Johnny Barber speaks at Show Cause Hearing

Your Honor, I have the greatest respect for this court and our system of justice. I have spent hundreds of dollars since my arrest to seek justice from this court. I have missed several days of work. Today I am missing my daughter's college graduation. Though it is minor compared to the scope of suffering my country has imposed on the world, I have sacrificed to be here today.

It was noted in several reports published this week that Iraq's child mortality rates have soared. The chance that an Iraqi child will live beyond age 5 has plummeted faster than anywhere else in the world. In 2005, one in eight Iraqi children died of disease or violence before reaching their fifth birthday. According to the report by Save the Children, Iraq's child mortality rate has increased by 150 percent since 1990.

Iraq is a slaughterhouse, and every day the new Iraq mantra rings in my ears, a mantra I learned from the Iraqis themselves, "Iraq is finished."

As I stated in my letter to this court, I cannot in good conscience continue to pay into a system that perpetuates the injustice of our government's policies under the guise of the "rule of law."

This is not defiance, your Honor, this is a moral necessity.

We came to Congress to deliver a non-threatening, humane message of simple decency. If a nonviolent activist for peace can be charged with criminal contempt of court, then certainly the same can be said for the prosecutors of this matter, who, as agents of the government, in their attempts to stifle free speech and our 1st amendment rights, have shown nothing by contempt for the nations' citizens. Even in this courtroom the government attempts to exert pressure on those who would dare dissent. Even in this courtroom justice has been politicized. This shows contempt for the rule of law, and contempt in these proceedings.

On Wednesday, May 9th, three pro-democracy activists in Vietnam were sentenced to jail and the US Embassy in Hanoi released a statement saying it was "deeply troubled" by the convictions.

We've not aware of anything to indicate that these individuals were engaged in activities that conflict with their right to peaceful expression of political thought, widelly recognized under international law," the statement said.

The convictions came in the wake of a "disturbing increase" in the harassment of dissidents, the embassy said. "We call on the government of Vietnam to release these individuals and allow for the peaceful expression of political views without fear of recrimination."

Your honor, I call on you to do the same.