MIM Notes No. 199	 December 1, 1999

Mumia Abu Jamal gets stay of execution; movement must maintain steam

Former Black Panther and death row prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal received a 
stay of execution on October 26. This stay will give the courts time to 
hear Mumia's appeal that 29 specific violations of his constitutional 
rights should cause a new trial to be granted. This stay was entirely 
expected and should not be taken as a major victory.

Mumia was framed for the righteous 1981 killing of a Philly cop engaged 
in an act of police brutality. Someone else killed the cop, but the 
Amerikan system of injustice - backed up by the fascist anti-crime fever 
among the white petit-bourgeoisie and labor aristocracy - demands that 
someone die for the killing of a pig. These fascists wish to kill Mumia 
because he is a leader who generates public opinion against the system. 
His political views -- including his agreement with Mao Zedong that 
"political power flows from the barrel of a gun" were used as evidence 
against him in his trial and in the imposition of the death penalty.

On October 13, Pennsylvania Governor Ridge signed a death warrant for 
Mumia knowing full well that a habeas corpus appeal was about to be 
filed. With the state portion of appeals finished and the much quicker 
federal courts involved, Ridge stepped in to increase the political 
pressure on Mumia. So while the stay was expected, the criminal 
injustice system is steaming ahead on track to murdering this 
revolutionary leader of the people. 

Paperwork in the case from the defense and government will run until the 
end of February 2000. A hearing in Federal Court is expected for March 
2000. While this legal struggle goes on in the unjust courtroom, we must 
build an even stronger movement in the streets. While few judges will be 
as biased as the original trial judge, the whole system is run by the 
Pigs hell-bent on murdering Mumia. It is only people in the streets that 
can force the courts to look at the facts and set Mumia free.

People who see the injustice in Mumia's case must take the issue further 
than the liberation of just this one man. While the injustice system is 
holding 1.8 million people we can not afford to talk about just one. In 
a system where imprisonment is a political tool of the imperialists all 
prisoners are political prisoners. The fight to free Mumia Abu Jamal 
must be a part of the fight to overthrow the system of imperialist 
injustice.