GOVERNOR Thomas Ridge of Penzsytrania Bas signed a l warrant for "the execution by lethal injection of Mumia Abu-Jamal of Philadelphia." The execution date set for December 2, but this is likely to be held up by further legal action.
Ridge's action, the second time he has taken this step, followed the refusal of the U.S. Supreme Court to consider Mumia's appeal claiming he was denied a fair trial.
He argued that he was wrongly stripped of his right to represent himself during jury selection; that he was removed from the courtroom after disrupting the trial, which he said violated his right to confront witnesses against him; and that he was excluded from a meeting in which the trial judge disqualified a juror.
Mumia's legal team have filed for the writ of habeas corpus, in which it is argued that his constitutional rights were violated and the evidence needs to be properly examined afresh. This action could take anything from a few months to years to resolve, probably reaching the Supreme Court again, the third time he will have petitioned this body.
Mumia's immediate response to the setbacks was: " This is fust the next stage of the fight. We will continue to fight. We will win!"
A former Black Panther and sympathiser of the radical group MOVE, Mumia was a radio reporter. His conviction and death sentence followed the 1981 shooting death of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner.
The officer had pulled over Abu-Jamal's brother in a traffic stop. Mumia, then driving a taxicab, apparently passed by, spotted Faulkner questioning his brotach, and stoppaPolice arriving at the scene reported that they found the fatally injured Faulkner on the ground, shot at close range in the face, and Mumia lying nearby, wounded by a bullet from the officer's gun. His gun, with five spent shells, was also found. However witnesses who reported seeing another person fleeing the scene claim to have Some have never been called while others have testified elscwhere that they were coerced by police to change their testimony. It is asso anguca that banistics and pathology evidence is inconsistent; that Mumia's trial lawyer selected by the court failed properly to defend the case; that police planted evidence; and that the judge displayed bias and hostility. State challenges were consistently used to get rid of black members of the jury panel. Within two days of the signing of Mumia's death warrant demonstrations were organized across the U.S., with the largest outpourings in San Francisco where 4,000 pcople march and rallied, and in Philadelphia where similar numbers mobilised.
Demonstrations that had
been set for the "Day After"
the signing of a death war.
rant took place in scores of U.S. cities including Chicago, New York, Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Minneapolis, and many others. Several hundreds of Abu-Jamal supporters instantly took to the streets in these cities, restating their commitment to broaden the struggle to new sectors of the U.S. population. 300 demonstrated in Paris. Prominent U.S. figures including Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Congressional Black Caucus, Noam Chomsky, actor Woody Harrelson, and many others issued statements calling for a new Campaigners are also active in Britain, with regular meetings in London. They are planning a national rally in Trafalgar Square on November 6 at 2pm.. Contact them by e-mail on mumia @calinetwork.com, or the web page on http//www.callnetwork.com/hom c/mumia.
For further information contact: The International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal in Philadel. phia, 215-476-8812 or The Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal in San Francisco, c-mail: [email protected]
20 SOCIALIST OUTLOOK