[Antiracism] Islamic Cultural Event; Update on Mumia

[Nick Camerota]

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[1] Islamic cultural event set for Saturday, April 21, in Springfield
[2] Update on the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal
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[1] NOTED ISLAMIC SCHOLAR TO SPEAK at Springfield Technical Community 
College, 1 Armory Sq.

Imam Al-Amin Abdul-Latif, a Brooklyn Sunni cleric and the founder of the 
Iqaamattudeen movement in the United States, will be the featured speaker at 
an Islamic cultural event on Saturday, April 21 on the 7th Floor of 
Springfield Technical Community College's Scibelli Hall (Building 2). Imam 
Abdul-Latif's presentation is titled, "Islam: The Religion of Moderation and 
Balance." This program, which begins at 3:00 p.m., is free and open to the 
public.

Imam Abdul-Latif has led Muslim communities in Brooklyn and Wynedance, New 
York, and has been a  popular lecturer on the faith and practice of Islam in 
Muslim communities throughout the United States and abroad. While playing a 
substantial role in the organization and development of the New York State 
Muslim Prison Committee, he ascended to a leading role in the Islamic 
Leadership Council of New York

Iqaamattudeen, a successor to the Dar ul-Islam movement which emerged in 
Brooklyn during the late 1960s, bonds indigenous and foreign born members of 
Sunni Muslim communities throughout the U.S. and this hemisphere in study, 
discussion, and charitable activities.

"We are pleased that such a sought-after dai'ee, or Islamic lecturer, will 
be sharing his knowledge and insights with us. His talk should be of great 
interest not only to Muslims but to those who want to know more about 
Islam," said Dr. Kamal Ali, one of the principal organizers of the event.

For further info, contact: Dr Kamal Ali @ mamasaida at yahoo.com
For directions, try: 
http://www.stcc.edu/content/about_campus/campus_directions.asp
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[2] LEGAL UPDATE: Mumia Abu-Jamal in a 'Race Against Death'

[April 12] PHILADELPHIA -- In the latest attempt by the state to deny his 
legal rights and derail political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal’s appeal of his 
1982 death penalty conviction, prosecutors have called on the entire Third 
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to recuse itself from hearing Abu-Jamal’s case 
in Philadelphia on May 17.

One of Abu-Jamal’s pending appeals cites routine practices of Philadelphia 
prosecutors that are racially discriminatory. Abu-Jamal's case involves 
racial discrimination during jury selection. At the time of the trial, 
Pennsylvania’s Governor Ed Rendell was the elected District Attorney in 
Philadelphia. Rendell’s wife, Marjorie Rendell, currently serves as a judge 
on the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Instead of simply asking Marjorie Rendell to recuse herself, a move the 
defense might favor, prosecutors say “they want to avoid any possible 
grounds for future appeal” by removing the entire court. They show no 
concern Ed Rendell, as Pennsylvania’s governor, can reissue a death warrant 
should Abu-Jamal’s appeals be denied.

>From the moment Mumia Abu-Jamal was arrested for the Dec. 9, 1981 shooting 
of a Philadelphia police officer, the police, courts, prison and media have 
used every means at their disposal to convict this innocent man.

“The history of the criminal case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, which is by now almost 
25 years old, has been characterized by bias right from the start: against a 
Black man whom the court denied a jury of his peers, against a member of the 
economic underclass who did not have a real claim to a qualified defense, 
and against a radical, whose allegedly dangerous militancy obliged the state 
to eliminate him from the ranks of society.”

So writes German author Michael Schiffmann in his new book, “Race against 
Death — Mumia Abu-Jamal: a Black Revolutionary in White America,” released 
in Germany this past month.

Schiffmann’s book builds upon evidence presented by two earlier books 
written about Abu-Jamal’s case: Dan Williams’ 2001 “Executing Justice” and 
Dave Lindorff’s 2003 “Killing Time." Schiffmann presents new evidence as 
well.

While researching his book last year, Schiffmann discovered two photographs 
on the Internet taken by Pedro Polakoff, the only press photographer present 
at the 1981 crime scene. Polakoff arrived 12 minutes after hearing about the 
shooting on the police radio and ten minutes before the arrival of the 
police unit responsible for forensics and photographs. No photographs had 
been taken by the police unit when Polakoff left 45 minutes later.

A picture worth a thousand words...

Three of Polakoff’s original photographs were published in Philadelphia 
newspapers at the time. Polakoff also published five photos on the Internet 
to demonstrate three points:

1) “The cops manipulated evidence and supplied the trial court with stuff 
that was simply stage-managed. On Polakoff’s photos, P.O. Faulkner’s police 
hat at first is clearly on the roof of Billy Cook’s VW, and only later on 
the sidewalk in front of 1234 Locust where it was photographed by the police 
photographer who arrived 10 minutes after Polakoff!

2) “In court, Police Officer James Forbes claimed that he had ‘secured’ the 
weapons of both Faulkner and Mumia without touching them on their metal 
parts in order to not destroy potential fingerprints. However, in the single 
photo reprinted in the book you can see that Forbes is touching the weapons 
on their metal parts, and quite a few of Polakoff’s other photos make it 
clear that Forbes touched and smudged these weapons all over, destroying any 
potential fingerprint evidence that may have been on them.

3) “The second-most important prosecution witness, cab driver Robert 
Chobert, simply was not parked in the spot, allegedly right behind Officer 
Faulkner’s police squad car, where he claimed to have been and from where he 
claimed to have observed Mumia fire the shot that killed the officer.”

Schiffmann also writes that Polakoff heard all the officers present express 
their conviction that Abu-Jamal had been the passenger in Billy Cook’s VW 
and had fired and killed Faulkner by a single shot fired from the passenger 
seat of the car — a very different story than the one prosecutors presented 
at trial. However, the passenger in Cook’s car was Kenneth Freeman, not 
Abu-Jamal.

According to Polakoff, police opinion was based on the testimony of three 
witnesses who were still present at the scene — a parking lot attendant, a 
drug-addicted woman and another woman — all of whom either disappeared or 
died within days of the shooting.

No mention of these witnesses appears in any report presented by the police 
or prosecution. Schiffmann writes that Polakoff told him that he was simply 
ignored when he repeatedly contacted the DA’s office to give them his 
account — and his photos — of the crime scene.

“Race against Death” also presents explosive and entirely original 
ballistics analysis, arrived at after more than three years of research, 
that also clearly disputes the state’s case.

Schiffmann’s book is important, not just for his comprehensive research on 
Mumia’s case, but for placing the case in the historical context of the 
Civil Rights and Black Power movements; Mumia’s extraordinary yet typical 
history as a Black youth confronting racism; and the development of the U.S. 
into a virtual police state for many segments of the population. 
Schiffmann’s book has been published in Germany. It is still awaiting a U.S. 
publisher.

This report filed by Betsey Piette from Philadelphia
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FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION concerning Mumia:
- Visit the Millions4Mumia website at http://www.mumia2000.org/
- Check out Mumia's 'Freedom Journal' on the INTERNATIONAL CONCERNED FAMILY 
& FRIENDS
OF MUMIA ABU-JAMAL (ICFFMAJ) website at http://www.mumia.org/freedom.now/
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This message sent in solidarity by the Western Mass. Organizing Committee of 
the International Action Center/ Troops Out Now Coalition * phone 
413-896-5219 or email wmassiac at hotmail.com
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