- Von: „MUMIA ABU-JAMAL“ <……..>
Betreff: !*More on MUMIA Alert
+A Visit with Mumia
- Datum: Samstag, 11. Juni 2005
- via Noelle Hanrahan
- =====================
- see the new ruling in Mumia’s case: at www.freemumia.com
- Please post and reforward widely……
- from the office of Robert Bryan————————
- Dear Friends:
- Attached is the Memorandum & Order recently received from the
- Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia, announcing an
- intention to dismiss.(??? Anmerk. LabourNet-Austria) Since the
- relief sought in our Dec. 8, 2003 habeas corpus (PCRA) petition
- was rejected, I will be filing a reconsideration motion by June 16, 2005.
- If denied, this will be appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
- Your good work & support is appreciated.
- With best wishes,
- Robert
- ======
- Law Offices of Robert R. Bryan
- 2088 Union Street, Suite 4
- San Francisco, California 94123
- Lead counsel for Mumia Abu-Jamal
- ————————————————————–
- Message from International Concerned Family
and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal
- NOT ONE MORE LEGAL LYNCHING
- “Yeah, and I’m gonna help ‚em fry the nigger”
- Uttered by the illustrious Judge Albert Sabo, otherwise known as
- Philadelphia’s ‚hanging judge’ during the time he presided over Mumia’s
- trial in 1982.
- Judge Pamela Pryor Dembe of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas wants
- to put the final nail in Mumia’s coffin. Back in 2001 she began her
- rubberstamping of Judge Albert Sabo’s biased decisions. She refused to
- include the confession of Arnold Beverly into the record. And she
- insisted, ridiculous as that sounds, that Sabo’s comment of „Yeah, and
- I’m gonna help ‘em fry the nigger“ did not mean that Sabo could not be
- fair in his rulings. Then she arbitrarily cancelled the February 11,
- 2005 hearing that could have led to crucial evidence in Mumia’s favor
- being put on the legal record. She shucked and jived her way out of the
- hearing by incorrectly citing a recent ruling by the Pennsylvania
- Supreme Court, Commonwealth v. Johnson, despite the appearance of new
- evidence of gross misconduct on the part of the Philadelphia DA’s
- office.
- These rulings and her backwardness are of no consequence to what we have
- to do. We believe in Mumia’s innocence, and at the very least believe
- that he ought to be granted a new trial given the sick circumstances of
- his original one. Judge Dembe must be challenged. These are our demands
- and we want the record to show the following:
- –Mr. Jamal must be present for all hearings, court procedures and
- deliberations. Prison officials have no right to determine whether a
- person appears in court.
- -The Terri Maurer-Carter affidavit must be admitted to the record. She’s
- sworn that she overheard Judge Sabo say during Mumia’s 1982 trial,
- “Yeah, and I’m going to help ‚em fry the nigger.”
- -The Arnold Beverly confession that it was he and not Mumia who killed
- Officer Faulkner, must be admitted into the record.
- -Priscilla Durham’s half-brother submitted an affidavit saying his
- sister admitted to him that she lied when she said she heard Mumia say
- that he killed Faulkner, the cop. His sworn statement must be admitted
- to the record.
- -Yvette Williams said in her affidavit that Cynthia White, the
- prosecution’s so-called star witness, admitted to not being present
- during the shooting, but appearing on the scene afterward.
- The only way Mumia and all the rest of the political prisoners will get
- justice is when we apply pressure in the streets and off. Let’s give the
- judge a piece of our mind about this.
- Call, write, fax and email her about the relevant facts of this case.
- Our collective power will set Mumia free.
- ON A MOVE!
- CONTACT:
- Pamela Pryor Dembe
- Philadelphia County Court of
- Common Pleas
- 1417 Criminal Justice Center
- 1301 Filbert St
- Philadelphia, PA 19107
- 215-683-7148 phone
- 215-683-7150 fax
- pamela.dembe@courts.phila.gov
- ============================================
- .
- .
- Death-row visit
A memorable day with Mumia Abu-Jamal
- By Monica Moorehead
- SCI-Greene Prison in Waynesburg, Pa.
- Published Jun 8, 2005 7:44 PM
- Visiting someone in prison can be one of life’s most heartbreaking
- experiences.
- As you approach the prison, you can’t help but be affected by the
- impenetrable thick brick walls topped with coils of barbed wire—or by
- the steady stream of women and children, disproportionately people of
- color, who have traveled from far distances to visit their loved ones,
- who are spending years locked up in steel cages, sometimes for
- 23-and-a-half hours daily.
- This is the situation that death-row political prisoner and
- revolutionary journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal has faced for almost 23 years
- now.
- Larry Holmes and I took a seven-hour car trip to visit with Mumia on
- June 5 at the remote SCI-Greene prison unit near the West Virginia
- border.
- After going through the standard security checkpoints to get to the
- visiting area, we came face to face with a handcuffed, smiling Mumia.
- Separated by a plexiglass barrier, Larry and I instinctively press our
- hands up against the glass to meet Mumia’s hands, even with the
- knowledge that human contact is almost forbidden under these
- unimaginable circumstances.
- Yet somehow the omnipresent physical barriers take a back seat during a
- face-to-face meeting with Mumia. Since he is allowed only one visit per
- week, excluding his lawyers, we decided to make every minute count. As
- it turned out, the six hours that we spent with him went by so quickly.
- He said that he is in relatively good health and that the swelling in
- his feet had gone down. This has been an ongoing problem due to prison
- conditions.
- When we asked him about the May 27 Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas
- dismissal of his request for a new Post Conviction Relief Act hearing,
- Mumia stated that this came to no surprise given the biased nature of
- the courts.
- Mumia can no longer receive important news sources like C-Span because
- of new regulations.
- The bulk of our political discussion focused on the problems and
- prospects facing the anti-war movement in light of the deepening Iraqi
- resistance and the outcome of the 2004 U.S. presidential elections, the
- development of the Black-led Million Workers March Movement, the
- upcoming Millions More March this October, and the growing impact of
- immigrant workers’ rights on the overall labor movement.
- We also discussed the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Montgomery bus
- boycott, which helped launch the modern civil rights struggle, and how
- to best impart the important lessons this event can have on today’s
- struggle against war, racism and cutbacks. Mumia shared with us his fond
- memories of his last visit with the actor Ossie Davis, who remained a
- committed activist until his recent death.
- When we were forced to say good-bye and leave him behind, Mumia flashed
- his stunning smile and with his cuffed hands in fists, told us to tell
- everyone to keep up the good fight. Larry and I left the prison sad but
- also so grateful for time that we spent with this remarkable
- revolutionary leader and comrade in the struggle.
- Free Mumia Abu-Jamal and all political prisoners!
- Moorehead and Holmes are members of Workers World Party’s secretariat,
- an elected body of WWP’s national committee.