US nun, 84, jailed for three years for anti-nuclear protest

Sister Megan Rice

Sister Megan Rice, an 84-year-old nun who broke into a nuclear weapons facility in July, 2012, in a peace protest, was sentenced yesterday to 35 months in federal prison.

Her two co-defendants, Michael Walli, 65, and Gregory Boertje-Obed, 58, were sentenced to 62 months on charges of interfering with national security and damaging property at the Y-12 National Security Complex, in Oak Ridge Tennessee, in July 2012 — the same facility that once provided the enriched uranium for the world's first bomb on Hiroshima.

In the courtroom Sr Megan told the judge: "Please have no leniency with me. To remain in prison for the rest of my life would be the greatest gift you could give me."

Paul Magno, a friend of Sr Megan said she felt that a longer prison sentence would give her more time to serve other other women in prison who are victims of a system that gives them few choices - a system which neglects the poor but spends billions on defence.

Dozens of supporters held vigil outside the court yesterday.

See our earlier report and video interview here: www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=22508

See also ICN 14 February 2014 Petition: Cancel Trident spending - help flood victims www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=24159