A visit with political prisoner Jalil Muntaqim
http://www.workers.org/2009/us/jalil_muntaqim_1217/
By Kit Aastrup
Auburn, N.Y.
Published Dec 11, 2009 11:00 PM
Visiting a prisoner is not easy, for either a family member or a
political activist. Often the only way is to take a special bus round
trip to one of the many prisons located, like Auburn, in a rural
setting. A prison bus from New York City to Auburn takes six hours
each way and leaves in the middle of the night from Lexington Avenue
and 125th Street for a 9 a.m. visit.
After corresponding with Jalil Muntaqim for more than four years, it
was exciting to finally meet him this fall. Happily, he turned out to
be exactly the same person as he is in his letters.
Muntaqim, aka Anthony Bottom, is one of the longest-held political
prisoners. He has been incarcerated for 38 years. He was only 19
years old and a member of the Black Panther Party when he was sent to
prison in 1971 on conspiracy charges following the killing of a
police officer, allegedly in retaliation for the murder of Black
political prisoner George Jackson.
Muntaqim was targeted by COINTELPRO, an unconstitutional and
clandestine FBI operation that was set up to destroy political
organizations, especially those from the oppressed communities. In
1975 Muntaqim was wrongly convicted of killing two police officers in
New York City, although there was no physical evidence against him
and two juries failed to convict him before the State found one that did.
Muntaqim, who received a sentence of 25 years to life, has always
maintained his innocence. While in prison he has managed to obtain
two bachelor degrees, one in sociology and one in psychology. He was
refused permission to pursue a master's degree in public health.
Throughout his many years in prison he has taught a poetry class,
participated in a sit-down strike, and was one of the co-founders of
the Jericho Amnesty Movement, an organization for political prisoners
in the United States, initiated by the Jericho March in 1998.
The San Francisco 8
In 2007 Muntaqim was charged in a cold case from 1971 known as the
San Francisco 8 case, and he was transferred from Auburn Correctional
Facility in New York to San Francisco County Jail. This case was
originally dropped in 1975 because it was based on confessions
extracted by torture.
At the end of July, two of the SF8, Herman Bell and Muntaqim, were
sentenced to probation and time served, after Bell agreed to plead to
voluntary manslaughter and Muntaqim reluctantly pleaded no contest to
conspiracy to voluntary manslaughter. All charges were then dropped
against Richard Brown, Hank Jones, Harold Taylor and Ray Boudreaux,
with the prosecution admitting it had "insufficient evidence."
Charges were dropped against Richard O'Neal last year. Only Francisco
Torres still faces charges; he maintains his innocence.
Now Muntaqim is back in Auburn. He had been denied parole four times
before, the last time in 2006. He failed to see the parole board in
2008 due to his transfer to the state of California in the SF8 case.
He was denied parole for the fifth time in November and won't be up
for parole again until June 2010.
Punishment not limited to incarceration
How can a prisoner keep sane with nonstop daily humiliations? The
penalty of prison is not limited to incarceration. It takes away your
whole life. It penalizes your family, your spouse or partner, and
your children. The routine is aimed to break down your self-esteem
and your self-confidence. Solitary confinement can break nearly anyone.
When first incarcerated, Muntaqim was a 19-year-old with a pregnant
girlfriend. He now has a 37-year-old daughter, grandchildren and even
a great-grandchild. He has educated himself. He wants a lifewith a
job, with family and friendsa modest ambition but something he has
not achieved so far.
He is relaxed and humorous, a little too serious maybe until you get
to know him, but when a smile finally lights up his face, he is so
likable. That may explain why he has received marriage
proposals-which he has declined.
The United States has by far the largest number of prisoners in the
world. African-American males are one-tenth of the world's prison
population. Targeted by COINTELPRO and most likely convicted with
fabricated evidence, hundreds of political activists have been
punished for their political activity with a lifetime of
imprisonment. In the deepest dungeons of the United States they spend
their lives in small prison cells, unnoticed by and anonymous to the
young generation and not often enough remembered as comrades in the
struggle by those still active in the progressive movement.
Muntaqim is one of those hundreds. He deserves to be remembered and
honored. Free all U.S. political prisoners!
For more information on Muntaqim's case, visit
www.freedomarchives.org and www.freethesf8.org.
--
Aastrup, a Danish political activist and writer for the newspaper
Arbejderen (The Worker), follows closely the issues of political prisoners.
.
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