Green Parliament members in Austria seek revocation of Schwarzenegger's citizenship for allowing executions; California Greens back action

GREEN PARTY OF CALIFORNIA NEWS RELEASE
For immediate release: Wednesday, January 17, 2006

SACRAMENTO (January 17, 2006) – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Austrian citizenship should be revoked for permitting death penalty executions in California, according to a formal request made by Green Party members of the Austrian Parliament and supported by the International Protocol Committee of the Green Party of California late Monday.

The committee said the citizenship revocation should be considered because Schwarzenegger refused to stop executions of Donald Beardslee, Stanley Tookie Williams – and now Clarence Allen. Those actions "are illegal as an activity of either the state or person in Austria."

"No Austrian citizen is legally permitted to participate in or order the execution of another human being," said the Green Party committee, adding that "Arnold Schwarzenegger (did) willfully and knowingly exercise his official executive powers as Governor to permit the execution of the death penalty against Donald Beardslee and Stanley Williams."

Green members of the Austrian Parliament are pushing for the citizenship revocation.

"The Green Party is locally and internationally dedicated to values of human life which oppose the death penalty as a matter of principle and rejects the use of the death penalty as a policy of a modern and civilized society," said Fred Hosea of the GPCA committee, quoting from the International Protocol Committee's official statement.

The committee added that not only does it support the proposed action in the Austrian Parliament to revoke Schwarzenegger's citizenship, but also supports "other pertinent and appropriate sanctions which the Austrian Parliament may enact in this regard."

"As citizens of the State of California have a moral right and obligation to act both locally and globally in the vigorous prosecution of illegal conduct by all government officials, and in the criticism of official policy and conduct which offends the principles for which we stand," said the formal statement by the GPCA International Protocol Committee

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Contacts:
Crescenzo Vellucci, State Press Office, 916.996.9170,
Sara Amir (Los Angeles), 310.270.7106,
Dr. Bob Vizzard (Sacramento), 916.206.8953,
Daniel Brezenoff (Southern California), 310.422.2211,
Susan King (San Francisco), 415.823.5524,

The Green Party of California
PO Box 2828
Sacramento, CA 95812
Phone: (916) 448-3437
Web: http://www.cagreens.org
EMail: