------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Date: Tue, 02 Dec 1997 08:50:47 -0800 To: fnb-l@tao.ca From: Jennifer McPherson <jmcphers@richmond.edu> Subject: PR Dec 6 Tribunal and Day of Action for Mumia Abu-Jamal Reply-to: fnb-l@tao.ca
>Return-Path: Mumia@aol.com
>From: Mumia@aol.com
>Date: Sun, 30 Nov 1997 16:12:20 -0500 (EST)
>Subject: PR Dec 6 Tribunal and Day of Action for Mumia Abu-Jamal
>To: jmcphers@richmond.edu
>
>INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL FOR JUSTICE
>Ad Hoc Coalition for a Peoples International Tribunal for Justice for Mumia
>Abu-Jamal
>P.O. Box 19709, Philadelphia, PA 19143 tel: (215) 476-8812 fax: (215)
>476-7551
>email: mumia@aol.com URL: http://www.mumia.org
>
>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
>CONTACT:
>Marilyn Kai Jewett (215) 842-9055
>Pam Africa: (215) 476-8812
>Susan Burnett: (203) 846-1937
>
>
>
>INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL FOR MUMIA TO BE HELD IN PHILADELPHIA
>
>PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 30 -- People from throughout the world who believe in
>truth and justice will descend on Philadelphia's Blue Horizon Saturday,
>December 6 to witness the Peoples International Tribunal for Justice for
>Mumia Abu-Jamal.
>
>Initiated by the International Concerned Family & Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal,
>the tribunal will investigate the government's conspiracy to silence, deny
>justice to and take the life of Abu-Jamal. An outspoken journalist and
>people's advocate, Abu-Jamal was convicted of the murder of a Philadelphia
>police office and now sits on Pennsylvania's death row.
>
>The tribunal will consist of an international panel of prominent jurists,
>political leaders, labor and community activists, cultural figures and others
>concerned with truth and justice. The panel will hear the true facts of the
>case and expose the evidence that was suppressed in Abu-Jamal's trial.
>Witnesses who were barred from the courtroom will be called to testify on
>their personal experiences with police corruption and racism.
>
>Representatives of other political prisoners, families of victims of police
>brutality and the death penalty and former prisoners will also participate in
>the historic tribunal. People are organizing worldwide to attend this
>important event in the "City of Brotherly Love."
>
>"The government has used false charges, a fraudulent trial, brutal
>imprisonment and has imposed the death penalty in an effort to silence our
>brother forever," explained Pam Africa, coordinator of the tribunal who has
>fought for a new trial on behalf of Abu-Jamal since 1982.
>
>"We want people to understand that this is not just about Mumia. The
>conspiracy against Mumia is part of a larger pattern of police brutality,
>corruption, racism and disparity in sentencing the poor. Only through a
>mobilization of the masses demanding truth and justice for Mumia and all
>political prisoners will the conspiracy be exposed." Pennsylvania Gov. Tom
>Ridge has stated publicly that he will sign the death warrant if the State
>Supreme Court denies the motion for a new trial. Given the make-up of the
>court and the narrow body of evidence allowed, the prospects for a new trial
>are dim.
>
>The Ad Hoc Coalition For A People's International Tribunal For Justice For
>Mumia Abu-Jamal was formed to organize the tribunal to raise the
>consciousness of the people and bring the true facts surrounding this case to
>light. To join the coalition to help make this effort a success call (215)
>476-8812.
>
>"Today it's Mumia. Tomorrow it may be you," said Africa.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>SAN FRANCISCO SOLIDARITY MARCH & RALLY
>Dec. 6: End the Death Penalty! Stop Police Brutality!
>11/08/97
>
>
>
>Assemble: 11:30 a.m. Panhandle - Oak & Baker
>Rally: 1:30 p.m. UN Plaza - Market & 7th
>
>Speakers:
>
>
>Ramona Africa, Move Organization
>
>Ossie Davis, actor, Co-chair, Committee to Save Mumia Abu-Jamal
>
>Afeni Shakur, former political prisoner [Panther 21]; mother, Tupac Shakur
>
>Noelle Hanrahan, Prison Radio Project/Quixote Center
>
>Ron Kovic, Vietnam vet, author
>
>Robert Meeropol, son of executed political prisoners [The Rosenbergs]
>
>Angela Davis, prof., UC Santa Cruz
>
>and others
>
>Entertainment: African Roots of Jazz, Dr. Loco's Rocking Jalapeno Band,
>others
>
>Sponsored by December 6th Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, 3425 Cesar
>Chavez St., San Francisco, CA 94110; Phone: (415) 821-0459; Fax: (415)
>821-0166
>
>Want to help free Mumia? The coalition meetings are open to all. Meetings are
>at Centro del Pueblo, 474 Valencia (near 16th St.,), S.F., at 10:30 a.m. on
>the following Saturdays: Nov. 15, Nov. 22, Nov. 29. Be There!
>
>
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>AN URGENT MESSAGE FROM PAM AFRICA
>re: Dec. 6 Tribunal for Justice
>09/29/97
>
>
>
>Dear Friends of Mumia:
>
>The race for justice for Mumia continues at the heightened pace as we
>approach a very critical stage in the case. We are still awaiting a ruling
>from the Suprerme Court of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as to weather or
>not Mumia will be granted a new trial. The prospects look grim in terms of
>that court's ruling, given the makeup of that court and the narrow body of
>evidence which they will be examining. The restriction of the evidence is a
>result of Judge Albert Sabo's consistent rulings that all of the powerful new
>evidence submitted by the defense in 1995 through 1997 is irrelevant to the
>case. Governor Ridge has already indicated that if and when the PA State
>Supreme Court rejects Mumia's motion for a new trial, he will once again sign
>the death warrant. If that happens, Mumia's attorneys would seek a stay of
>his execution by filing a petition for habeas corpus review of the case in
>the federal district court in Philadelphia. This stage of the proceeding has
>always been considered critical by Mumia's attorneys, because until recently
>federal judges have reversed over 35% of state death convictions for
>violations of federal rights. But the 1996 signing into law of the
>"Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act" has changed the picture
>drematically. The new law requires federal judges to defer to the state
>courts and mermits state confictions to stand even if violation of federal
>rights occurred, as long as they are not "unreasonable."
>
>We cannot be lulled into waiting, hopefully or cynically, for the State
>Supreme Court nor for the federal district court to rule, and be immobilized
>by either our hope or our cynicism. We must intensify our efforts so as to
>create a consciousness and climate where it will be impossible for both the
>PA State and the Federal judicial bodies to rule negatively. We dare not wait
>for the "normal" wheels of injustice to take their course lest the end result
>be precisely what the various official and unofficial bodies of this
>government are seeking -- Mumia's execution.
>
>Given the gravity of the moment, we are embarking on a major new project to
>gain justice for our beloved brother and comrade Mumia who, despite all our
>collective efforts, remain on death row without having been granted a new
>trial. It is with that reality and the spirit before us that we are calling
>for a PEOPLE'S INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL FOR JUSTICE FOR MUMIA ABU-JAMAL, to be
>held on December 6th in Philadelphia. We are charging judicial and policie
>forces on both the state and federal levels with conspiring to deny Mumia
>justice and, ultimately, his life.
>
>At the People's Tribunal various witnesses and peoples prosecutors will
>present the evidence which emerged in 1997, 1996 and 1995 and which is not
>being presented to the State Supreme Court of Pennsylvania because of Judge
>Sabo's extreme favoring of the death penalty, his outrageous support for and
>identification with the police (to the point of having been a member of the
>Fraternal Order of Police), and his visible hatred for Mumia and his
>supporters. This evidence dramatically challenges all three major tenents of
>the prosecution's case against Mumia: 1) that the witnesses on the crime
>scene identified Mumia as the only person who could have killed Officer
>Faulkner, (2) that Mumia's gun was the murder weapon, and (3) that Mumia
>confessed to the shooting at the hospital. The new evidence would guarantee
>Mumia's freedom were there an iota of justice or even fairness in the
>judicial process to which he has been subjected.
>
>The tribunal will provide a dramatic venue for presenting this evidence in
>addition to the history of the arrest, indictment, "jury" process,
>conviction, sentencing and, ultimately, the incarceration of Mumia on Death
>Row. The defendants will be: the Governor of Pennsylvania, the Mayor of
>Philadelphia, the Judge (Sabo), the FBI and its COINTELPRO operation, the
>U.S. Justice Department, the State Attorney General, the Philadelphia
>District Attorney, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, the Fraternal
>Order of Police, and the ruling establishment of Pennsylvania and others to
>be named. The people attending the tribunal as well as a panel of
>distinguished jurists will judge the defendants as to their innocence or
>guilt. The panel composed of attorneys, political leaders, labor and
>community activists from around the world will announce it and the plenary's
>rulings at a press conference on Monday, December 9, 1997 in Philadelphia.
>
>We feel this tribunal will raise peoples' consciousness about the nature of
>Mumia's case and all the political and social issues his case embodies:
>police brutality, cover-up, and criminality, -- the death penalty and the
>situation in the U.S. prisons today, and the continued imprisonment and
>torture of our political prisoners, over 150 of them, despite the U.S.
>Government's denial of the existence of any political prisoners in this
>country. We feel the Tribunal will inspire people and intensify our
>collective level of activity and militance. We also see the Tribunal and the
>publicity it will receive as intensifying pressure on those both within and
>outside the judicial structures, who are making the decisions about Mumia's
>life.
>
>This is a call for everyone who supports Mumia, who is concerned about
>justice, who wants to see our political prisoners free, who is against police
>brutality, the death penalty and the franzy to incarcerate . . . to join the
>work for the Tribunal. We need everyone's help.
>
>Free Mumia! Free All Political Prisoners! Stop Police Brutality! Abolish the
>Death Penalty!
>
>Ona Move!
>
>Pam Africa
>
>International Concerned Family & Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal and the Ad Hoc
>Coalition for a Peoples International Tribunal for Justice for Mumia
>Abu-Jamal
>P.O. Box 19409, Phila., PA 19143
>Tel: (215) 476-8812; Fax: (215) 476-7551
>email: mumia@aol.com
>URL: http://www.mumia.org
>
>
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>THE PEOPLES INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL FOR JUSTICE FOR MUMIA ABU JAMAL
>Heed the Call!
>09/20/97
>
>
>
>To Investigate a Criminal Conspiracy to Deny Justice and Take the Life of
>Mumia Abu-Jamal, and to Hear Charges for an Indictment of the following
>co-conspirators:
>
>+ Pennsylvania Governor Thomas Ridge
>+ Pennsylvania Supreme Court
>+ PA State Attorney General
>+ Pennsylvania Department of Corrections
>+ Philadelphia Mayor Edward Rendell
>+ The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP)
>+ Philadelphia Police Department
>+ Judge Albert Sabo
>+ Lynn Abraham and preceding Philadelphia District Attorneys
>+ The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and its Counter Intelligence
>Program (COINTELPRO) operation
>+ The United States Justice Department
>+ The ruling establishment of Pennsylvania including the Media and others to
>be named.
>
>The above have been charged with conspiracy to silence journalist and
>peoples' advocate Mumia Abu-Jamal using frame-up charges, a fraudulent trial
>and brutal imprisonment, and imposing the Death Penalty to silence him
>forever. This conspiracy against Mumia Abu Jamal is part of a larger pattern
>of police brutality and corruption; of racism, discrimination and disparity
>in sentencing of the poor; and the collaboration of different government
>departments with so-called "private institutions" to silence revolutionaries
>or anyone who fights for justice. Further, it is believed that the
>conspirators will not allow a new and fair trial, despite the demands of
>millions of supporters around the world.
>
>The tribunal will be made up of an international panel of prominent jurists,
>political leaders, labor and community activists, cultural figures and others
>concerned with social justice, who will hear evidence on the charges. The
>tribunal will expose to public view the facts that have been suppressed.
>
>Witnesses will be called to testify on their direct experiences with police
>brutality, corruption and racism. These will be witnesses who have been
>barred from judge Sabo's courtroom, as well as representatives of other
>political prisoners, former prisoners and the families of victims of police
>murders, victims of the death penalty and others.
>
>The Peoples International Tribunal for Justice for Mumia Abu Jamal can bring
>to the world's attention the case of Mumia and the broader pattern of
>injustice and the death penalty which his case represents. Your active
>participation and support can help magnify the impact of the work of the
>Tribunal and to prevent the establishment media from covering it up. By
>lending your name and support, you will be endorsing the need for the truth
>to come to light and for these serious charges to be fully investigated.
>
>Expose the Conspiracy! Stop the Cover-up! Let ALL the evidence be heard!
>
>Saturday, December 6, 9 AM at the Blue Horizon, 1314 N. Broad Street,
>Philadelphia, PA
>
>Initiated by International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu Jamal
>and the Ad Hoc Coalition for a Peoples International Tribunal for Justice for
>Mumia Abu Jamal Address: P.O. Box 19709, Philadelphia, PA 19143, Tel (215)
>476-8812, Fax: (215) 476-7551 E-mail: Mumia@aol.com, Web Site:
>http//www.Mumia.org
>
>
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