Update: Victor Agosto was released from jail on August 28, 2009 and expected to be processed out of the Army completely by the end of September!
By Courage to Resist. August 12, 2009 update
Army Spc. Victor Agosto was court-martialed and convicted Wednesday, August 5, at Fort Hood, Texas for refusing to deploy to Afghanistan. He was sentenced to only 30 days in incarceration–which has been outsourced to the local county jail. Victor’s supporters hope that he will soon be discharged “for the good of the service” following his return to his unit in a few weeks.
“There is no way I will deploy to Afghanistan. The occupation is immoral and unjust. It does not make the American people any safer. It has the opposite effect,” explained Victor to his unit command in May.
As of August 12th, Courage to Resist has received $2,234 from 52 supporters earmarked for Victor’s defense. This has covered Victor’s legal expenses for now–in large part because of the greatly reduced rates charged by his civilian lawyer James Branum of Lawton, Oklahoma. Victor will be filling an appeal, so donations for Victor are still being accepted.
- Watch a new video “The Resistors” by Iraq War veteran Casey Porter.
- “Texas soldier Victor Agosto refuses Afghanistan deployment” by Sarah Lazare. May 21, 2009
“Courage to Resist puts the slogan of “support the troops but not the war” into practice every day. Their work to publicize and support the courage of GI resisters is an essential component of stopping the war machine.”
