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ELF Fugitive Sentenced for Drug Charges in China

Nov 28th, 2009 by Will Potter

solondz_justin_elfJustin Solondz, an environmental activist who was wanted by the FBI for “eco-terrorism” charges tied to the Earth Liberation Front, has been sentenced to 3 years in a Chinese prison for manufacturing drugs. Back in June I reported on his arrest via Twitter, and now much more details have emerged about his life overseas and his sentencing.

The New York Times reports:

The story of Mr. Solondz’s life on the lam spanned three continents, involved at least two aliases and ended in a smoky bar in one of the world’s most authoritarian countries…

According to his father, Paul Solondz, the Dali police said they discovered 33 pounds of marijuana buried in the courtyard of the house that the younger Mr. Solondz rented, as well as what the prosecutor described as a drug laboratory inside the house.

Friends of Mr. Solondz in Dali said he went by the name Isaac Cox and was a familiar figure who favored black clothing, had a dog and rode a bicycle through the stone streets of Dali’s old section. (His mother, however, said court documents said he used the name David Isaac Hart.)

“He looked like a man on the run,” said a man who knew Mr. Solondz and did not give his name for fear of retribution from authorities and fellow foreigners. “Everyone who comes to this town is running away from something, some more than others.”

After serving his prison time in China, Solondz will be extradited to the United States where faces charges for his alleged involvement in the ELF arson of a horticulture center at the University of Washington in 2001.

As his father told the Times:

“Compared to those horrible people who want to kill as many people as possible in the name of religion, the avowed mission of this organization is to not harm any people or animals,” he said. “This should not even be called terrorism.”

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Posted in Activists Arrested, Legal Issues

  • Anonymous
    Nice guy, a terrorist and a drug dealer.
  • Anonymous
    More reasons underground activists should be straight edge.
  • Striaght Edge
    Drugs have been the downfall of the Green Scare defendants from front to back: drug addict Darren Thurston, drug addict Jacob Ferguson, and (accused) drug dealer Justin Solondz.

    XXX
  • Steve
    We seem to be assuming that Soldonz id guilty of the drug charges against him. We know that Chana has a long record of Human rights abuses and a society/economy dependent of the abuses of animals. To me it seems almost certain he has been set up.
  • M. Snacks
    Ok folks, I'll be the first to say I think activists should be clean, sober, yadda yadda yadda, I've been straight edge for a good number of years now and I'm past the age when most people sell out BUT, this isn't about drugs, it's about living on crime when you're on the lam, acting as if this wouldn't have happened if he had chosen return scams or selling boosted goods is silly. I'd imagine that being on the lam it's fucking hard to make money and you wind up doing dodgy shit and sometimes you get caught. To make this about drugs is really just kind of rude and innapropriate.
  • Thank you, M Snacks! Now is not the time to bash drugs from our cozy homes and computers.

    I am technically edge (I drink coffee though) but it's because I have had drug problems in the past. Haven't touched a thing in 5 years. But, I can't guarantee that if I was in China, on the run from the law, and just trying to survive that I would not sell something as harmless as pot. Who gives a shit? The guy is being unjustly and royally fucked by the state in multiple countries for no good reason. By focusing on the "he shoulda been sXe" during this, people are kinda doing the state's work for them.

    Justin has my solidarity and support. I don't care if he's shooting heroin, he'll have it until he's free. Poverty and addiction often go hand in hand. Addiction is a disease that may begin with a choice but it is much more than that.

    Let's hope Justin gets out asap.
  • maybe he should have become a bartender in a desert town like ed norton at the end of 25th hour.
  • Lin
    Thanks for ruining the ending Matt...now I've got to take that one off my NetFlix list.
  • Jersey Fresh
    M. Snacks; right on the money. I heart you for taking the words out of my mou..uh, fingers.
  • a lot of good points being made here. living off crime while on the lam is a high-stakes business. it's also impossible to completely avoid. the trick would seem to minimize this risk as much as possible. we have high expectations for our fugitives and this is not the first time they have let us down. idealistically, it would be smart not to push nickle bags or shoplift bolt cutters while you are a wanted "terrorist." in perspective, however, Justin has resisted Operation Backfire as firm as anyone could up to this point. Our support is crucial in how he is able to maintain that resistance.
  • Why would an elf member torch a horticulture center in the first place? Whats the point? Were the plants harming someone?
  • WA
    Because they (Solondz, Avalon, etc.) had (completely incorrect) information about what was going on there- they thought that a professor was genetically engineering trees to release in the wild and kill all the native species. The trees weren't genetically engineered, and they weren't going to kill off any species. That arson affected a lot of people, and a lot of good work. Furthermore, the work that is done at the Center for Urban Horticulture (and was done there, has always been done there) is stuff that helps the environment and the preservation of the environment; this is stuff that ELF should love.
    That's what I care about- not that he was doing or selling drugs. I'm happy he's locked up, even if it's not for the right reason. I say get him back here, try him, and give him the min. 35 years for arson that he deserves.
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