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01. 09. 08. - 16:00

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01. 09. 08. - 16:00

Jailed animal rights campaigner to run for Greens

Greens leader Alexander Van der Bellen has asked imprisoned animal rights campaigner Dr Martin Balluch to run as an independent candidate for the party in the 28 September election.

After 100 days on remand custody with out concrete charge or evidence, Van der Bellen visited Dr Balluch in prison to invite him to run.

Balluch will be elected at the Green Party congress on 7 September. Van der Bellen said, "I have invited Balluch to run as a candidate for the Green party, he will be given a place high up on the list of candidates."

He went on to say that "this unbelievably precise thinking intellectual has been held now for over 100 days in prison. The Mafia-law being used against animal protectionists goes far outside what is admissible."

Van der Bellen described Balluch's candidateship as "An expression of appreciation for the work of non-governmental organisations."

Dr Balluch is an established intellectual who worked alongside physicist Steven Hawking for eight years at Cambridge University. His  said of his imprisonment, "Sitting here in my jail cell it’s hard not to think of Guantanamo bay. I am not a criminal. The government just don’t like change and that is what our organization represent to them. They want to destroy us."

John Morris

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