- Von: „MUMIA ABU-JAMAL“ < >
- Betreff: !*Lucasville 5 PP on Boycott for Mumia
- Datum: Sonntag, 18. Mai 2008 18:54
- Sat May 17, 2008 1:23 pm (PDT)
Justice is
overdue for Mumia
By SIDDIQUE ABDULLAH HASAN
- SocialistWorker.org
- http://socialistworker.org/2008/05/16/justice-overdue-for-mumia
- May 16, 2008
- Siddique Abdullah Hasan is one of the Lucasville Five, a group of men
- railroaded onto death row in Ohio after a 1993 prison rebellion in which
- inmates at the Lucasville prison rose up against the abuses and arbitrary
- rules of prison guards and officials. Here, he looks at the recent court
- ruling rejecting Mumia Abu-Jamal’s appeal for a new trial.
- IN LIGHT of the adverse ruling by a three-judge panel for the 3rd U.S.
- Circuit Court of Appeals in denying Mumia Abu-Jamal a new trial and an
- evidentiary hearing, many of his supporters are outraged and weighing the
- pros and cons of what must be done to create the circumstances for his
- speedy release from captivity.
- At a press conference outside the Federal Court building in Philadelphia,
- Sister Pam Africa of International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia
- Abu-Jamal hit the nail on the head when she so forcefully said, „The power
- of the people has to be unleashed, because what the court did was wrong!“
- Being an activist and a revolutionary thinker, I’m totally convinced that
- what she was conveying to the people–actually to the world–is that the
- gloves must come off and the people must be turned loose to fight fire with
- fire via the principle of „by any means necessary.“
- While there are many ways to unleash the power of the people, I think one
- way it should be unleashed is by calling for an international economic
- boycott against Hershey’s and other major businesses in the state of
- Pennsylvania. In order to make this boycott successful, the help of the
- European Union and other countries interested in the quality of justice
- should be sought.
- When other countries or governments are guilty of civil, constitutional and
- human rights violations against their citizens, the United States government
- either selectively speaks out against these types of violations or
- selectively imposes economic sanctions against the perpetrators. As the
- leader of the „free world,“ when the United States does this, it sends a
- clear and powerful message to the world that the United States will not sit
- idle and allow these violations to go unchecked.
- It’s time for the world to stand up to the state of Pennsylvania–that is,
- to Gov. Ed Rendell, to Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham, to the
- Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police and to the appellate courts–and say
- with a unified voice: „Free Mumia Abu-Jamal now! We want justice for him,
- and we won’t sit idle and allow you to execute this innocent man!“
- Such a stand and economic boycott will serve as a supplement to the work
- Mumia’s lawyers and supporters are vigorously engaged in to save his life.
- In a capitalistic society that prides itself on its superpower status,
- economic power and military might are the only languages this imperialistic
- government seems to respect and understand. Therefore, the heat must be
- turned up if we are ever going to acquire justice for Mumia. Justice demands
- that he be granted a new trial, or at least an evidentiary hearing to gather
- and present enough evidence to prove he did not murder Philadelphia Police
- Officer Daniel Faulkner on December 9, 1981.
- The appellate courts have never heard the newly discovered evidence of his
- actual innocence. They have always found some flimsy excuse to repress it.
- In a case of actual innocence, the courts are under obligation to hear newly
- discovered evidence–but such has never happened in Mumia’s case. In the
- absence of hearing it, the state’s theory that Mumia murdered Officer
- Faulkner seems very convincing to someone who doesn’t know the particulars
- of his case or the circumstances surrounding why the government framed Mumia
- and wants him dead.
- Be that as it may, justice in Mumia’s case is long, long overdue. How long?
- Too long! It’s been 26 years, and it’s now time for the world to become
- morally courageous by stepping up to the plate and demanding justice for our
- elder, Mumia Abu-Jamal.