Demonstrators, who came from several cities, rallied outside the Pennsylvania Common Pleas Court while a hearing was held on arguments by Abu-Jamal's lawyers asking that his appeal be reopened to admit new evidence in the case.

Abu-Jamal, a well-known journalist and activist who is Black, was framed up and convicted in 1982 on charges of killing Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner the year before.

Protesters marched through downtown Philadelphia carrying signs demanding "Free Mumia" and "Stop the Death Penalty." Many carried their own signs, some reading, "Free Mumia and Palestine." The rally was addressed by several national political and artistic figures including Jesse Jackson, who had not previously spoken out on Abu-Jamal's behalf, actor Ossie Davis, poet Sonia Sanchez, and comedian Dick Gregory.

The largest contingents of demonstrators came from the Philadelphia area and New York. A few people came from other countries. Eleven activists from France, representing groups in that country that support the fight to free Mumia, were organized to participate by Julia Wright, the daughter of noted author Richard Wright. Bernard Birsinger, the mayor of Bobigny, a suburb of Paris, addressed the rally.

The same day, 2,000 people rallied in Paris for justice for Abu-Jamal. And in Berlin, 200 gathered at the U.S. embassy demanding his freedom and an end to the death penalty in the United States.

The Philadelphia media gave prominent coverage to the rally, letting participants speak for themselves, in contrast to their usual tone in covering past protests, which always starts by labeling Abu-Jamal a "convicted cop-killer."

The Daily News quoted Josh Block, a north Philadelphia resident now attending New York University, who said, "Whenever young people participate in something like this, adults often say, 'You don't know what you're talking about.'

"But we do. We care. And for me, Mumia is an inspiration. Even though he's in jail, he talks about the real issues that affect all of us."  
 
Court hearing
In the courtroom, attorneys Marlene Kamish and Eliot Grossman, selected by Abu-Jamal earlier this year to replace his previous team of lawyers, are moving to introduce new evidence before the courts that they believe requires a new trial and that will exonerate Abu-Jamal. In a sworn affidavit, Arnold Beverly states that he was one of two individuals hired by Philadelphia area criminal figures to kill Daniel Faulkner because the police officer had interfered with their activities in the Center City area and with payoffs to cops.

In addition, for the first time Abu-Jamal has submitted a statement to the court giving his explanation of what happened when he drove into the area where Faulkner was shot in December 1981. Before he could do anything, Abu-Jamal says in the papers filed with the court, he got out of his cab and was shot by a police officer.

The Philadelphia District Attorney's office argues that regardless of its merits the evidence cannot be admitted on technical grounds. The prosecutors argue that Abu-Jamal's lawyers at the time became aware of this affidavit in 1999 but did nothing about it. A time limit of 60 days set in the law has expired, the DA's office argues, and therefore it can't be introduced now.

"We contend that Mumia's previous team of lawyers committed serious misconduct in not presenting the confession of Arnold Beverly," Grossman told a meeting the day after the demonstration. "There is more than enough legal justification to waive the time limit. We think the court will want to hear the confession of Arnold Beverly, which exonerates Mumia, and will order a new trial."

State court judge Pamela Dembe did not rule on the defense appeal, but asked for written arguments in three weeks.

On July 19 U.S. district judge William Yohn Jr. denied a similar motion in federal court. Yohn used the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, signed into law by then-president William Clinton, as a reason for denying the motion, writing that "the enactment of [this law] AEDPA served to limit the availability of federal habeas relief in many respects."

Another action demanding justice for Abu-Jamal has been called in Philadelphia for Saturday, September 8. For more information, contact the Concerned Friends and Family of Mumia Abu-Jamal at (215) 476-8812, or log onto their web site, www.mumia.org.

John Staggs is the Socialist Workers candidate for District Attorney in Philadelphia, and a member of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 56.  
 
 
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