GATHERING ON 35th ANNIVERSARY of MUMIA ABU-JAMAL ARREST TO CALL FOR HIS FREEDOM, CLEAN WATER, HEP C TREATMENT FOR PRISONERS & TO DELIBERATE ON JUSTICE UNDER TRUMP

PRESS ALERT

Dec 2, 2016

CONTACT: Tiffany Robbins 484-343-2172; Dr Suzanne Ross 917-584-2135; Joe Piette 610-931-2615

GATHERING ON 35^th ANNIVERSARY of MUMIA ABU-JAMAL ARREST TO CALL FOR HIS FREEDOM, CLEAN WATER, HEP C TREATMENT FOR PRISONERS & TO DELIBERATE ON JUSTICE UNDER TRUMP

News reporters and community members are invited to a day of action on FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9 in Philadelphia to demand the constitutional right to clean water, hepatitis C treatment and freedom for Mumia Abu-Jamal, unjustly imprisoned since 1981, and to witness deliberations on what a Trump Administration will mean for community activists.

People will begin gathering at the hated Rizzo statue, in Thomas Paine Plaza near 15^th & JFK, at 3pm with signs and banners.
A march to Governor Wolf’s office at 200 S. Broad begins at 3:45pm, where thousands of petitions will be delivered.
Marchers will stop in front of the District Attorney’s office at 3 South Penn Square across from City Hall, before ending the march at the Rizzo statue.
An inside rally at the Arch Street United Methodist Church, beginning at 6pm, will feature three panels:

Fighting for hep C treatment, clean water and other health care issues inside and outside prison: Shani Akilah (Black & Brown Collective), Teresa Sullivan (member of Prison Health News), family members of prisoners, and others.
Fighting for legal rights for Mumia Abu-Jamal and other prisoners: Attorneys Michael Coard, Robert Boyle and Rachel Wolkenstein.
Fighting for Justice during a Trump Presidency: Erica Mines (Philly REAL Justice Coalition), Larry Hamm (Peoples Organization for Progress), Ramona Africa (the MOVE Organization), Carmen Guerrero (Coalicion Fortaleza Latina PA) and more.

The gathering is taking place just weeks after Philadelphia City Council passed an Oct 22 resolution “Calling upon Governor Wolf and the Pennsylvania State Legislature to ensure that individuals incarcerated and working in state prisons have access to clean water and proper health services.”

In weeks, the racist billionaire administration of Donald Trump is set to begin. How will people respond to his regressive policies? “As the Trump presidency takes shape… Let us build movements. Let’s lift our hearts. Let us remake our history with the brick and mortar of struggle.” Abu-Jamal said on Prison Radio Nov 21.

The meeting occurs 3 months after the Federal Court decision (Abu-Jamal vs. Kerestes) on August 31 declared it was unconstitutional for the Department of Corrections to refuse to give hep C-infected prisoners with medicines boasting a 95% cure rate. “There are 3.2 million people in the United States living with Hepatitis C. This is unacceptable when there is a cure for the illness,” said Teresa Sullivan. “People living with Hepatitis C should not have to wait for access to treatment because getting early treatment will prevent long term damage from liver cancer and liver fibrosis.”

Reports will detail other developments impacting unfairly-convicted Pennsylvania prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal:

Abu-Jamal is experiencing increased symptoms of the deadly hepatitis C virus. His deteriorating health is again approaching alarming levels as occurred in March, 2015 when he was rushed to the hospital unconscious. For Mumia Abu-Jamal and nearly 7,000 other prisoners with hep C, prison authorities continue to refuse effective treatment until inmates are near death. Why is the DOC continuing its deadly protocol of “deliberate indifference”?

Prisoners at Mahanoy Prison had to bathe in dirty, brown water, and were limited to inadequate rations of drinking water for weeks until recently. Is the water safe to use, especially for hep C inflicted prisoners with skin complications? Why does the DOC do so little to protect prisoners from unsafe water at SCI Mahanoy, SCI Frackville, SCI Graterford and other prisons?

A new lawsuit by Abu-Jamal’s attorneys has been filed, based on a recent Supreme Court decision (Williams vs PA) that a prosecutor in a case cannot sit as a judge over the same defendant he prosecuted. A ruling in Abu-Jamal’s favor would reopen all of the legal decisions in the case made since 1998. Acting as prosecutor and later Judge for both Abu-Jamal and Terrence Williams, why did former PA Supreme Court Justice Ronald Castille refuse to recuse himself?

Individual endorsers include:

Angela Davis;

Betty Davis, New Abolitionist Movement

Estela Vazquez, Executive Vice President, Local 1199 SEIU*

Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka, US Green Party Presidential Ticket;

Juanita Young, Stolen Lives*

Lynne Stewart, former political prisoner and people’s lawyer, Lynne Stewart Organization

Martha Grevatt, Trustee, UAW Local 869*;

Minnie Bruce Pratt, UAW Local 1981/ National Writers Union *;

Monica Moorehead & Lamont Lilly, US Presidential & Vice-Presidential Candidates, Mundo Obrero/Workers World Party;

Ralph Poynter, New Abolitionist Movement

Rev CD Witherspoon Baltimore SCLC President*;