"Relmu Ñamku, mother of 3, is a Mapuche Indigenous leader from Argentina. She is currently facing trial, after being prosecuted for defending her territory against oil & gas extraction. This Changes Everything UK, Movimiento Jaguar Despierto and Argentina Solidarity Campaign are working together in the UK to raise funds to support Relmu in her trial. All funds will passed on directly to Relmu and will be used to cover costs associated with the trial and her defense."
For more information about Relmu and the case, you can read this excerpt from an Amnesty International briefing below:
"An Indigenous leader, Relmu Ñamku, [is being charged] with attempted homicide on 26 October for hurting a policewoman in 2012, when her community resisted eviction from their ancestral land, in Argentina’s Neuquén Province. She had first been charged with ‘causing harm’. She may face an unfair trial, and risks 15 years in prison.
Relmu Ñamku, an Indigenous leader from the Mapuche Winkul Newen community, [began her] trial on 26 October, charged with attempted homicide. She had been one of three members of the community prosecuted in 2012 after they resisted an oil company’s trucks preparing to drill on their land, and a police officer was injured.
On 28 December 2012, while members of the Winkul Newen community were attending a Mapuche funeral (Eluwvn) the police came to their ancestral land in Paraje Portezuelo Chico, Neuquén Province, with an eviction order. A large number of trucks and bulldozers from the oil company Empresa Apache arrived at about 3pm and were ordered to enter Winkul Newen territory. Members of the community threw stones at the bulldozers, and a police woman was injured.
After this, three members of the Indigenous community, Relmu Ñamku, Martín Maliqueo and Mauricio Raín, were charged with «causing harm». The charge against community leader Relmu Ñamku was later changed to «aggravated attempted homicide». The prosecution provided no additional evidence to justify this change. If convicted she will face up to 15 years in prison."
For further resources, see: www.amnistia.org.ar/relmu.
You can also sign a petition to support Relmu here: http://accionesbiodiversidad.org/?p=85