Posted on 08/09/2003 3:53:20 AM PDT by jpthomas
SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) - A woman who went to Iraq to serve as a human shield during the war faces thousands of dollars in federal civil penalties. She says she'll go to prison rather than pay.
Faith Fippinger of Sarasota was told in a letter from the U.S. Department of Treasury that she broke the law by crossing the Iraqi border, violating U.S. sanctions that prohibit American citizens from "virtually all direct or indirect commercial, financial or trade transactions with Iraq."
Fippinger, 62, who learned of the March 20 letter when she returned home May 4, owes the United States at least $10,000, she was told.
"If it comes to fines or imprisonment, please be aware that I will not contribute money to the United States government to continue the build-up of its arsenal of weapons," Fippinger wrote back.
She said she has no intention of paying. "Therefore, perhaps the alternative should be considered."
The alternative could be as much as 12 years in prison. "She was (in Iraq) in violation of U.S. sanctions,"
Taylor Griffin, a Treasury Department spokesman, told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. "That's what happens."
Fippinger said the $10,000 was a settlement offered by the Treasury Department as an alternative to a drawn-out legal battle that could cost her up much more.
If Fippinger does not pay, the fine may increase, and the money will be drawn from her retirement paycheck, her Social Security check or any of her assets, she was told in the letter from David Harmon, chief of the enforcement division of the Office of Foreign Assets Control. She said she doesn't have much.
She and others from 30 countries spread out through Iraq in a futile effort to prevent American bombing. She spent about three months there, including time at an oil refinery. Only about 20 of nearly 300 "human shields" were Americans, she said.
Some of the other Americans have also heard from the government.
"I thought it was one of my friends pulling a joke on me," said one, Ryan Clancey of Milwaukee, Wis.
He said the Treasury Department didn't promise that the case would be closed if he paid the $10,000.
"They use the word settlement as in 'perhaps we won't punish you,' " he said.
Clancey said the Treasury Department employee who contacted him said three others were facing possible criminal charges, but would not say who they were.
Griffin said the Americans also violated a ban against travel to Iraq.
"I was aware I was violating a travel ban," Clancey said. "But I needed to meet the people we were going to bomb and kill."
So far, arguments against the penalties have proved fruitless.
"When you break the law, you can expect to get a fine," Griffin said.
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Information from: Sarasota Herald-Tribune,
http://www.herald-trib.com
AP-ES-08-08-03 2130EDT
Fine by me.
Sarasota resident Faith Fippinger, 62, spent three months in Iraq in an effort to prevent U.S. bombing. According to a letter from the Department of the Treasury, she broke the law by crossing the Iraqi border. Fippinger says she will refuse to pay a fine.
Permanent exile....
Whereapon he was tried and lost his citizenship and ordered to remain offshore forever on navy ships of the fleet, in view of America as much as possible...but never to set foot in the country again...
People like this deserve a similar fate.
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