Passive Resister Murtari: "I'm Back On [Hunger] Strike," TV Coverage
 

http://mensnewsdaily.com/2006/08/23/...e-tv-coverage/

Passive Resister Murtari: "I'm Back On [Hunger] Strike," TV Coverage
August 23, 2006
by Teri Stoddard

John Murtari, 49, former Air Force training pilot and loving father to
13-year-old Domenic says he's back on strike. The New York father stopped
eating and drinking July 31 to highlight the desperate need for family law
reform when he reported to serve a 6-month sentence for child support
arrears.

"This is about civil rights," he says. Murtari claims the money he was
ordered to pay in child support was necessary to maintain a relationship
with his son who was moved across the country by the mother. When discussing
the high cost of travel he asks, "How many of those [visits] could I have
traded away - and not lost our relationship?"

During the first 10 days his health deteriorated and he was given a
nasogastric feeding tube, after the press starting asking questions. The
tube was removed yesterday to give his throat time to recover from the
irritation and to allow him to have a good night's sleep.

Murtari was surprised when doctors declined to reinsert it as planned today.
"They want me to feed myself, or at least drink on my own," he said, "I didn't;
the only water I'll have now will be to keep my mouth moist." His health is
expected to decline even more quickly this time since he's not starting out
in pefect health.

Inspired by Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Murtari is a gracious and gentle
man. He blames no one for his situation, only the bad laws in existence.
Even when he was suffering extreme dehydration, he asked that all who act on
his behalf do it with kindness. Murtari communicates by publishing a
near-weekly enewsletter with help from the office staff of his small
internet company, and by replying to letters sent to him in jail.

Murtari's group A Kids Right is calling for congressional hearings and
passage of a Family Rights Act to protect the parent-child bond. After many
dismissed requests for a meeting, writing with chalk about the love he has
for his son on the sidewalk [video] and climbing the art structure in front
of her Syracuse office, Senator Hillary Clinton chose to have him arrested
instead of meeting with local parents.

News10Now interviewed Murtari in the Onondaga County Justice Center and
aired the story tonight. STORY AND VIDEO This follows four news articles,
Mike Mcmanus' syndicated column, and a half-page of letters in support
printed in a local paper.

Letters of support and donations to legal and media funds (877-635-1968 ex
212) have come from all over the world, including Germany, Italy, Wales, New
Zealand, Australia, the UK and Canada. Many family rights websites around
the world also highlight Murtari's plight. Fathers4Justice activists,
including some from Canada's F4J, joined family law reform advocates in a
Day of Demonstration August 9th in front of the courthouse where Murtari was
sentenced, and more demonstrations are planned.

In the UK Dave Ellison, former International Coordinator for Fathers4Justice
writes, "The appalling treatment and abuse of John and his child by the
American authorities is being watched in disbelief around the world.
Syracuse, the world is watching American justice. Land of the free? (Until
you want to be a father to your child!)"