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Lock Him Up!
An international grassroots effort to "Make Jose Bove Serve His Time" is petitioning to ensure that the French anti-technology radical be forced to go to jail.

José Bové is a veteran activist and promoter of violence who poses as a French farmer. His most recent caper involved the destruction of a field trial of biotechnology-improved rice at a test laboratory near Montpellier, in southern France. He had previously been found guilty of the demolition of a half-built McDonalds in Millau.  He deserves to serve his time.

During his trial he threatened that a guilty verdict would bring even more violence. 'It would astonish me greatly if the judge dares to order us to be arrested after the trial,' he said. 'If so, the state would be making a great mistake, triggering an unprecedented situation…'"

Arrested for 'invading' [a French army] base during a 1976 protest, Bove spent three weeks in prison. Following his prison time, Bove attended [a] 'direct action' training camp in Libya sponsored by dictator Muammar Quadafi.

In 1995, Bove led protests in France destroying property and attacking French government offices smashing windows, setting fires and charging local police office gates with tractors.

In 1997, Bove began mounting his protests against biotechnology crops. Since that time he has been implicated in the destruction of a Novartis seed production facility and the greenhouses of a public research center. Bove and his group are also credited with hijacking shipments of biotechnology-grown corn.

Bové is now the darling of the organic and anti-biotechnology movement. In Seattle he was hosted by Ralph Nader's organization at a rally, conveniently held in front of a local McDonalds. The McDonalds was, of course, vandalized. Bové has also been the guest of anti-technology, organic farming advocate Mark Ritchie and his IATP group. During the WTO meeting in Seattle, a US farm group sent Nader a letter asking that he disavow the violence started by Bové and cease sponsoring street rallies in front of such targets as McDonalds. (Nader never responded.) Bové supports government control of agriculture, high subsidies and tariff barriers to protect his form of agriculture and has called for the creation of an independent world court protect this system.

The effect of his campaigns has been to delay the development of genetically improved crop varieties.   This has mildly inconvenienced his rich French friends but already condemned many people in the developing world to hunger and death.   If he is allowed to continue with his antics many people will die of malnutrition-related diseases who would otherwise have lived reasonable lives.  

If he is allowed to disrupt world trade with his protectionist policies even more of the poor in Africa, India and China will starve.

Failure to develop pest-resistant crop varieties will also harm the environment because of the continuing need for chemical spraying. 

Bove is the real pest.  He is a violent, selfish man.  iGreens agree with the petitioners: "The French courts have justly seen fit to send him to jail. There he should go (and stay) and serve his full term."

Click here to sign the petition.

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Last modified: September 20, 2006