------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Oct. 17, 2002 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
PHILADELPHIA PROTEST ON NOV. 2: POLITICIANS CAMPAIGN VS. MUMIA By Leslie Feinberg Supporters of Mumia Abu-Jamal have put out the call: "All out to support the world-renowned death row political prisoner" on Nov. 2. The Nov. 2 event will rally in front of Philadelphia's City Hall at 15th and Market streets beginning at 11 a.m. Organizers of the event stress that both candidates on the hustings for governor of Pennsylvania--Democrat Ed Rendell and Republican Mike Fisher--are running anti-Mumia campaigns. Neither mentions the evidence that Abu-Jamal did not shoot Officer Daniel Faulkner, including a confession by former contract killer Arnold Beverly that he killed the white police officer in Philadelphia on Dec. 9, 1981. Mumia Abu-Jamal is still on Pennsylvania's death row. Last November, Common Pleas Judge Pamela Dembe turned down an appeal by Abu-Jamal's lawyers to grant a hearing to allow long-suppressed evidence, including Beverly's videotaped admission, to be aired. On Aug. 27, Abu-Jamal's legal team filed an appeal of her ruling. They compared it to the infamous Dred Scott decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1846, which stated that a Black man has no rights that a white man has to respect. In the call for the Nov. 2 protest, organizers say, "There has been a corporate media blockade of any news relating to Mumia's case or to Mumia himself. Even his commentaries have been banned and censored. Now, more than ever, we must support Mumia Abu-Jamal, a leading antiwar voice, a victim of government repression, a leading fighter for justice and peace." Pam Africa, International Concerned Family & Friends of Mumia, and a French solidarity delegation including activist Julia Wright will attend the international day of protest to demand that the evidence be heard and that Abu-Jamal be immediately released. For more information on this event, contact ICFFMAJ at (215) 476-8812 or the Philadelphia International Action Center at (215) 724-1618. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
