Sunday, April 08, 2007

JALIL’S EXTRADITION STATEMENT


March 23, 2007

Dear Comrades, Friends and Supporters:

As many of you have learned, the [Incorporated] State of CALIFORNIA initiated the persecution of former members of the Black Panther Party and those who were accused as being members of the Black Liberation Army. This persecution is subject to an August 29, 1971, incident when alleged members of the BLA are reported to have retaliated for the August 21, 1971, assassination of Black Panther Field Marshal George L. Jackson.

On March 22, 2007, I was seized by prison officials and taken to the
Cayuga County Court in AUBURN, for the conducting of an extradition
hearing. I had to defend a writ of habeas corpus petition challenging the
Governor’s Warrant granting the CALIFORNIA Governor’s request for me to be
brought to that State for trial. Throughout the course of the hearing, I
was handcuffed and shackled, making an argument with documented proof that
the Governor’s Warrant was defective on its face, and therefore should be
held invalid.

However, the judge, despite reviewing documented proof that the warrant
was based on false and misleading information, decided the warrant was
valid and signed it. Therefore, I am presently waiting for the S.F.
authorities to come and bring me to CALIFORNIA, to make an appearance at
the scheduled April 27, 2007 hearing in S.F.

Despite it all, after 35 years of imprisonment, I remain strong and will
resist every step of the way the efforts of Homeland Security and the
Patriot Act initiatives to stifle dissent. I am confident that, with
strong support from progressive peoples across the country and overseas,
the S.F. 8 will be successful, and the State will suffer defeat. We will
have a true People’s Victory.

It will be a victory against fear and State terrorism; it will be a defeat
against State torture tactics, threats and coercion. This case will teach
today’s activists what to expect from the State in its efforts to prevent
dissent and protest of government repression. It will forward a broader
understanding of what happened in the Movement of the 60’s & 70’s, and how
Cointelpro disrupted and destroyed the most viable Black political party
that emerged out of the civil rights Movements. Ultimately, this case will
tell of a militant youth movement and how the government sought to destroy
it, and today seeks to retaliate because those youths did in fact rebel
against oppression and repression not only in their communities, and in an
international determination in support of all oppressed peoples’ fighting
against colonialism and imperialism at that time.

So, to organize and fight back against this nefarious persecution of the
S.F. 8, I. urge all to organize and sponsor educational programs in your
community and invite Jericho representatives and the Committee in Defense
of Human Rights to speak about the Case of the S.F. 8 and other U.S.
political prisoners. Furthermore, I ask that progressive folks seek to
organize a Jericho chapter on college campuses and in your communities. I
urge that letter writing/phone/fax campaigns be initiated directed to
Congressman John Conyers, demanding that he conduct the reopening of
Cointelpro Hearings. There are many Cointelpro victims languishing in
prison, and while the Senate Church Committee in fact decided the FBI’s
Cointelpro activities was unconstitutional, the Senate Church Committee
never established remedies for Cointelpro victims.

They are trying to rewrite history and deny the legacy of the BPP/BLA, and
essentially with a board paint brush label all those involved in those
struggles as “terrorists,” “criminals,” and “wanton killers.” They will
never say those youths were revolutionaries, freedom fighters and
progressive organizers. They will never say they sought to relieve the
community of all forms of State sponsored terrorism that is too often
found in Black and Hispanic communities today. They will never talk about
the over 30 Panthers that were killed by police across the country and no
one being prosecuted for these murders. They will never admit to the
unconstitutional practices of the FBI Cointelopro activities.

The task for all of us is to raise consciousness about U.S. political
prisoners, and build a durable and determine Jericho Amnesty Movement to
ensure all of our victory against State tyranny and terrorism.

Remember:
WE ARE OUR OWN LIBERATORS!
Jalil

Free All Political Prisoners!
nycjericho@riseup.net • www.jerichony.org

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