Uhuru Three probations terminated as Chairman Omali Yeshitela vows to "continue to fight"

Probation requirements for the Uhuru Three have been terminated early in a development supporters have hailed as a victory for anti-colonial free speech.

By Kaitlyn Kennedy

St. Louis, Missouri - Probation requirements for the Uhuru Three have been terminated early in a development that supporters have hailed as a victory for anti-colonial free speech.

(From l. to r.) African People's Socialist Party Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Uhuru Solidarity Movement Chair Jesse Nevel, and African People's Solidarity Committee Chair Penny Hess rally with supporters outside the Sam Gibbons US District Courthouse in Tampa, Florida, on December 16, 2024.  © IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

African People's Socialist Party Chairman Omali Yeshitela and leading organizers Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel were each sentenced to three years of probation and 300 hours of community service by US District Judge William Jung back in December 2024.

Late last month, Jung granted motions for the early termination of probation for all three.

"The motions for early termination are granted, effective at 5:00 PM (Eastern) today's date. This would be a very, very different case if the foreign national defendants were facing charges. The present, domestic defendants are not a danger to themselves or to society (however disagreeable might be their point of view)," the judge wrote in his January 23 order.

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Jung's decision means that Yeshitela, Hess, and Nevel will no longer be subject to court-ordered supervision or unscheduled home inspections, nor do they require permission from probation officers to travel outside the Eastern District of Missouri.

The Uhuru Three had already completed their community service requirements at the time of Jung's latest order.

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Chairman Omali Yeshitela vows to "continue to fight for a free world"

Omali Yeshitela, co-founder and leader of the African People's Socialist Party and the Uhuru Movement, meets with supporters outside the Sam Gibbons US District Courthouse after his sentencing hearing on December 16, 2024.  © IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

The Uhuru Three's December 2024 trial came after the FBI – with the cooperation of local law enforcement – violently raided seven homes and offices of the APSP and the associated Uhuru Movement in St. Louis, Missouri, and St. Petersburg, Florida, in July 2022.

Nine months later, the US Department of Justice announced indictments in the case accusing Yeshitela, Hess, and Nevel of acting as "unregistered illegal agents of the Russian government" to "sow discord and spread pro-Russian propaganda."

Yeshitela, Hess, and Nevel had faced up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 each.

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The Uhuru Three have filed an appeal to overturn their convictions, which they insist are wrongful and constitute a grave violation of free speech rights.

"They wanted us to plead guilty to something we had not done or to run and hide. We stood and fought, as I have fought for over 60 years for the liberation of African and all colonized peoples," Yeshitela said in a statement after the probation terminations.

"We continue to fight for a free world and to build a liberated economy to negate the current colonial mode of production. We are winning! African people will be free!"

Yeshitela, Hess, and Nevel will go live from St. Louis on the Burning Spear TV YouTube channel on February 4 at 3 PM ET to discuss the latest developments in their case.

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