[908] in peace2
Mumia's life (and justice) hanging in the balance
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Aimee L Smith)
Tue Aug 14 13:54:11 2001
Message-Id: <200108141750.NAA19330@nerd-xing.mit.edu>
To: peace-list@MIT.EDU, mitai-exec@MIT.EDU
cc: greens-announce@MIT.EDU
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2001 13:50:02 -0400
From: Aimee L Smith <alsmith@MIT.EDU>
For those who cannot travel to Philly on friday,
you can still get involved making signs, etc.
You are welcome to attend the meeting tonight:
Meeting of the
Boston Coalition for Mumia Abu-Jamal
Tuesday, August 14, 6:00 PM
American Friends Service Committee
2161 Mass. Ave. (corner of Milton Street)
north of Porter Sq. in Cambridge
EMERGENCY ALERT! VOLUNTEERS URGENTLY NEEDED!
MUMIA ABU JAMAL WILL BE IN COURT IN PHILADELPHIA
FRIDAY, AUGUST 17
BE THERE!
PACK PHILADELPHIA CITY HALL AT BROAD AND MARKET STREETS!
ACTOR OSSIE DAVIS, HIP HOP ARTIST MOS DEF AND OTHERS WILL HELP PACK THE
COURTROOM ; FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, RAMSEY CLARK, TENTATIVELY
PLANNING TO
ATTEND
SIGN UP ONLINE FOR BUS SEATS FROM BOSTON AT THE LINK BELOW:
http://www.iacboston.org/majbus
Bus leaves 11:30 pm Thursday August 16 from Roxbury Community College
parking lot, returns Friday night $40 + $5 donation for subsidy fund
Millions for Mumia page with updates and details:
http://www.iacboston.org/maj
The International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal
have announced that the world-renowned political prisoner and
Pennsylvania death-row inmate will be in state court in Philadelphia
on Aug. 17.
The ICFFMAJ has put out a call to the movement to mobilize a support
demonstration at 9 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 17 outside the Philadelphia
Criminal Justice Center, directly across from the east side of City
Hall at Broad and Market streets.
In response to the emergency call, the International Action Center
will mobilize as many people as possible to go to this demonstration.
This will include buses from Boston and New York and transportation
from other East Coast cities.
For more information on the transportation, call the IAC at
(617) 522-6626 (outside New England call (212) 633-6646).
Volunteers are urgently needed to help with massive phone-banking
and leafleting and a leaflet is available for downloading at
http://www.iacboston.org/maj and http://www.mumia2000.org
The case of Mumia Abu-Jamal is not just about the persecution of one
individual. Abu-Jamal has become the most recognizable face of the death
penalty, police brutality and racist profiling in general. Demanding
Mumia's freedom on August 17 when he appears in a Philadelphia courtroom,
as well as throughout the fall convergence against the IMF, World Bank and
Bush Administration September 28 - October 4, will help to unite all of
those who want to take a powerful stand against racism and globalization.
Another demonstration has been tentatively set for the following day,
Saturday, Aug. 18. Call the ICFFMAJ at (415) 476-8812 or the IAC for more
information.
For immediate release:
Thousands of activists including celebrities will be traveling to
Philadelphia on Friday, August 17th to stand with African American
journalist, Mumia Abu-Jamal who is scheduled to appear before a Commons
Pleas judge in the Criminal Justice Court at 9 am. Abu-Jamal is the most
well- known death row inmate in the world.
Activists will be mobilizing from New York City; Newark, New Jersey;
Washington, DC; Boston; Chicago; Baltimore; Buffalo; Rochester;
Providence and as far away as San Francisco to march and rally at City
Hall during an important status hearing for Abu-Jamal that could eventually
determine whether he will be granted a new post conviction relief act
hearing.
Abu-Jamal was falsely convicted on July 3, 1982 for the killing of Daniel
Faulkner, a Philadelphia white policeman. The judge during the original
trial was "hanging" Judge Albert Sabo, a member of the Fraternal Order of
Police, who helped to cover up vital evidence proving that Abu-Jamal was
innocent. Abu-Jamal has been awaiting execution ever since and has
survived two death warrants, one signed in 1995 and the other in 1999.
Abu-Jamal's new attorneys, Marlene Kamish, Eliot Grossman and Nick Brown,
submitted a legal brief on May 4, 2001 that includes important affidavits
making a strong claim of innocence on Abu-Jamal's behalf. One of these
affidavits includes a confession made by Arnold Beverly, who confessed to
be the killer of Faulkner. Other affidavits were signed by Abu-Jamal, his
brother, William Cook and other eyewitnesses who testified under oath
that Abu-Jamal did kill not Faulkner. A claim of innocence was not submitted
during the 1996 post conviction hearing.
This could very well be the last hearing for Abu-Jamal. On July 19th,
Federal District Judge William Yohn turned down a request made by
Abu-Jamal's lawyers to have the Beverly affidavit added on to a writ of
habeas corpus originally filed with Yohn's court on October 15, 1999.
This writ was filed in an effort to win an evidentiary hearing for Mumia.
Yohn turned down the Beverly affidavit citing the "statute of limitations"
in the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. This act,
signed by Clinton, severely guts the writ of habeas corpus on behalf of
death row inmates who are seeking to have their state convictions overturned.
Federal judges are not obligated to review the state rulings even if there
is clear evidence proving one's innocence or constitutional violations that
occurred during the original trial.
Larry Holmes, a co-director of the IAC, states," We cannot predict or
control what is going to happen in the Common Pleas court on August 17th.
As activists, we see August 17th as a golden opportunity for the
progressive movement to unite and strengthen the demand to free our brother,
Mumia, who has come to symbolize resistance against racist repression
especially the racist death penalty and police brutality."
The IAC and other forces condemn the most recent reports in the
Philadelphia press and elsewhere that accuse International Concerned
Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal of illegally raising legal funds
for Mumia. Why are these false allegations being made now when Mumia is
going to be in court? Why is the big business press willing to print
negative things about Mumia especially since he is so beloved by millions
here and worldwide? These media attacks are meant to divert attention from
Mumia's case and attempt to drive a wedge between him, his supporters and
the general public.
Holmes went on to say, "The media does not want the public to know that
Mumia is facing execution because he is a victim of police misconduct and
also is outspoken on a number of social issues. Just as this government
and its police want to break up the dynamic anti-globalization movement,
they also want to intimidate the Free Mumia movement but we will never allow
that to happen."
- -30-
VOLUNTEERS URGENTLY NEEDED!
Come in to the IAC and help build for Mumia's court date, Fri., Aug. 17.
Help spread the word about fall protests against Bush and the IMF/World
Bank in Washington, D.C. Visit the IAC to help with phone banking or
take leaflets to share with your co-workers and distribute in your
community. For more information, contact an organizing center:
BOSTON:
31 Germania St (enter 284 Amory St)
Jamaica Plain, MA 02120
617-522-6626 fax: 617-983-3836
email: iacboston@iacboston.org
www.iacboston.org
------- End of Forwarded Message
