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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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