Date: Wed Sep 8 22:37:51 1999
From: ktynan@SEDS.LPL.ARIZONA.EDU ("Kirsten C. Tynan")
Subject: 911 FOR MUMIA: A National Call to Artists ! (fwd)
To: LIBERTARIANS-ANNOUNCE@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
This one is from the Tucson Arts Brigade...
Tucson Mumia 911 Adhoc Committee
Tucson, Arizona
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 8, 1999
For more information, contact:
Southern Arizona People's Law Center (520) 623-7306
Tucson Arts Brigade (520) 792-6483
www.mumia911.org
911 FOR MUMIA!
The Tucson Mumia 911 Committee is sponsoring a "Mumia 911!" rally and march on Saturday September 11th (9/11). We will gather at 5pm in Cesar Chavez park (corner of 18th St. and Stone Ave) and walk from the park to Police Headquarters (270 S. Stone), where there will be a peaceful rally featuring the "theater of the oppressed". Speakers include Paul Guttone of the Southern Arizona People's Law Center, Ray Jarvis of the NAACP, and Ann Nichols from the Coalition of Arizonans to Abolish the Death Penalty.
"911 for Mumia" is a national citizens coalition demanding a new, and fair trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal, a stop to his execution, and an end to the death penalty. On September 11, 1999 artists will stage concerts, art exhibitions, theater events, performances and readings across the country for one unified purpose: to Stop the Execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Who is Mumia? An award-winning journalist and former Black Panther who spoke out against racism and police brutality, Mumia Abu-Jamal is a political prisoner facing execution in Pennsylvania. In 1981 he was accused of killing a Philadelphia police officer, and has since been on death row - over 16 years. Mumia was never given a fair first trial and has been refused court appeals. It is likely his death warrant will be signed sometime this coming year.
The case of Mumia Abu-Jamal is significant because it brings together several interrelated issues, most importantly the right to a fair trial and the injustice of the death penalty. A fair trial by a fair court is a basic requirement of due process. At issue are the judicial proceedings of Mumia's first trial in 1982, which court records conclusively show to be a travesty of justice. Among other things, these documents reveal that Mumia was neither permitted to represent himself, nor allowed in the courtroom for most of the trial; that the court used Mumia's political beliefs and affiliations to argue for his execution; and that the court considered prosecution witnesses, who changed their stories to implicae Mumia, completely credible. Recently, however, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that there were no flaws in the court proceedings of Mumia's case, and subsequently, refused his appeal on all accounts for a new and fair trial.
Regardless of his guilt or innocence, Mumia did not receive a fair trial, and is now facing state execution. Indeed, since 1978, 78 people in the U.S. have been released from death row based on evidence of their innocence.
Furthermore, 28 innocent people have been executed in this century. We demand that no more innocent people die at the hands of the state.
The death penalty is racist. In comparable cases, minorities are more likely to be sentenced to death than whites. The judge in Mumia's trial, Albert Sabo, has sentenced twice as many people to death than any other judge in the country - all but two of whom are people of color.
# # #