Reddy Resentencing Hearing Monday, May 22

*PLEASE* forward widely..
__________________________________________
If inapplicable to you specifically then please
forward to:
-Local Student Groups
-Friends
-Other email forums that can help get the word out
__________________________
STAND UP!

For REDDY's victims: Mon, May 22, 2:30pm
What:
Stand up for Lakireddy Bali Reddy's victims at his
resentencing hearing
When:
Monday, May 22 - meet outside at 2:00pm
Session begins at 2:30pm
Where:
In the court room of The Honorable Claudia Wilken
United States District Court, Northern District of CA

1301 Clay St, Oakland, CA (Courtroom 2, 4th
Floor)
Inside Oakland Federal Building
Nxt to Oak 12th St. /City Center BART

In 2001, Berkeley landlord Lakireddy Bali Reddy
pled guilty to trafficking
young Indian girls from poor low-caste families for
forced sex, and dozens of poor workers to work in
his businesses under extremely bad working
conditions. One of his victims died, and many are
now recovering in India.

Reddy's been granted a resentencing, claiming that
his victims'
testimonies were coerced, and that the trauma
they suffered was
overstated--but legal maneuverings can't make us
forget the powerful Reddy family's exploitation of
poor rural South Indian men, women, and girls.

Join us at Reddy's resentencing hearing, as we let
the courts know:

HIS VICTIMS HAVE NOT BEEN FORGOTTEN.
__________________

Hello Everyone,

Reddy is the owner of Reddy Realty and owns a
disgusting amount of Berkeley's property --
restaurants and apartment buildings included.
Approximately 6 years ago towards the end of
2000, a young girl died of carbon monoxide
poisoning in her apartment, and her sister,
managed to survive. This was the first crack that
lead to the ' Reddy Scandal' which uncovered the
fact that he was importing young women from
South India, taking advantage of them sexually and
subjecting his other laborers, whom he hired
illegally (in restaurants and such) to deplorable
working conditions.

He wants to get his 7/8 year sentence reduced to 3
and 1/2 years.
Seeing as Monday is a working day -- it is much
harder for people out-of-school to get out of work
commitments, but IT'S JUST ONE DAY.

There also has not been much publicity about this,
as you can imagine, so that the turn out of
protesters on the day of the actual trial is low, or at
least kept to a bare minimum.
We cannot let him get away with this.
He is trying to get his sentence slashed down to
almost HALF the amount of time he was originally
set for, and may be out in 3 and 1/2 years if his
request is honored by the judge.

I need you to fwd along this msg to other email
forums you may be on, to family & friends, people
local to the area - STUDENT GROUPS (who aren't
tied down to work as much) and to ANY and
EVERY person you think can get together at the
Oakland Courthouse on Monday to PROTEST this
re-sentence trial.

The courtroom seats about 40 people -- we need at
least 60 to be literally outside the door, so that the
judge can see that this cannot and will NOT be
tolerated by the South Asian Community.

There are at LEAST 200,000 South Asians in the
SF/ bay area alone, and only 200 or so people
showed up to protest the sentence last time. That
is shameful. We are trying to branch out to all
community members in opposing this.

Reddy's exploitation CANNOT go unnoticed, and
we need your help.
Groups such as: Narika, Maitri, and Asata are also
working with us on this.

PLEASE PRINT OUT the flyer and distribute it
around campus, forward it to other student groups
like I said before, and just get the word out so that
people show up to ththe Courthouse on Monday to
prove to the judge, and Reddy that he won't get
away with this, and to show the victims, that they
have not been forgotten by their ccommunity
members.
Thanking you in advance,

Sincerely,
Anjali Verma
South Asian Sisters