Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge has signed an execution warrant for former radio journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal, less than two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his request for a new trial.
Abu-Jamal, a prominent African American activist, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on December 2.
Abu-Jamal was convicted of killing a Philadelphia police officer in 1982, but he says he didn’t do it and was framed in a rigged trial.
His supporters say prosecutors demanded the death sentence simply because of Abu-Jamal’s political beliefs. They say he didn’t get a fair trial and there is strong evidence he is innocent.
His case has become a worldwide cause for opponents of capital punishment. Jailed Native activist Leonard Peltier has said of Abu-Jamal, “We need Mumia to be free so that he can continue to make a difference to change a society, which devalues life, dignity, justice and freedom.”
A previous warrant of execution was stayed. Abu-Jamal can still be kept alive if another stay of execution is granted.
For information on how you can help, call International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal (tel.: 215-724-1618). You can also get information on the web at ( http://calyx.com/~refuse/mumia/ index.html ).
