Michael New Action Fund
P.O. Box 100    Iredell, Texas 76649
vox: 254/796-2173 fax:  254/796-2682
http://www.mikenew.com
Email: ddnew@mikenew.com

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:  DANIEL NEW

(Falls Church, VA) - The soldier who refused to serve under the United Nations in Macedonia in 1995, Army Spc. Michael New, has filed a motion for an expedited hearing with the Army Court of Criminal Appeals here. The case has lingered in that court for almost one year.

    Retired Lt. Col. Henry Hamilton, from his law office in South Carolina, has emphasized that ten months is more than a reasonable time for the Army to rule on the case. “The Federal (civilian) courts told us to exhaust our military remedy and then come back. The Army is apparently focusing on the word, ‘exhaust.’ They know that our resources are limited and that theirs are not.. But we have American soldiers, from the same deployment that Michael New was ordered on in Macedonia, now being charged as war criminals by the Serbs. This is precisely what we warned the Army about in our original defense – the court-martial in which the Army judge refused to allow the jury to look at the evidence. Now, perhaps, they can see why we were concerned about the status of American soldiers serving in deployments as mercenaries instead of Americans, or patrolling armed in regions where we have no legal basis for a presence."

    Several Congressmen have inquired into why the Army is delaying their ruling. According to Daniel New, spokesman for the legal defense, “We don’t expect to win in this court, be we at least hope they’ll beat us up and get it over with so we can get on to the federal courts where the Constitutional questions can be considered. This case has yet to be heard on its merits, after three years. Every law student knows the maxim, ‘Justice delayed is justice denied.’”

    Michael New, a resident of Montgomery County, Texas, is a full-time student while awaiting his appeal. He was serving in Germany at the time, as a medic in the 3rd Infantry Division, which has been dissolved and merged into the 1st Infantry Division.