Mobilização Global em 17 de Maio para a audiência final de Mumia Abu-Jamal
alexzapa 17 May 2007 04:48 GMT (translated by alexzapa)Na Quinta-feira, 17 de Maio, serão escutados na corte federal, testemunhas orais naquilo que poderá ser a última apelação do jornalista, que está sentenciado à morte, Mumia Abu-Jamal, internacionalmente conhecido como “a voz dos sem voz”. Abu-Jamal, que espera sua execução na Pensilvânia desde 25 anos, é vítima de uma incriminação policial e fiscal de um juiz racista. Continua servindo ao movimento de direitos humanos como jornalista escrevendo e transmitindo da prisão. Event Roundup from Philly IMC | Indybay Roundup of SF Actions | PSAs from Prison Radio
ATUALIZAÇÃO: Leia os antecedentes e veja fotos nunca antes publicadas nos Estados Unidos da cena do crime em abu-jamal-news.com. Também: leia o veterano jornalista Linn Washington, Jr' comentário no 17 de Maio – LW tem feito cobertura do caso de Abu-Jamal desde a manhã de 8 de Dez., 1981 Entrevista Amy Goodman LW | Entrevista Hans Bennett LW
Mais coberturas passadas: Cobertura da Celebração de Aniversário de Mumia em 24 de Abril | Apr17: Hans Bennett entrevista Atty. Robert R. Bryan | Apr1: Mobilização por Mumia no dia 17 de Maio | Mar24: Data escolhida para as testemunhas orais | Dec9,06: Mumia Rally A Success Despite Police Sponsored Disturbance | Dec5,06: Mumia Abu-Jamal's Court Case Hits Fast Track | Nov06: Is Honoring Mumia a Crime? | Apr06L French Delegates Arrive For Mumia
More Background Links: SF Bay View: Tyrants hate free speech | Recent KAOS interview of Hans Bennett | Hans Bennett’s series on Mumia | Abu-Jamal-News.com | Trial Transcripts on Anti-Mumia Site | Mumia on Alberto Gonzales | Prison Radio archive of Mumia essays | Educators for Mumia | NYC Free Mumia Coalition
haciando ruido por mumia
radiozapote 16.May.2007 22:26
Haciendo ruido por Mumia
15 de mayo de 2007. Este jueves 17 de mayo habrá una manifestación en Filadelfia frente al Palacio de (In)justicia, donde el tribunal de apelaciones del 3° circuito escuchará argumentos sobre la falta de un juicio imparcial para el periodista y ex Pantera Negra Mumia Abu-Jamal después de su detención en 1981 y su injusta condena a muerte por el asesinato del policía blanco Daniel Faulkner. Se espera que llegue gente de varias partes del país y del mundo. Habrá delegaciones de Francia y Alemania igual que representantes de Amnistía Internacional y otras organizaciones de derechos humanos, las cuales han criticado la injusticia del proceso.
El equipo jurídico de Mumia presentará argumentos sobre su derecho constitucional a un juicio imparcial con el debido proceso de ley, a no ser sometido a castigo cruel e inusual, y a protección igual bajo la ley. Alega que estos derechos fueron violados debido al racismo de la corte en la exclusión de africano-americanos del jurado, al racismo del juez Albert Sabo quien comentó durante las apelaciones que iba a “ayudarles a freír ese nigger”, y al engaño a los miembros del jurado por el fiscal cuando les aconsejó a hacer caso omiso a cuestiones de la presunción de inocencia y de duda razonable porque Mumia tendría muchas apelaciones en el evento de que el jurado diera un veredicto de culpabilidad erróneo. También alega que el juez violó los derechos de Mumia cuando le prohibió al jurado considerar evidencia atenuante (de buen carácter, etc.) a menos de que todos los integrantes del jurado estuvieran de acuerdo con respecto a la existencia de una circunstancia en particular.
Dado que este caso se ha vuelto emblemático para los presos políticos del mundo, es extraño que muchos periódicos le han dado poca cobertura. Lo mismo podríamos decir del periódico centro-izquierdista principal de México. Uno se pregunta: ¿también le hubieran hecho caso omiso a la condena de Sacco y Vanzetti?
Sin embargo, hay excepciones. El periodista Linn Washington ha cubierto el caso durante 25 años de manera objetiva. En un artículo co-escrito con Dave Lindorff y publicado el 15 de mayo de 2007, observa que los tres jueces que conforman el panel––Anthony Scirica, Robert Cowen and Thomas Ambro––han rechazado la sentencia de muerte en otros casos por el mismo motivo de la exclusión racista por la fiscalía de candidatos negros del jurado. Opinan que si estos tres jueces votan de la misma manera como cada uno lo ha hecho anteriormente, el resultado podría ser un nuevo juicio.
La audiencia de este jueves ocurre en medio de un clima de linchamiento. Estarán ahí en Filadelfia cientos de policías de la Organización Fraternal de Policía (FOP) con sus consignas como “asesino de policías” y “frían a Mumia”. Durante los últimos 25 años la FOP se ha empeñado en amenazar a cualquier persona que se atreva a exigir justicia y libertad para Mumia. Sus aliados mediáticos y políticos incitan al público a matarlo para terminar con el sufrimiento de la viuda Maureen Faulkner, pero ¡que extraño que nunca mencionan las viudas de otros catorce policías asesinados en Filadelfia desde 1981! Tampoco ha aparecido una sola de ellas en el escenario con Bill Clinton o George W. Bush. Esto dice mucho sobre el estado de Mumia Abu-Jamal como preso político cuya palabra honesta nunca se ha callado.
Una fuente de información poco convencional sobre el caso es un documental producido por el actor inglés Colin Firth y dirigido por Marc Evans que se estrenará en Cannes este mes: In Prison My Whole Life (En prisión mi vida entera). El documental sigue la trayectoria de William Francome, un joven inglés que nació el día que el oficial Faulkner fue asesinado y Mumia fue herido de bala, golpeado y encarcelado. Debido a que la mamá de Francome apoya a Mumia, el jóven ha sido muy consciente de este preso político desde la infancia. Al llegar a los 25 años, el jóven busca descubrir por qué el caso ha sido central para los que se opongan a la pena de muerte y por qué ha suscitado tanto apoyo entre intelectuales, artistas y músicos. Hay entrevistas con personas tan diversas como Noam Chomsky, Alice Walker, Mos Def, Snoop Dog y Ramona África. (Vean los clips en YouTube.)
En México habrá eventos el día 17 en varias escuelas: en la UAM-I se presenta el documental Un Caso de Duda Razonable a las 2:00 de la tarde; en Vallejo proyección del mismo documental a las 8:00 de la noche con el equipo de Regeneración Radio; en la ENAH habrá pintura de mantas, música y transmisión del programa de Radio Zapote a las 2:00 de la tarde, y en Oaxaca proyección de videos en la Universidad de la Tierra. Hacen falta acciones y eventos en las embajadas, consulados y espacios libres en todas partes del mundo. Hagamos ruido por él. ¡MUMIA LIBERTAD! ¡PRES@S POLÍTIC@S LIBERTAD!
Wow...
not24601 22.May.2007 13:54
I think all these comments were pretty much meant to start arguments, and the big reason nobody has responded is that it's obvious to anyone.
Hope we have a big turnout! If Mumia goes down, it's going to show a lot of people how little justice there is in America.
Mainstream Media Ignores New Evidence of Mumia Frame-up
Hans Bennett 30.May.2007 03:42
New Evidence of Mumia Abu-Jamal Frame-Up:
http://Abu-Jamal-News.com
http://insubordination.blogspot.com/2007/05/audio-press-release-new-mumia-crime.html
http://Abu-Jamal-News.com
http://Abu-Jamal-News.com
Explosive crime scene photos unveiled for the first time in the US
By Hans Bennett
View the photos at
“The newly discovered photographs reveal the fact that the police were actively manipulating evidence at the homicide scene. For example, their moving the police officer's hat from the roof of Billy Cook's vehicle to the sidewalk to make the scene more emotionally dramatic was fraudulent and criminal. It was as if they were setting up a scene, putting in props for a movie to be shot. That is incredible,” said Robert R. Bryan, lead attorney for death-row journalist and former Black Panther, Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was convicted of killing Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner and sentenced to death in a 1982 trial that Amnesty International has declared a “violation of minimum international standards that govern fair trial procedures and the use of the death penalty.”
The new crime scene photos described by Bryan were recently unveiled in Philadelphia by German author Michael Schiffmann, during a crucial week for Abu-Jamal.
On May 17, a three-judge panel from the federal Third Circuit Court of Appeals held oral arguments in Philadelphia and considered four different issues regarding the fairness of Abu-Jamal’s original 1982 trial. Joined by Christina Swarns of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Bryan argued that Abu-Jamal’s trial was tainted with racist jury selection, confusing jury instructions, prosecutorial misconduct in summation to the jury (at both guilt and penalty phases), and the bias of a trial judge that a court stenographer overheard boasting in 1982, that he was going to help the prosecution “fry the nigger.”
Supporters of Abu-Jamal packed the federal courthouse and held a large demonstration outside on the street. While many of the hundreds of supporters outside held large posters displaying the new crime scene photos to the Philadelphia public, the explosive new evidence could not be presented in the courtroom because of the narrow “four-issue” scope of the oral arguments.
Only a new trial will allow this new photographic evidence to be presented before a court.
German Author Michael Schiffmann Presents New Photos
Among the many international observers in Philadelphia for the hearing, was German author Michael Schiffmann, who utilized the important week to present the crime scene photos and other new evidence from his new book (not yet published in the US) “Race Against Death; Mumia Abu-Jamal: a Black Revolutionary in White America,” an expansion of Schiffmann’s PhD dissertation at the University of Heidelberg, just released in Germany.
Following the May 17 oral arguments, Schiffmann presented Race Against Death to a standing-room only crowd at a community center in West Philadelphia. Along with presenting original ballistics analysis, Schiffmann unveiled the new crime scene photos from the morning of December 9, 1981, that have only been published in his German book.
Schiffmann recounted how in May, 2006, he discovered two photographs on the Internet that were taken by the only press photographer immediately present at the 1981 crime scene – Pedro P. Polakoff, III. Upon contacting him, Polakoff told Schiffmann that he arrived within 12 minutes of hearing about the shooting on the police radio and about ten minutes before the Mobile Crime Unit (responsible for forensics and photographs) arrived. According to Polakoff, this unit had still not taken any photos when Polakoff left after 30-45 minutes at the scene.
Schiffmann published five of Polakoff’s photos in Race Against Death, and chose four of those to present to the US public on thousands of large posters spread around Philadelphia, and also on the “Journalists for Mumia” website, Abu-Jamal-News.com.
One photo is of Police Officer James Forbes, who testified in court that he had secured the weapons of both Faulkner and Abu-Jamal without touching them on their metal parts in order to not destroy potential fingerprints. Attorney Robert R. Bryan considers this photograph of Forbes to be the “most stunning example” of the “incompetent manner in which the police at the scene dealt with the evidence,” because Forbes is “holding both pistols found at the scene in one hand, bare-handed! This is unthinkable. A nitwit could do better. Why were there no fingerprint tests? Why no ballistic examinations? It reminds me of a scene from ‘The Keystone Cops,’ the way the evidence was being handled and manipulated, except this was not funny.”
Another, two-photo sequence shows that the police moved P.O. Faulkner’s hat from the roof of Abu-Jamal’s brother’s car, and placed it instead on the sidewalk in front of 1234 Locust where it was later photographed by the police photographer who arrived 10 minutes after Polakoff.
The last photo is of the large, empty space directly behind P.O. Faulkner’s car, where
the second-most important prosecution witness, cab driver Robert Chobert, testified to have been parked when he claimed to have observed Abu-Jamal shoot Faulkner.
Schiffmann extensively interviewed Polakoff about what he saw and heard at the crime scene, and reports in Race that “according to Polakoff, at that time all the officers present expressed the firm conviction that Abu-Jamal had been the passenger in Billy Cook's VW and had shot and killed Faulkner by a single shot fired from the passenger seat of the car.”
While this observation contradicts the official prosecution scenario that Abu-Jamal ran from across the street before shooting Faulkner, it strongly supports Schiffmann’s original ballistics analysis and conclusion that a third person (not Abu-Jamal or his brother Billy Cook) most likely shot and killed Faulkner. This third person was Kenneth Freeman (Billy Cook’s friend and business partner), who – according to the available evidence – was the passenger in Cook’s car, and was therefore the black male that six eyewitnesses reported to see fleeing the scene moments before other police arrived.
Polakoff also told Schiffmann that the police opinion that the passenger was the shooter “was apparently based on the testimony of three witnesses who were still present at the crime scene, namely, by the parking lot attendant in charge of the parking lot on the Northern side of Locust Street, by a drug addicted woman apparently acquainted with the parking lot attendant, and another woman. As Polakoff later heard from colleagues in the media, the parking lot attendant had disappeared the day after, while the drug-addicted witness died a couple of days later from an overdose.”
Schiffmann concludes that “whatever it was that these witnesses saw or did not see, we will probably never know – the interesting fact in any case is that neither of them ever appeared in any report presented by the police or the prosecution.”
Polakoff told Schiffmann that he was simply ignored when he repeatedly contacted the DA’s office in 1982 and 1995 to give them his account--and his photos--of the crime scene.
Mainstream Media Ignores Photos
While a few alternative media websites like The Independent Media Center (indymedia.org) and Infoshop News (infoshop.org) have enthusiastically reported on the unveiling of Polakoff’s photos, a “Google” news search reveals a total blackout in the mainstream media. Not even one mainstream media outlet has reported on them.
Veteran Philadelphia journalist Linn Washington, Jr., has been covering the Abu-Jamal case for over 25 years. He feels that the media’s failure to even acknowledge these explosive photos continues a long history of media bias against Abu-Jamal’s fight for a new and fair trial. This shows “once again how this supposed information seeking institution shirks its ethical duties in the Abu-Jamal case to ‘seek truth and report it.’”
“This series of photographs damage the prosecution's case significantly because they graphically show police tampering with and manipulating the crime scene.”
“Given the old ‘picture-is-worth-a-thousand-words’ dynamic, it is not surprising that the prosecutor repeatedly rejected this photographer's offers of assistance because his photos expose the structural flaws in the case presented in court against Abu-Jamal. These photos provide additional evidence that the jury did not consider all of the available evidence due to misconduct by police and prosecutors. This misconduct fuels demands for a fair trial in this case.”
Listen to the audio from Michael Schiffmann’s presentation:
View the crime scene photos:
Hans Bennett (insubordination.blogspot.com) is an independent photo-journalist based in Philadelphia and is co-founder of the new group, “Journalists for Mumia Abu-Jamal,” whose new website is
Hang the bastard
Shadow Merchant 31.May.2007 04:12
Death to Mumia, get rid of the murderous cockroach. Too bad we can't hang him by his filthy dreadlocks in public.
Death to the Left! Death to collectivism!