Emergency demonstrations to free Mumia as case reaches pivotal point

May 16, 2007 (3 articles)

Emergency demonstrations to free Mumia as case reaches pivotal point

Crystal Kim, Party for Socialism and Liberation

Free Mumia! Free all political prisoners!

On May 17, there will be mass demonstrations in Philadelphia and San
Francisco demanding freedom for political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal. On the
same day, Mumia's lawyers will present oral arguments to the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia for a new trial. Ultimately,
the court will make one of three decisions: grant the new trial, reaffirm
Mumia's life sentence or reinstate his death penalty sentence.

Framed for being a revolutionary

Mumia has been imprisoned for the last 26 years after being convicted for
the murder of a Philadelphia police officer. The truth is that he is a
political prisoner framed for his activism as a Black Panther and then as a
revolutionary journalist.

In the early morning hours of Dec. 9, 1981, Mumia was driving a cab on the
streets of Philadelphia when he came upon cops beating his brother. When he
stopped to intervene, he was shot and wounded. A cop was also shot and
killed.

Mumia's fingerprints were never found on the gun that killed the cop.
Witnesses saw the shooter running away from the scene. Mumia himself has
always maintained his innocence.

Mumia's trial was drenched with racism. African-Americans were
systematically excluded from the jury panel. The judge, Albert Sabo, was
overheard by a court stenographer stating about the case, "I'm going to help
'em fry the nigger."

In July 1982, an overwhelmingly white jury convicted Mumia. During the
sentencing phase, prosecutors argued that his past membership in the Black
Panther party was evidence of premeditation. Mumia was sentenced to death.

At the age of 14, Mumia joined the Black Panther Party and, a year later,
was serving as lieutenant of information of the Philadelphia branch.

At the time of his arrest, he was the president of the Philadelphia
Association of Black Journalists. In 1978, Mumia covered the first police
attack on the MOVE organization-a primarily Black communal activist group in
West Philadelphia. Nine MOVE members were arrested and given long jail terms
in that attack. The MOVE organization was attacked again in 1985, when
Philadelphia police launched an all-out assault that included the dropping
of a bomb on the MOVE house and the firing of 10,000 rounds of ammunition.
Eleven MOVE family members-six adults and five children-were killed in the
police attack.

From inside prison walls, Mumia has continued his revolutionary journalism.
Through books, radio broadcasts, and especially essays, he provides powerful
political commentary that lays bare the machinations and hypocrisy of the
U.S. government. His eloquent statements have earned him the title "Voice of
the Voiceless."

Struggle to free Mumia

Ceaseless mobilizations and protests have made Mumia an international symbol
of resistance to the racist and repressive U.S. state.

In 2001, after months and years of protests led by Pam Africa of MOVE and
the International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia, federal district
court judge William Yohn overturned Mumia's death sentence. The district
attorney immediately appealed the decision and the matter is now before the
Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Mumia remains on death row in the State
Correctional Institution at Greene, Pa.

On May 17, as Mumia's attorneys argue for a new trial at the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia, a demonstration demanding
freedom for Mumia will take place in front of the courthouse. A solidarity
demonstration will be held in San Francisco.

All progressives and revolutionaries must continue to struggle for Mumia's
freedom. Mumia represents more than himself. He represents tens of thousands
of others behind bars-predominantly from Black and Latino oppressed
communities-who have been snatched off the street, and wrongfully convicted
by the so-called "justice" system.

Free Mumia! Free all U.S. political prisoners!

For information on the emergency demonstrations in support of Mumia, click
here.

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Source : Party for Socialism and Liberation