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American Morning

American Scholar Freed From Italian Prison: Susanna Thomas' Parents Speak Out

Aired August 15, 2001 - 09:18   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: An American college student freed from an Italian prison says she was a political prisoner. Susanna Thomas has been behind bars since last month's Group of 8 Summit in Genoa. She was being held in connection with riots that disrupted the gathering. She spoke to reporters yesterday after she was set free.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: What's the first thing that you do when you get back to the United States?

SUSANNA THOMAS, AMERICAN SCHOLAR: See my family, give them a big hug.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: And the two people who will be on the receiving end of that hug are with us live from New York this morning, Susanna Thomas' parents, Cathy and Rick Thomas. Also live with us, Thomas family attorney Richard Atkins. Good morning to all of you.

RICK THOMAS, FATHER OF RELEASED STUDENT: Good morning.

CATHY THOMAS, MOTHER OF RELEASED STUDENT: Good morning.

RICHARD ATKINS, ATTORNEY FOR THOMAS FAMILY: Good morning.

KAGAN: Thomases, we're going to start with you. I imagine today brings great relief for you, to see your daughter out of prison and free.

R. THOMAS: Absolutely.

KAGAN: And what are her plans now?

R. THOMAS: She's going to spend a couple of days in Vienna with the people from the Publix Theater Caravan. She wants to make sure that everybody in the Publix Theater Caravan has been released. We expect her home some time this weekend.

KAGAN: You do? Now, Dick, let's bring you in. She's been released, but what are the status of the charges against her? ATKINS: The charges against her are still there. When someone is released from custody in Italy, they still have to face the charges. And that trial can be as long as two years away until completion. But we're hoping that with the publicity, with good letters and with our local attorney there working and with us working here that we might be able to get the case dismissed without a trial. That's our hope.

KAGAN: But legally there's still some time to put in here? This story is not done?

ATKINS: Oh, absolutely not. Just because someone is let go on our equivalent of bail doesn't mean that the whole thing is over. But we feel that with the publicity and with the tide turning in Europe against what happened in Italy and in favor of the protesters that all their cases look good. But Sue's looks particularly good and we're hoping that she will not have to go back there for the trial. We hope it will be dismissed and we're positive that she's not going to be convicted. And even if she were, there's a political exception. She won't be extradited. She's going to be safely here.

KAGAN: Thomases, back to you, Rick and Cathy. Help us explain, take us back a couple steps here. What was Susanna's original intent and what went wrong?

C. THOMAS: Our family is Quaker and she was in Europe at this time looking at the spiritual roots and techniques of non-violence in social action, because Quakers are also very anxious to promote social justice, because we believe there's that of god in each person. So when she came -- so she was interested in coming to Genoa to meet with the thousands and thousands of people who were also working toward those global goals. And while she was there, she worked in the Independent Media Center as a translator.

KAGAN: So she wasn't just there as an observer? She was participating as well. But she didn't...

C. THOMAS: She was participating in the Independent Media Center as a translator.

KAGAN: Never with any intention of getting caught up in these riots that got totally out of control?

R. THOMAS: No. No. She had no intention of that. She's explained that to the media that she was, while she was an observer of the violence, she never participated in it herself.

KAGAN: Has she been able to tell you how she was treated while she was in custody?

R. THOMAS: Yes. She said that she was treated quite well in jail and before.

KAGAN: And how has this experience changed her? How does she come through this, do you think? R. THOMAS: I think she's going to be a lot more socially aware than she was before, even before. Say, you know, she went there because she's socially aware.

KAGAN: Sure.

R. THOMAS: I think...

KAGAN: And that this has just even made her more socially aware...

R. THOMAS: Excuse me, this is just...

KAGAN: ... so this will make her more active, you think?

R. THOMAS: This has just made her more active, yes.

KAGAN: And then Cathy, as a family, how has it changed you?

C. THOMAS: You know, this could happen to any mother, to wake up to the news that your child is in jail. And it was so far from what you could possibly expect, you know, a pacifist being mistaken for a terrorist. So I think it's made me more compassionate and more aware that this could happen to me, it could happen to you. And also, I've just been so appreciative of all the prayers and I think that the prayers for divine guidance for everybody have been really important. So I want to thank everybody for that.

KAGAN: You wake up one day and another international government says that your kid is a terrorist and you've got to think wait, wait, not my kid.

C. THOMAS: Right.

R. THOMAS: That's right.

KAGAN: Tell us more...

R. THOMAS: And we knew that...

KAGAN: Go ahead.

R. THOMAS: We knew that it couldn't be her. We knew that it couldn't, that she couldn't be that way.

KAGAN: Tell us more about her plans. It's just, she planned, she was taking a year off from school?

C. THOMAS: No. No.

KAGAN: No?

C. THOMAS: I hope she's home and back in time for college, which starts in two weeks.

KAGAN: It does? She's going to Bryn Mawr? C. THOMAS: Yes. She has a senior, she's got her senior year to finish.

KAGAN: Well, if she has a senior thesis, she'll certainly have plenty to write about about what she did with her summer vacation, I would imagine.

C. THOMAS: That's true.

KAGAN: Well, good luck getting her back here safely and I'm sure you're very much looking forward to that hug.

Rick and Cathy Thomas, thank you, and Richard Atkins, thank you, as well, for joining us and explaining how the legal situation works between here and Italy. Very much appreciated.

ATKINS: Thank you.

C. THOMAS: Thank you.

R. THOMAS: Thank you.

KAGAN: Thank you.

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