Out of solitary, two not charged with crime still don’t know about May Day

Two people believed to have information relating to the May Day riots in Seattle were released from prison where they were being held in solitary confinement on Feb. 28.

They were held for five months without being charged with a crime.

Both Matthew Duran and Katherine Olejnik were not in Seattle on May Day. No one confessed a crime to them about activities on May Day in Seattle. Yet the two were pressured to share information about their friends and acquaintances that didn’t pertain to the crime.

“It reminded me a lot of McCarthyism,” Olejnik told Seattle’s Morning News.

Duran said he submitted a statement to the court after receiving his subpoena. “I had submitted a declaration with all of the information I had on May Day.”

The courts weren’t satisfied, and so began what may be the longest months of their lives, lived out in solitary confinement.

“It’s one of the worst feelings anyone could ever have,” said Duran. “Prison isn’t something I would wish on my worst enemy.”

Now that they’re out, Olejnik said the experience has changed her in ways she can’t fully describe. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with my life. I was finishing school, I was getting ready for grad school, I was working, and now I have a hard time getting out of bed.”

The attorney for Olejnik, Jenn Kaplan, previously told Seattle’s Morning News her client been subjected to practices of intimidation. According to Kaplan, the prosecutors only accomplished breeding distrust among a movement and discouraging even law abiding citizens from getting involved in social justice movements.