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.
Bove, a French anti-technology militant, rallied radical activists to rip apart a McDonald’s restaurant in 1999, and has led attacks on a field of genetically improved rice — which earned him a conviction in December. While The New York Times rewarded him with a softball interview last week, some insist he do hard time. Why?
“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.”
We 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.”
