Boston: Unexpected legal turn for performance artist Milan Kohout -- "pretrial conference hearing" Feb. 22 at 9 am

performance artist on trial
for his
“Nooses On Sale ”

February 22, 2008
“pretrial conference hearing” at 9 am

McCormack Building
Room 403
One Ashburton Place
Boston

( Boston , MA ) Political performance artist Milan Kohout, a member of the Mobius Artists Group, is embroiled in a legal incident that is the unintended consequence of a 6 minute performance that took place in November, 2007, in downtown Boston .

Kohout's performance, entitled “Nooses On Sale,” took place outside of Bank of America's Boston headquarters. The performance was Kohout’s response to the mortgage bank industry’s orchestration of the falling stock market, mortgage fraud, and foreclosures. Kohout stood in front of the bank with a collection of nooses and the sign “Nooses On Sale.”

Within minutes of taking his position in front of the bank, police arrived and cited him for not having a peddler's license. Two months later Kohout received a summons to appear in court and he is now facing criminal charges for his actions.

The result of Kohout’s “Nooses On Sale” has taken an unexpected legal turn due to a trivial (and antiquated) law, Transient Vendor Unlicensed c101 : 008, that could indeed be enforced. What initially was a peaceful commentary on the nation’s mortgage crisis has now become a freedom of speech casualty of the judicial system.

Over the course of two hearings, Kohout has been unfairly treated in court by police officers and by the two presiding judges who have continued the case for reasons far beyond the merits of the charge of Transient Vendor Unlicensed c101 : 008. It appears that the judges are using their own personal bias in order to stretch the truth far beyond the facts of the case.

A “pretrial conference hearing” will occur this coming Friday, February 22nd, at 9 am. It will be held in the McCormack Building , Room 403, One Ashburton Place , Boston .

For further information, please contact Milan Kohout : milan@vzavenue.net, 617-439-8643, 617-319-7246 (cell). His website, http://mobius.org/mobius_artists.php?id=milan, gives a detailed accounting of the incident and its snowballing aftermath.

This announcement is by no means a performance art joke. Reporters to the courtroom are welcome.