BY MUMIA ABU-JAMAL
As expected, Judge Sabo has denied the motion: we are not surprised. What does one expect from a "retired" member of the F.O.P. [Fraternal Order of Police] who now masquerades as a fair, impartial senior jurist? As a matter of fundamental fairness, would not a "fair," "impartial" judge have announced to the defense, before trial, of his professional associations, especially in a case such as this? That he did not is silent and sufficient testament to what "fairness" and "impartiality' means in the city of Philadelphia.
A blind man can see that I didn't receive a fair trial, and now, to compound this outrage, I have been denied a fair PRCP hearing. As South Africa assigns the death penalty to the garbage can of history, Philadelphia whets its racist appetite as it bays for more black blood. In the most benighted sectors of South Africa, from the laagers of Afrikanerdom, to the drunken shebeens of the townships, all know that the Constitution protects the fundamental "right to life."
Here, in Philadelphia, the very place where the American Consti- tution was written, signed and published, the Constitution is no more than a passing thought; it is a minor hindrance, to be tolerated when able, and ignored when necessary, when the state's goals are death. What does it protect, save the interests of the established? As South Africa takes a greal leap forward, America embraces its second season of neo-apartheid, as racist demagogues ran on raw hatred-the political flavor of the '90s.
Several years ago, at my so called "trial," I repeated Mao Ze-Dong's familiar quote: "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." In retrospect, perhaps a more fitting quote would've been: "Political power grows out of the seat of an electric chair." Look - and you'll see a widening politics of DEATH; from the DA, to the Mayor; from the judgeship, to the governorship; from the Congressman, to the president - all allied in death centrism. Politicians all-running on death.
Who brought you the massacres of the MOVE bombing, the mass murders of Waco and the many mini-murders in between - all white-washed by the same government that claims to be "tuff on crime" - unless it's their own; for people get trial and prison, while governments get hearings and re elections.
You have seen a trial where a man has been denied his right to select ajury; to defend himself; to have counsel of his choice, or even to have competent counsel of the state's choice. You have seen a trial where evidence of my innocence was withheld, false evidence utilized, all presided over by a card-carrying member of the F.O.P. ("retired"), where "presumption of innocence" was an inside joke. If it was proper for the state to go back over a decade to promote my former Black Panther membership, why is it suddenly improper to examine Judge Sabo's former F.O.P. membership?
Even if the government granted a new trial, before an unbiased jurist, how could I receive the assistance of John Africa at the defense table, or of Theresa Africa as a paralegal, when this selfsame government murdered them in the massacre of May 13th, 1985, by shooting and bombing them, incinerating them out of this existence?
The same DA's office prosecuting this blatantly unjust death sentence, looked at the bloody carnage of May 13th - with 11 men, women & children bombed into oblivion-and saw no crime, no violations of any law. The same DA's office that intentionally removed 11 black jurors from my jury pool, had the nerve to select an "investigating" grand jury in the May 13th bombing of my brothers and sisters, only to "recommend" that they file no charges in a case of premeditated mass murder.
From such an entity, what can the word "justice" really mean?
True justice requires more than a stay of execution - it requires a complete dismissal of this clearly political persecution!
It requires more: it requires the committed mobilization of our communities to resist a system that is more repressive than South Africa - to abolish this racist death penalty!
It requires freedom - for all MOVE political prisoners, and all political prisoners of whatever persuasion! Now!
It requires a continuing revolution - to beat back the forces of the neo-apartheid state.
Organize! Mobilize!
From South Africa to the USA, push the racist death penalty away!
Ona Move! Long Live John Africa!
Mumia Abu-Jamal #AM-8335
SCI Greene/ 1040 E. Roy Furman Hwy./ Waynesburg, PA 15370
