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Desmond Tutu Calls for Mumia's Release
"Now that it is clear that Mumia should never have been on death row
in the first place, justice will not be served by relegating him to
prison for the rest of his life -- yet another form of death
sentence. Based on even a minimal following of international human
rights standards, Mumia must now be released. I therefore join the
call, and ask others to follow, asking District Attorney Seth
Williams to rise to the challenge of reconciliation, human rights,
and justice: drop this case now, and allow Mumia Abu-Jamal to be
immediately released, with full time served."
I am asking the WBAI Local Station Board to pass a resolution signing
onto Bishop Tutu's call.
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DA Drops Death Sentence
For Interview Contact
Dr. Johanna Fernandez, 917.930.0804
Dr. Suzanne Ross, 917.584.2135
Dr. Mark Taylor, 609.638.0806
Archbishop Desmond Tutu Calls for Mumia Abu-Jamal's Release
"Now that it is clear that Mumia should never have been on death row
in the first place, justice will not be served by relegating him to
prison for the rest of his life -- yet another form of death
sentence. Based on even a minimal following of international human
rights standards, Mumia must now be released. I therefore join the
call, and ask others to follow, asking District Attorney Seth
Williams to rise to the challenge of reconciliation, human rights,
and justice: drop this case now, and allow Mumia Abu-Jamal to be
immediately released, with full time served." - Desmond Tutu
The news that the DA's Office of Philadelphia is no longer seeking
the death penalty for Mumia is no news to supporters of the nearly 30
year Pennsylvania Death Row prisoner. However, because Mumia has for
thirty years been subjected to torture on death row and because he is
innocent, justice for Mumia will not be served by life imprisonment,
but by his release from prison.
Mumia's case is like thousands of other cases in Philadelphia in
which the prosecutor, the judge, and the police conspired to obtain a
conviction. One of the most important and least known facts of this
case is the existence of a fourth person at the crime scene, Kenneth
Freeman. Within hours of the shooting, a driver's license application
found in Officer Faulkner's shirt pocket led the police to Freeman,
who was identified as the shooter in a line-up. Yet Freeman's
presence at the scene was concealed, first by Inspector Alfonso
Giordano and later, at trial, by Prosecutor Joe McGill. Recently, the
U.S. Department of Justice asserted that withholding evidence of
innocence by the prosecutor warrants the overturning of a conviction.
The police investigation that led to Mumia's conviction was also
riddled with corruption and tampering with evidence. The recently
discovered Polokoff photographs that were taken at the crime scene,
reveal that officer James Forbes, who testified in court that he had
properly handled the guns allegedly retrieved at the crime scene,
appears holding the guns with his bare hands. The photos also
discredit cabdriver Robert Chobert as a witness; his taxi, contrary
to his testimony, is pictured facing away from the fallen officer's
car. This evidence hasn't been reviewed by any court.
Our call to Seth Williams is that he honor DA Lynn Abraham's 1995
promise to the city of Philadelphia that she would discard any cases
where evidence surfaces that even one of the officers involved in an
investigation lied in court or in written reports.
The D.A. may think that the case can be laid to rest by sending Mumia
off to life in prison. But an aroused public, with the Supreme Court
ruling the death sentence to be unconstitutional, is ready to
challenge anew the entire trial. The same judge, jury, and DA that
were involved in the unlawful sentencing process committed equally
egregious violations in the conviction. This is not an ending, it is
a new beginning for the movement supporting Abu-Jamal's quest for release.
The December 9 forum [*see below] at the National Constitutional
Center, featuring Prof. Cornel West, will be preceded by an 11:30
a.m. Press Conference, at the American Friends Service Committee
building, 1501 Cherry Street. Then the following day there will be a
full-day of organizing and fundraising activities, Saturday December
10, at the Germantown Event Center, 5245 Germantown Avenue, beginning
at 12 Noon.
* DECEMBER 9TH, 2011
THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF MUMIA ABU-JAMAL'S INCARCERATION AND FRAMEUP
CONSTITUTION CENTER,
PHILADELPHIA, 525 Arch Street
[Market-Frankford Line to N. 5th St. -t.]
7:30 p.m. sharp -10:30 pm, (doors open at 7 p.m.)
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Ring the bells that still can ring, Forget your perfect offering.
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~ Leonard Cohen
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