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Steven R. Nickerson © News Sister Antonia Anthony says her spy file includes her participation in a protest of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in 2000. |
The filing nun: Suit takes off
Police spy papers lead woman of the cloth to seek cloak of justice
By Peggy Lowe, Rocky Mountain News
December 18, 2002
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Steven R. Nickerson © News Sister Antonia Anthony says her spy file includes her participation in a protest of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in 2000. |
Sister Antonia Anthony is a 74-year-old Franciscan nun whose sideline is raising money for the poor of Mexico.
She has come across a new description for her work, courtesy of the Denver Police Department.
"I have seen my spy file," Anthony said Tuesday. "I was listed as part of the Chiapas Coalition as a criminal extremist group. I suppose when I first read that, it just seemed to me to be ludicrous."
Ludicrous and now part of a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the thousands of peaceful protesters who are mentioned in the intelligence bureau's spy files.
Anthony gave an eight-hour deposition on Monday.
And she may have a real case.
As part of her file, the police cited Anthony's belief that "global financial policies are responsible for the uprisings in Chiapas, Mexico," according to a deposition given by Jean Dubofsky and viewed by the Rocky Mountain News.
"I take it we can agree that that report is based on protected First Amendment activity. Would you concur?" Anthony's lawyer asked Dubofsky, a former Colorado Supreme Court judge who sat on a panel that reviewed the files.
"Yes," Dubofsky said in the deposition.
Anthony, who lives at the Marycrest Convent in Denver, has been working with the Chiapas Coalition since 1996. The group is dedicated to helping indigenous people in Mexico's southernmost state.
Anthony said the intelligence report's recitation of her belief was correct.
"I think it's an issue to be looked at, not something to be condemned for," she said.
But those beliefs have never led her to commit violence, not even property damage, during the many protests she's attended, Anthony said.
Her most radical act of late was helping raise $8,500 to buy a rice-husking machine for a Mexican village.
While she understands that police may need to keep intelligence files, Anthony said there's a significant line that shouldn't be crossed.
"I just would say that, of course, nobody wants real terrorists to be walking the streets or doing terrorist activities," she said.
"But I think it's so important to distinguish between that and people who protest because of real legitimate issues."
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