The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) is inviting members of the media to attend a march to the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria to demand the immediate release of comrade Mumia Abu-Jamal. NUMSA is a union which has Socialist ideals and the principle of international solidarity, is part of our values. Where there is injustice anywhere in the world, we have a duty to confront it and fight against it. It is in this spirit that NUMSA has for years been part of the campaign calling for Comrade Mumia to be released.
Background on Mumia
Mumia is former member of the Black Panther party and he has spent over 40 years in jail, the majority of that time was spent on death row for the 1981 murder of Daniel Faulkner in Philadelphia. Mumia is a victim of political persecution, because he is a radical activist and journalist, who attracted the attention of the state security apparatus from the young age of 14. Mumia is America’s most famous political prisoner and there is evidence that his continued incarceration is unfair, and is a gross violation of human rights. A report by Amnesty International, “protested the politicization of the trial” and noted the role that police abuse and corruption played in fabricated evidence and use of excessive force. Amnesty International concluded “that the proceedings used to convict and sentence Mumia Abu-Jamal to death were in violation of minimum international standards that govern fair trial procedures and the use of the death penalty”.
On December 16, 2022, a hearing was held before Judge Lucretia Clemons of the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas on a Post-Conviction Relief Application. Mumia’s defence team filed for a new trial on the basis of new evidence of prosecutorial misconduct which may have had a negative impact on the outcome of the trial. Judge Clemons did not issue a decision that day, but she did order the prosecution to turn over up to 200 boxes of documents and materials in Abu-Jamal’s case to his defence team, with a final ruling on the matter expected by March 16. This is why organizations like NUMSA as well as and other progressive organisations are ramping up campaigns for Abu-Jamal’s release.
NUMSA is part of a month long global campaign, led by our sister union, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 10, which is calling for Mumia’s release. We have written an open letter to Justice Lucretia Clemons calling on her to right this historical wrong in U.S. judicial history, and release him. We will be handing over a memorandum of demands to the embassy tomorrow.
Details of the march are as follows:
DATE. : Friday 10 March 2023
TIME. : 10: 00 – 12:00 midday
GATHERING VENUE : Union Buildings Garden and then we march to the U.S. Embassy
ADDRESS : 877 Pretorius St, Arcadia, Pretoria, 0083
Ends
Issued by Jerry Morulane
Hlanganani Regional Secretary
0832535216
For more information, please contact:
Phakamile Hlubi-Majola
NUMSA National Spokesperson
0833767725
NUMSA Head Office number: 0116891700
NUMSA Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/NumsaSocial
NUMSA Twitter account: @Numsa_Media
NUMSA Website: https://numsa.org.za/
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NUMSA TO MARCH TO THE U.S. EMBASSY TO DEMAND THAT MUMIA ABU-JAMAL BE RELEASED IMMEDIATELY