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民权主义者遇害 主犯终被判刑(图)
http://www.sina.com.cn 2005/06/23 16:49  国际在线


Klan Member Guilty of 1964 Killings

  Exactly 41 years to the day after three young civil rights activists disappeared in Mississippi, Edgar Ray Killen, a Ku Klux Klan member and part-time preacher, yesterday became the first person convicted over their killing.

  The jury found the 80-year-old guilty of manslaughter in the deaths of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, who were ambushed, beaten, and shot while working to promote black voting rights during the "freedom summer" of 1964.

  Although the jury rejected the more serious murder charges against the former Klan leader, Killen could still face 20 years in prison for his part in the killings, which inspired the 1988 film Mississippi Burning. He will be sentenced tomorrow,

  Killen, wearing an oxygen mask and in a wheelchair since breaking both legs during a logging accident, showed no emotion as the verdict was read out.

  Schwerner's widow, Rita Schwerner Bender, welcomed the verdict, calling it "a day of great importance to all of us". But she said others also should be held responsible for the murders.

  "Preacher Killen didn't act in a vacuum," she said. There are believed to be seven more men involved who are still alive.

  The three victims - Chaney, a black activist from Mississippi, and Schwerner and Goodman, white activists from New York - were picked up by a local policeman after they visited the ruins of a black church burned down by the Klan the previous week. The men were released in the middle of the night, but the policeman, a Klan member, had tipped off local Klansmen and they were chased down in their car by a mob, who shot and then buried them. Their bodies were found 44 days later.

  In 1967, 18 men, including Killen, were tried on conspiracy charges. Seven were convicted, but none served more than six years in prison. Killen walked free as a result of a hung jury.

民权主义者遇害 主犯终被判刑(图)

  3名年轻的民权主义者在美国密西西比遇害整整41年之后,一名前三k党成员兼传教士埃德加-雷-基伦于6月21日被判杀人罪名成立。

  据英国《卫报》网站6月22日报道,陪审团认为,现年80岁的基伦对詹姆斯-钱尼、安德鲁-古德曼和迈 克尔-施沃纳这3名民权主义者犯有谋杀罪。这3人在1964年的“自由之夏”为黑人投票权而忙碌工作时,受到了三k党徒的袭击,他们在遭到毒打之后,被枪击而死。 

  尽管陪审团只是判处基伦一般杀人罪,并没有加以更为严厉的罪名,但这位三k党的领导人物仍可能面临长达20年的牢狱生活。当陪审团宣读对他的裁决时,戴着氧气面罩,坐在轮椅上的基伦显得面无表情。

  被害人之一,施沃纳的遗孀里塔-施沃纳-本德对这一裁决表示了欢迎,并称之为“这是对我们所有人来说非常重要的一天”。但她也同时指出,其他一些涉案人员也应该为这一事件负责。

  报道说,在1964年6月21日,3名受害者——钱尼(黑人民权工作者)、施沃纳和古德曼(来自纽约的两位白人民权工作者)在开车查看一个被烧毁的黑人教堂的废墟后,被当地一名警察(同时也是三k党成员)以超速和纵火为由拘留。当天午夜,这3人被释放。但该警察向当地的三k党徒泄露了这3名民权工作者的消息。这就导致了这场震惊全美的惨案发生。3名民权工作者被三k党徒打死之后,其尸体也被掩埋了起来,直到44天后才被发现。

  1967年,18名涉案人员,其中包括基伦曾被提起诉讼。其中7人被判处有罪,但是没有一个人在狱中待到了6年以上,而被认为是本案主使的基伦却被宣判无罪。1988年,这段历史还被拍成了电影《密西西比在燃烧》。(文/王高山)


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