Connection e.V. and Military Counseling Network welcome the announcement that the taz newspaper awarded its Panther Prize to U.S. AWOL soldier André Shepherd on Saturday, September 18^th. „This is a clear sign that the German public stands in solidarity with Shepherd“, Rudi Friedrich of Connection e.V. stated today. “We are now urging the German migration authorities to finally grant André Shepherd the necessary asylum protection."

The former US soldier André Shepherd, who went AWOL and is currently applying for asylum in Germany, was recently nominated for the Taz Panter Foundation´s 2010 Panter Award. As the Taz writes on its homepage “Real heroes have become very rare”. “Every year the Taz Panter Foundation awards the prize to everyday heroes who have acted selflessly, bravely, and creatively for the good of others.”

The newspaper adds that every year two of the six nominated candidates will be chosen: “The first prize winner is chosen by a jury of Taz writers and public figures, the second one by the newspaper’s readers.”

Voting at https://www.taz.de/zeitung/tazinfo/panterpreis/Wahl/

British soldier Joe Glenton, who was released from prison some days ago, spoke at a packed anti-war meeting in London yesterday. It was his first public appearance after his imprisonment. He demanded to bring back the troops from Afghanistan and added: „I consider it a badge of honor to have resisted and to continue to resist. I’ve learnt that the real enemy is not the man in front of you you’re pointing your rifle at, but the men directly behind you and above you telling you to pull the trigger.“ Joe Glenton was released on July 12^th after serving a prison term for refusing to return to Afghanistan.

According to information forwarded by the British organisation Payday, the High Court in London refused the appeal lodged by British Afghanistan war refusenik Joe Glenton and confirmed the sentence of nine months for having gone AWOL. Connection e.V., Iraq Veterans Against the War Europe, DFG-VK Hesse and Payday see the sentence as a measure to prevent other soldiers from speaking out their opposition to the war in Afghanistan. Rudi Friedrich of the network for conscientious objectors Connection e.V. said today, „According to figures published by the British ministry of war, more than 17,000 British soldiers have gone AWOL since 2003. They have clearly voted with their feet: Against the highly controversial war operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.“ Chris Capps, spokesman of IVAW Europe,

added: “They picked out Joe Glenton because he spoke out what so many soldiers are thinking. The politicians who instigated the war should be in the dock, not people who refuse it.“

On March 5, 2010, British Afghanistan war refusenik Joe Glenton was sentenced to nine months in jail for having gone AWOL. Connection e.V., Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) Europe and German Peace Society & Organization of War Resisters (DFG-VK) in Hesse, alongside many other organizations worldwide, strongly condemn the judgment handed down by the military court in Colchester. Connection e.V., IVAW Europe and DFG-VK Hesse ask you to show solidarity by sending letters to Joe Glenton.