam Kokesh 505-470-1917
Kevin Zeese 301-996-6582

In Unprecedented Prosecution Former Marine Adam Kokesh Rejects Plea Bargain Fights to Protect Free Speech Rights of Vets Washington, DC: Former Marine Sergeant Adam Kokesh is embroiled in a conflict that could have major implications for the free speech rights of veterans especially recent Vets who are in the Inactive Ready Reserve (IRR). Kokesh is facing an administrative hearing for his anti-war activities but recognizing the high stakes the military has offered a plea bargain. In response, Kokesh rejected the offer saying it risks the free speech right of vets and allow you to silence the voices of those whose experiences are most relevant in the most pressing debate before the nation.

Below this release is his letter to Captain Sibert and Brigadier General Moore, who is the convening authority for the hearing.

This Friday at 5:00 PM at Union Station, Washington D.C. Kokesh will be participating in a press conference when he departs to Kansas City, MO for the hearing which is scheduled for 8 a.m. June 4th at the Marine Mobilization Command, 15303 Andrews Road, Kansas City, MO 64147-1207.

Adam Kokesh, his attorney, and his witnesses, will be taking the Yellow Rose of Texas Peace Bus from DC to Kansas City.

Adam Kokesh was deployed to Fallujah and received an honorable discharge last November. Since then, he has become active with the national organization, Iraq Veterans Against the War. After participating in Operation First Casualty, a demonstration at which he wore parts of his utility uniform, he received a warning from Major Whyte, an active duty Marine Corps Major who had been assigned to investigate the incident. After replying with a strongly worded email, the Marine Corps decided to prosecute him and separate him from the IRR with an Other Than Honorable Discharge. He could have ignored the letter of notification, but instead chose to exercise his right to challenge the decision in a hearing.

The implications of this hearing may be far reaching, as the prosecution of a member of the inactive reserves under these circumstances is unprecedented. At stake is the right of freedom of speech for the hundreds of thousands of members of the Inactive Ready Reserve, as well as the nation's right to get the unbiased truth out of Iraq. Last week, the prosecuting
attorney, Captain Sibert, offered Kokesh a general discharge. To accept this would be to allow the Marines to say that members of the IRR do not have freedom of speech, so naturally, he declined.

The hearing will be held on June 4, at the Marine Corps Mobilization Command, 15303 Andrews Road, Kansas City, MO 64147-1207. Kokesh requested the hearing be held closer to Washington, DC, his current residence and a much more convenient location for the witnesses to the event in question, which happened in Washington, but was denied. He has the right to call witnesses, but has to provide for their transportation.

Adam Kokesh is represented by Mike Lebowitz and Eric Seitz. Mike Lebowitz is a combat veteran of Iraq, having been deployed in 2005-2006 as a paratrooper in the Pathfinder Company of the 101st Airborne Division. Lebowitz currently serves part-time as a JAG officer in the National Guard. He also is an attorney at the Washington, DC-based intellectual property law firm of
Greenberg & Lieberman. Mike practices media law, First Amendment and military expression. He previously worked as a journalist and consultant in places such as East Africa and the Middle East. Ph: 202-625-7000 / Fx: 202-625-7001 / cell: 571-251-1490

Eric Seitz is an attorney engaged in private practice in Honolulu, Hawaii emphasizing civil rights, criminal defense, and military law. Mr. Seitz graduated from Oberlin College in 1966 and received his law degree from Boalt Hall (University of California at Berkeley) in 1969. Among the thousands of military cases in which he has participated Mr. Seitz represented Navy FN Patrick Chenoweth who was acquitted in a general court-martial of sabotage in time of war, Marine Cpl. Jeff Paterson who was the first service member to refuse to deploy during the first Gulf War, and most recently Army 1st Lt. Ehren Watada who refused to deploy to Iraq.