🚀 go-pugleaf

[sorry for the late notice - it seems a previous posting did not get through]

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*                             RALLY TODAY!!!                                   *
*                                                                              *
*                  DEMAND JUSTICE FOR MUMIA ABU-JAMAL!!!                       *
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                   FEDERAL BUILDING, DOWNTOWN PITTSBURGH
                         LIBERTY AND GRANT AVENUES
                         THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 1995
                            12:00 NOON & 4:30 PM

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Today was the day that the FOP tried to silence Mumia Abu-Jamal, the voice of
the voiceless. Due to public protests around the world, they have been forced to
grant a stay of execution for now, but they still plan to murder Mumia when they
have the chance. We must not let that happen! Demand a new and fair trial for
Mumia Abu-Jamal!!!

              "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."

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                  JOURNALIST TO BE EXECUTED AUGUST 17

      What You Haven't Read in the Press About Mumia Abu-Jamal


Who Is Mumia Abu-Jamal?
-----------------------
Mumia Abu-Jamal, author of _Live_From_Death_Row_ (Addison Wesley) and
recipient of a Lillian Hellman and Dashiell Hammett award from Human Rights
Watch, has been a journalist and political activist for 27 years.  As a
15-year-old high school student, he co-founded the Philadelphia Chapter of
the Black Panther Party. Subsequently, he became well known for his reports
and commentary on National Public Radio, the Mutual Black Network, the
National Black Network, and WUHY-FM. In 1980, he was elected President of
the Philadelphia Chapter of the Association of Black Journalists. He has
also written for the _Yale_Law_Review_, _The_Nation_, and other periodicals.


But Didn't He Kill a Cop?
-------------------------
On December 9, 1981, Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner stopped a
Volkswagen driven by two men, one of whom was Mumia's brother William
Cook. Mumia, who was driving a cab at the time of the incident, came upon
the scene and saw Faulkner beating his brother with a flashlight. According
to the prosecution, Mumia shot Officer Faulkner, then stood over the fallen
police officer and shot him twice more.


What Really Happened?
---------------------
According to four witnesses, as Mumia approached the scene of the beating
he was shot by Officer Faulkner. Then a third person, described by the
witnesses as a heavy-set black male who had been a passenger in the
Volkswagen, shot Faulkner and fled. The shooter remains at large.


Who Testified for the Prosecution?
----------------------------------
The key prosecution witness was a prostitute named Cynthia White who had
three pending felony charges at the time of Mumia's trial. During the weeks
preceding the trial she was twice arrested by police; each time she revised
her story. Without explanation, bench warrants against White were not
prosecuted. Police told another prostitute, Veronica Jones, that Jones
would be allowed to work the streets with impunity if she would likewise
testify against Mumia.
    A second prosecution witness was a convicted arsonist named Robert
Chobert. His testimony at the trial was the opposite of the initial report
he gave on the crime scene to an arriving police captain that another man -
not Mumia - had committed the crime and fled the scene.


Didn't Mumia Confess to the Murder?
-----------------------------------
According to the prosecution, Mumia bragged loudly of the crime in the
emergency room. However, Doctor Regina Cudemo, who was present in the
emergency room, reported that Mumia was barely conscious and did not say
anything. Instead, she saw an officer kick Mumia, who lay with his arms
handcuffed.
    The two witnesses who testified that Mumia shouted out that he had
shot Officer Faulkner turned out to be the officer's former partner and
best friend and a hospital security guard who was also a friend. The
partner's log report of that night mentioned no confession. Neither did he
report a confession in a statement he volunteered the following week. In
fact, neither he nor the security guard said anything about a confession
until months later - after Mr. Jamal filed a complaint that he was abused
by the police while he was in the hospital.
    Officer Gary Wakshul, who stayed with Mumia during the entire time he
was in the emergency room, wrote a police report that "during this time the
negro male made no statements." The jury never heard from Wakshul because
the department had sent him "on vacation."


What Happened to Mumia's Witnesses?
-----------------------------------
    A witness named William Singletary reported that Mumia was not the
shooter and that the real shooter ran from the scene. He also said that
prosecution witness Cynthia White arrived on the scene after the shooting.
Singletary was forced by the police to sign a statement that he did not see
anything and was intimidated by the police so severely that he left
Philadelphia prior to the trial for fear of police harassment.
    Four witnesses who were never put on the stand, including one woman
whose apartment overlooked the intersection, reported seeing a large
heavy-set man running away - Mumia weighs 170 pounds. Yet no police
inquiries regarding another possible gunman were ever made.


A Magic Bullet?
---------------
As a cab driver working a downtown night shift, Mumia carried a registered
.38 caliber pistol. However, the Medical Examiner judged the fatal bullet
to be from a .44 caliber handgun. The Medical Examiner's superior
subsequently changed the report to read that the wound was from a .38
caliber bullet.
    The prosecution's claim that Mr. Jamal was shot while standing over the
fallen officer is not consistent with a pathologist's report describing the
downward trajectory of his chest wound. A different scenario, which is
consistent with the evidence, is suggested by Mr. Jamal's own account -
that he was shot by the officer as he approached.
    Mumia's court-appointed lawyer petitioned the court for funds to
present photographic, pathology, and ballistic evidence. The court only
allowed $150. Basic questions - such as whether Mumia's gun had even been
fired - were never investigated.


Who is Judge Sabo?
------------------
The judge who presided over the original trial, Albert Sabo, is a former
member of the Philadelphia police force. He has sentenced twice as many
people to death than any other judge in the country. He recently declared,
"There has never been an innocent man in my courtroom." During the original
trial, as well as the current hearing, he has consistently sustained the
prosecution's objections while overruling the defense's objections and
motions, often without even hearing them first - "Motion overruled,
whatever it was." He refused to allow Mumia his constitutional right to
represent himself or to choose his legal counsel, and an unprepared and
unwilling lawyer was appointed by the court instead. Judge Sabo, who is
past the mandatory retirement age, returned to the bench from retirement
specifically for the current hearings on whether a new trial is called
for. He refused to recuse himself and allow another judge to decide if the
trial had been a fair one.  He had refused to rule on the motion to grant a
stay of execution, and only now, under intense national and international
pressure, has he granted a stay, the first time he has ever done so.


What Did The FBI Know About Mumia?
----------------------------------
Because of Mumia's involvement with the Black Panthers, the FBI began
keeping a file on him at the age of 15, which eventually grew to 700 pages.
Ironically, the FBI's own record of surveillance provides powerful
confirmation of his reputation as a gentle, eloquent man - not a street
criminal. FBI internal documents state that Mumia "has not displayed a
propensity for violence" and note his talents as a writer and speaker who
"made the Black Panther Party look good because his approach was very
positive."


Persona Non Grata?
------------------
It appears that Mumia's real "crime" was to get under the skin of the
Philadelphia police and political establishment through his persistent
investigations into their practices and activities. The late Frank Rizzo, a
former police commissioner who became mayor of Philadelphia, singled out
Mumia and denounced him for his "advocacy journalism." In his book
_Live_From_Death_Row_, Mumia describes receiving threats from the police.


What Does the International Community Think?
--------------------------------------------
In this country, the "cop killer" label and the absence of widespread news
coverage have hindered support for Mumia. Internationally, however, his
case is viewed with alarm and has attracted attention in Holland, Japan,
South Africa, Italy, Spain, Canada, Belgium, and elsewhere. Amnesty
International and others have expressed concern and requested a new trial.


What's Wrong with This Execution?
--------------------------------- 
Whether or not you agree with the death penalty, no one should permit the
Philadelphia political establishment to use it as a convenient means to
silence a critic. As the August 17 execution date approaches, key questions
remain unanswered. Did all the witnesses have a chance to testify without
intimidation?  Did the decision of the police to prosecute Mumia cut off
investigation of other suspects? Has the American standard of "innocent
until proven guilty" been met?
    If the death penalty must exist in this country, it is the burden of
the public servants charged with applying it to do so only from the most
unanswerable and awesome judicial imperatives - or state-administered death
becomes morally indistinguishable from any other murder. Without a stay of
execution and the most scrupulously objective retrial, how can Governor
Ridge look at the facts of this case and say that they meet this test? Will
the pain of Officer Faulkner's widow, who supports Mr. Jamal's execution,
be resolved if it turns out that the wrong man has been executed and her
husband's killer still walks the streets?



                                Time Is Short
                        Your Questions Can Save A Life
                              Don't Remain Silent


               ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++
           ++++ if you agree copy these 3 sentences in your own sig ++++
         ++++ more info: http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ++++
-- 

       ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++
   ++++ if you agree copy these 3 sentences in your own sig ++++
 ++++ more info: http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ++++