Who Are the Virgin Island

e?

"Virgin Island Five" are group of activists
accused of murdering eight people in the
U.S. Virgin Islands. The murders took place
during a turbulent period of rebellion on the
Islands.

During the 1970, as with much of the
world, a movement to resist colonial rule
began to grow in the U.S. occupied Virgin
Islands. From 1971 to 1973, there was a
small scale Mau Mau rebellion taking place
on the islands. This activity was down-
played by the media, for fear it would darm-
age the tourist industry, which the island's
survival depends on

‘Then on September 6th, 1972, eight
American tourists were gunned down at the
Rockefeller-owned golf course on the
island of St Croix. Quickly the colonial
authorities picked up over one hundred
blacks for interrogations, and the U.S. colo-
nial troops carried out a series of repres-
sive acts of violence against the black com-
munity. The F.B.1. and the United States
Army led a 300-man invasion force into the
islands and used strong amed tactics to
conduct house to house searches of the
low income areas.

‘The island was put under virtual martial
law, and eventually five men, Ismael
Labeet (Ishmail Alj), Warren Ballantine
(Abdul Azeez), Meral (Malik) Smith,
Raphael (Kwesi) Joseph, and Beaumont
Gereau (Hanif Shabazz Bey) who were
apprehended and then charged with the
attack. All the men were known supporters
of the Virgin Island independence move-
ment

‘The five were charged after being sub-
jected to vicious torture, in order to extract
confessions. They were beaten, hung from
their feet and necks from trees, subject to
electric shocks with "cattle prods”, had

plastic bags tied over their heads and had
water forced up their noses by the "defend-
ers of the law.”

According to one report, Labeet was
given a pocket knife by a guard and was
told to run. Labeet knew that if he took one
step he would be shot in his tracks. The
guards were trying to find any justification
o kill Labeet and his fellow Virgin Island
Five political prisoners.

‘The judge (Warren Young) overlooking
the case prior to being placed on the feder-
al bench worked as Rockefeller's private
attormey and even handled legal matters for

“My agitation for the independ-

ence for the Virgin Islands was

the only crime | was guilty of in
the eyes of law enforcement”
- Hanif Bey

the Fountain Valley Golf Course.

Eventually, the five went to tral in what
became known as the *Fountain Valley"
murder trial. This was an obvious Kangaroo
Court and a mockery of any sense of a fair
trial. On August 13, 1973, each of the five
men were convicted and sentenced to eight
(8) consecutive life terms.

A ook at the incredible conduct of the
trial willilustrate to anyone why the men
were not only found guilty but that is was
impossible for the men to receive a fair
trial

+ The court refused to excuse juror member
Laura Torres, former wife of detective Jorge
Torres, one of the arresting officers.

+ Nine jurors testified that during the delib-
erations they were threatened with F.B.1
investigations on themselves and members
of their families, and also threats of prose-
cution.

« The jury deliberated for nine days, and
told the judge that they were "hopelessly
deadlocked", yet he stil refused to dismiss
them and cal a mistrial which worked to
compel a guilty verdict

« Four jurors, including the jury foreman,
signed statements that they had been
forced into a guilty verdict by the judge,
police, and F.B.1.. One juror who's daughter
was charged with bank robbery several
years before, was told that those charges
could be brought up again if she did not
find the accused guilty.

« The court refused to throw out the *fake
confessions", even after it was proven that
they were obtained through torture.

« Even the Assistant District Attorney Joel
Sacks and several police officers testiied
and admitted that they knew the depend-
ents had been tortured, and that the "con-
fessions" extracted had been obtained by
such methods.

Today, Meral (Malik) Smith, and Hanif
Shabazz Bey are currently confined in U.S.
prisons. Warren (Aziz) Ballantine has been
transferred to a prison facity in the Virgin
Islands. Malik Smith and Hanif Bey are
being held in prisons on the U.S. main
land. Abdul Aziz is being held in a prison in
the Virgin Islands.

On New Year's Eve in 1984, Ismael
Labeet (Ali) was aboard an American
Airlines DC-10 en route from St. Croix toa
federal penitentiary in Lewisburg, PA. He
got permission from the guard to go to the
bathroom and emerged moments later with
a gun. He directed the plane to alter the
route, landing in Havana, Cuba, He got off
the plane in Cuba. There has been no con-
firmed information about his where about
since then.

In September 2007, Labeet was again
front page news when his half-brother,
Shawn Labeet, shot four police officers in
Miami, Florida. One of the officers was.
Killed in the incident. Shawn Labeet was.
later killed by police in a shoot-out,

Raphael (Kwesi) Joseph was granted a
pardon by the Virgin Island governor in
1992. Six years later Kwesi was mysteri-
ously found dead of poison-laced drug
overdose, after it was said that he was
about to reveal evidence that would have
exonerated at least one or more defendant.

In 2006, the three remaining Virgin
Island poliical prisoners were notified by a
team of attoreys from the islands that they
were putting together a campaign for
clemency. The out going governor made it
public that he would grant clemency to pris-
oners before his departure. The governor
had been a principal of the high school
attended by some of the Virgin Island pris-
oners.

Sadly, in January 2007, the Virgin Island
Five prisoners received news that their
clemency request was rejected. This was.
the closest these comrades came to ever
seeing freedom.

Now, Malik Smith and Hanif Bey are try-
ing to transfer to prisons in the Virgin
Islands to be closer to their familes.

In recent writings, Hanif Bey has indicat-
ed that there are other Virgin Island politi-
cal prisoners being held in Wallensridge-
the prison where both Smith and Bey have
been housed off and on in recent years.
However, the has been litle information
regarding these prisoners.

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Free the Virgin Island Five

Write to the Virgin Island Five at:
Malik Smith* #19-1874
*envelope to Meral Smith

Hanif Bey* #19-1952

*envelope to Beaumont Gereau
Abdul Azeez* #19-1878
*envelope to Warren Ballentine
Gitrus County Detention Facility
/o Securus Digital Mail Center
Post Office Box 20187

‘Tampa, Florida 33622

Local groups supporting Bill
NYC Anarchist Black Cross
Post Office Box 110034
Brooklyn, New York 11211
nycabe@riseup.net
nyeabe.wordpress.com
facebook com/nycabe

twitter and instagram @nycabe

New York City Jericho Movement
Post Office Box 670927

Bronx, New York 10467
nycjericho@gmail.com
jerichony.org

YOU CAN HELP BY GIVING POLITICAL
PRISONERS A VOICE AND VISIBILITY.

FREE THE

IMPRISONED AND
TORTURED FOR A CRIME
THEY DID NOT COMMIT.

SERVING 8 CONSECUTIVE
LIFE SENTENCES