League of American Patriots Successfully Defends US Political Prisoner (6/18/09)

Henrik Holappa

On Monday March 9, 2009, Esa Henrik Holappa was arrested at gun point and incarceration by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for “immigration violations” near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  I learned of this incident from an active League member the following day. As an ardent patriot and practicing attorney, my initial response was both astonishment and an intense curiosity for detail. That evening I concluded our conversation by offering to assist with the legal defense if necessary. As Henrik’s case was venued in the Immigration Court’s eastern Pennsylvania District, everyone assumed that he was placed in the US Government’s York, PA facility. However, shortly after his arrest, without explanation he was brought to the Immigration Detention Center in Batavia, New York (near Buffalo) and placed in solitary confinement. Though we just concluded this matter in the Federal court system, I am not at liberty to discuss some of the particulars of Henrik’s case.

On Thursday March 12, my colleague informed me of his recent communications with Mr. Holappa’s associates from the Pittsburgh area. Henrik had lived there between his arrival in the US from Finland in July of 2008 and his recent abduction by DHS. Upon contacting them, I learned that Mr. Holappa’s original immigration attorney had recused herself from the case shortly after preparing his asylum application in October of 2008. Further, there was no money available to hire another specialist in this highly complex legal field. I volunteered at once to represent this fellow nationalist even though I am a general practitioner — an attorney who handles various types of cases. Over the next forty eight hours, I obtained the necessary paperwork and learned the circumstances of this unusual case. During that period, an intermediary spoke with Henrik; he enthusiastically assented to my representing him.

On the morning of Sunday March 15, I traveled seven plus hours to Batavia, New York (near Buffalo) with two other League members. I had asked one of them to assist me with the trip up there because distance driving is among the most tedious activities for me. Along the way our discussions focused on details of the case, League business and other political issues. Since none of us had actually spoken with him by phone at that point, we were most concerned about Henrik’s state of mind following DHS’s sadistic arrest and his week-long incarceration under 23 hour lock down. After checking into a subpar hotel nearby and grabbing a bite to eat, I went over to the prison. This newly built facility could have passed for a modern metropolitan area library but for the fenced-in yard towards the rear. Following some wrangling back and forth with the dim officer in charge (it was Sunday evening); I was escorted into one of the attorney-client meeting rooms to see Henrik. I immediately sat down to compose my thoughts, check notes on his asylum application and review my checklist of questions.

A fresh-faced, slender young man in an all red prison-issued outfit stepped into the room. I cannot reveal the details of our initial consultation. However, I will take this opportunity to summarize Mr. Holappa’s application for asylum. Several of his associates in Pennsylvania had posted it on their websites immediately after his arrest. Henrik applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the U.N. Convention Against Torture based on the persecution he experienced in Finland for his political beliefs. Unfortunately, in recent years, Finland has accepted many immigrants from African and Arab nations. Since the government sanctioned influx of these Third World invaders, that country has experienced a previously unknown phenomenon: gang rapes of Finnish women.  Henrik has been a patriot activist in his native Finland for some time even though he is only 23 years of age. Despite the excruciating taboos involved, Henrik spoke out against these vicious attacks of his countrywomen. He had been harassed by the Finnish security police, the SUPO, since 2006. They have ransacked Henrik’s and a family member’s residence, threatened him about “not having any place in (Finnish) society,” and incarcerated him — incommunicado and without charge – for several days. Also, the Finnish authorities deprived Henrik of burgeoning military and civilian careers.

In May of 2008, shortly before fleeing to the US, police informed Henrik that he was to be indicted for “incitement of racial hatred,” “defaming the honor of the African community of Finland,” and “copyright violation” for an article that he allegedly wrote on this gang rape phenomenon. He faced four and a half years in prison if convicted of these charges. Accordingly, Henrik had an “objectively reasonably” fear of persecution for his political opinion, both by the Finnish authorities and the Third World immigrant population there. Obviously, the more serious first two are not criminal offenses in America. The free speech provision of the Constitution’s First Amendment would absolutely protect the author of such an article. Further, Henrik was completely law abiding since coming to this country.

Mr. Holappa immediately struck me as exceptionally bright, articulate and upstanding man during our first meeting. Though the violent arrest, sudden imprisonment and isolation in lockdown weighed heavily upon him, I sensed Henrik’s strength of character and fortitude. Such qualities compelled him to take a public stand against Third World gang rapists in his homeland. I remember feeling quite dejected upon leaving the prison that night. I was very distressed, though in no way surprised, that the US government unjustifiably incarcerated a law-abiding young spokesman for the plight of our people — in Finland and worldwide. I also visited Henrik the following Monday morning and afternoon. I felt confident in my understanding of the case after reviewing his DHS paperwork and spending a total of three hours meeting him. He later told me how much he appreciated my words of encouragement during the visits. My resolve to win Henrik’s uphill legal battle had thoroughly hardened upon leaving the prison that day.

To this day, DHS has not explained their decision to ship Henrik all the way up to the Canadian border. As stated on several websites, in December of 2008, Henrik had dutifully appeared for his preliminary hearing in Philadelphia. There the judge simply informed him of his right to counsel and that the court would permit him adequate time to do so. Recall that the original immigration attorney had recused herself from this case that fall. Her office simply told me that dealing with Henrik’s associates became intolerable. Shortly thereafter, the court set the second procedural (non-merit) hearing for July 2009. DHS could not have reasonably presumed that Henrik would become uncooperative given that up to the day of his arrest, he had complied with all of the requirements for his asylum application. This included driving five hours for the brief, routine court appearance. Nor had he engaged in any criminal activity while in this country; DHS typically only detains criminal “immigration violators” such as murderers, drug dealers and sexual deviants. Despite my diligent efforts, DHS never explained their consistent determination not to permit bond in Henrik’s case.

Shortly after arresting Henrik, DHS motioned to change the case venue from the eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) to Batavia, New York, where he has been held without the option of bond since early March. I must take this opportunity to note how uncooperative DHS was since I first took Henrik’s case. The nature of Henrik’s political activities, both here and in Finland, coupled with his legal representation by the League of American Patriots, prompted DHS to unnecessarily complicate the case. I had to physically bring our opposition to their venue change motion from my office in northern New Jersey to Philadelphia on March 20. Needless to say, on March 25, the presiding immigration judge in Philadelphia (apparently an affirmative action appointee) granted DHS’s motion to change the case venue to Batavia, NY without explanation. Predictably, it took an entire week for Henrik’s case to actually be transferred from east PA to west NY.

On March 31, I selected the soonest possible date for the preliminary (master calendar) hearing in Batavia: April 7. These appearances are similar to arraignments in criminal courts; the actual hearing only lasted fifteen minutes. I then scheduled the merit hearing for the afternoon of Monday July 6. Again, I sought the earliest possible court date for Henrik’s sake. Then I focused on getting him released from DHS custody. I was appalled by the prospect of Henrik having to spend another three months of his life behind bars for no legitimate legal reason. Just as I was preparing my application for his release pending the final hearing, an astounding development was brought to my attention in mid April.

Fortunately, I was in regular contact with Henrik’s only English-speaking immediate family member. I instantaneously apprised her of all significant developments in Henrik’s case. On April 17, she informed me that Mika Illman, the state persecutor who had originally threatened Henrik with the offenses discussed earlier, indicated that he did not intent to press charges against Henrik for the Third World gang rape article at issue. Last year Illman, a Jewish attorney, had apparently decided to make an example of Henrik so as to crush racism in Finland. Officially, this meant that Henrik was no longer in “imminent danger” of political prosecution there. Naturally I was suspicious of this drastic change in circumstances. Henrik’s family and I spent the next week procuring written confirmations from both Illman and Isometsä-Tihinen, the police investigator in Oulu, Finland who had repeatedly harassed Henrik for his politics prior to his departure to the US. The authorities assured us that they would not charge him with any political crimes upon his return. Incidentally, only a few weeks earlier, Illman had charged a Finnish councilman with ethnic agitation after he posted unflattering facts about the foundations of Islam. I promptly requested another hearing in Batavia. On April 30, I officially withdrew Henrik’s application for asylum and consented to deportation. I can only speculate that Henrik’s denial of asylum in the US would have had serious repercussions for the Finnish government. This young intelligent individual would have attracted widespread international attention had his case progressed.

Henrik made many nationalist friends during his year-long stay in the US. One was a highly capable paralegal in the Washington D.C. area. He is a friend of the Holappa family who assisted me with some of the comprehensive research during the trying two months following Henrik’s arrest. Also, one of Ernst Zundel’s attorneys enlightened me on some of the nuances of immigration law along with his insight into this perplexing case. Henrik’s immediate family was unquestionably supportive in his urgent plight for freedom. Their cooperation and assistance proved invaluable throughout the three month long endeavor. This further illustrates the quality of individual that the League of American Patriots had chosen to represent. Despite the Finnish Government’s decision, had Henrik represented himself (pro se); he would have been incarcerated in Batavia, NY for at least twice the amount time. Though I took this case pro-bono, the costs associated with it totaled over $1,000. I am proud to report that this was entirely covered by generous contributions from League members.

The process of arranging the deportation of incarcerated persons to their country of origin takes Homeland Security about a month. During the month of May, DHS refused to give Henrik or me any information about his actual deportation, repeatedly citing “national security.” Henrik was deported during the early morning hours of Wednesday June 3. Three DHS agents escorted him on the plane from New York to Helsinki. A colleague suggested that they might have been concerned he would exit the plane over the North Atlantic prior to arriving in Finland. That day an agent informed Henrik that the Obama administration had a “special interest” in him. To no one’s surprise, Homeland Security has not provided Henrik or me with a time frame for his ability to return to the United States.  Nonetheless, Henrik told me how happy he is to be a free man and how grateful he was for our services.
Henrik is certainly not alone in his frustration over Third Worlders raping white women. Per the FBI’s crime statistics, over 100,000 of our women in the US have been raped by black men since 2004; the inverse number for such interracial crime is “0″. Our people worldwide have had enough of these outrages. Prophetically, nationalist political parties throughout Europe gained many seats during the recent EU election. Two Englishmen are sitting in a So. California prison after seeking political asylum in the US a year ago due to charges of “publishing racially inflammatory written material” in the UK: http://www.vdare.com/stix/090604_hate_crimes.htm
Henrik’s ordeal will no doubt resonate with our comrades who routinely face government persecution for speaking out against the Third World invasion of, and horrific consequences from, our ancestral homelands.  We must organize our people now to counter the constant attempts by the Jewish community and their nefarious collaborators in government to censor our First Amendment right to free speech, irrespective of those with “hurt feelings.” Millions of our people in Europe have been plagued by such restrictions for decades. This indomitable activist’s story, along with that of the year old League of American Patriots, is “to be continued. . .”

Thank you