A U.S. sailor was sentenced to three months of hard labor Thursday for refusing to ship out for the Persian Gulf in a protest against the war in Iraq.
The 23-year-old New Yorker said he refused to support a war he believed was illegal and immoral, and he has since become an outspoken anti-war activist.
“If there is anything I could be guilty of, it is my beliefs,” he said in a statement before the sentence was imposed. “I am guilty of believing the war is illegal.”
From Democracy Now
Paredes was convicted in a court-martial on Wednesday. However a judge decided Thursday not to sentence him to jail – instead he will face three months of hard labor.
His lawyers call it a victory for war resisters around the country.
His t-shirt, which he wore when turning himself in, says, “Like a cabinet member, I resign.”