ToddG
02-06-09, 16:10
http://www.military.com/news/article/February-2009/us-deserter-receives-german-peace-prize.html?col=1186032320397
US Deserter Receives German Peace Prize
February 06, 2009
Agence France-Presse
A US army deserter claiming asylum in Germany due to his moral opposition to the war in Iraq is set to scoop a peace prize, a US activist group said Friday.
Andre Shepherd, 31, originally from Cleveland, Ohio, will be awarded the Munich American Peace Committee's annual prize on Saturday during a protest at a major security conference in southern Germany. The committee is an anti-war activist group.
The new US administration -- represented by Vice President Joseph Biden -- will give details of its foreign policy vision at the Munich Security Conference.
However, Shepherd will not appear in person to receive the award, Rudi Friedrich, head of Connection e.V -- a support group for conscientious objectors and deserters -- told AFP.
While Shepherd's asylum application is being assessed, he is not allowed to travel beyond the confines of Karlsruhe in southern Germany where he is staying at a refugee-processing centre, Friedrich said.
The Munich American Peace Committee said it was awarding the prize to Shepherd for his "courage and conviction in despite of the possibly extreme punishment from the US authorities" and "for publicising your convictions to give other soldiers the courage also to leave the army and to push for peace."
Shepherd, whose application for asylum was heard Wednesday during a nine-hour interview with German immigration officials, has received support from ordinary German citizens, Friedrich said.
A petition calling for his asylum claim to be granted has attracted "more than 1,000 signatures," he said, adding, "I get a lot of letters every day."
Connection e.V intends to present the petition to the German authorities considering his asylum application.
Shepherd walked off his base in southern Germany in spring 2007 and spent 19 months on the run before applying for asylum in November last year. He is the first Army deserter to seek asylum in Germany.
Before then, he had completed a five-month stint in Iraq between September 2004 and February 2005 in which he serviced Apache helicopters as part of the 412th Aviation Support Battalion.
US Deserter Receives German Peace Prize
February 06, 2009
Agence France-Presse
A US army deserter claiming asylum in Germany due to his moral opposition to the war in Iraq is set to scoop a peace prize, a US activist group said Friday.
Andre Shepherd, 31, originally from Cleveland, Ohio, will be awarded the Munich American Peace Committee's annual prize on Saturday during a protest at a major security conference in southern Germany. The committee is an anti-war activist group.
The new US administration -- represented by Vice President Joseph Biden -- will give details of its foreign policy vision at the Munich Security Conference.
However, Shepherd will not appear in person to receive the award, Rudi Friedrich, head of Connection e.V -- a support group for conscientious objectors and deserters -- told AFP.
While Shepherd's asylum application is being assessed, he is not allowed to travel beyond the confines of Karlsruhe in southern Germany where he is staying at a refugee-processing centre, Friedrich said.
The Munich American Peace Committee said it was awarding the prize to Shepherd for his "courage and conviction in despite of the possibly extreme punishment from the US authorities" and "for publicising your convictions to give other soldiers the courage also to leave the army and to push for peace."
Shepherd, whose application for asylum was heard Wednesday during a nine-hour interview with German immigration officials, has received support from ordinary German citizens, Friedrich said.
A petition calling for his asylum claim to be granted has attracted "more than 1,000 signatures," he said, adding, "I get a lot of letters every day."
Connection e.V intends to present the petition to the German authorities considering his asylum application.
Shepherd walked off his base in southern Germany in spring 2007 and spent 19 months on the run before applying for asylum in November last year. He is the first Army deserter to seek asylum in Germany.
Before then, he had completed a five-month stint in Iraq between September 2004 and February 2005 in which he serviced Apache helicopters as part of the 412th Aviation Support Battalion.