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Petition for Pres. Obama to Save Mumia & End the Death PenaltyEvents of SignificanceJanuary 9, 2010 Rosa Luxemburg Conference, Berlin, Germany - Mumia's lead attorney, Robert R. Bryan, spoke to the large standing-room audience about the struggle to save & free his client. He also announced the launching of the online petition, Mumia Abu-Jamal and the Global Abolition of the Death Penalty. February 23, 2010 International Film Festival & Forum on Human Rights, Geneva, Switzerland - Following the showing of the movie "Manners of Dying", Mr. Bryan talked about Mumia & the importance of films in the worldwide fight for human rights & against the death penalty. February 24-26, 2010 World Congress Against the Death Penalty, Geneva, Switzerland - During a panel discussion Mr. Bryan discussed racism in capital cases around the globe including that of Mumia. On the final night of the Congress, Mumia made a surprise call to the capacity audience & spoke as a representative of the over 20,000 men, women & children on death rows around the world. He talked about the horror of awaiting execution. March 2, 2010 European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium - Parliament members Søren Søndergaard (Denmark) & Sabine Lösing (Germany) announced the beginning of a campaign to save Mumia & end executions. They were joined by Sabine Kebir, the noted German author & PEN member, Nicole Bryan, & Mr. Bryan who discussed the online petition (Mumia Abu-Jamal and the Global Abolition of the Death Penalty) & the case update. June 10, 2010 Karibu Education Centre, London - The keynote speaker, Mr. Bryan, discussed new developments in the current litigation in the U.S. Court of Appeals on the issue of the death penalty, racism, & the campaign to end executions (Mumia Abu-Jamal and the Global Abolition of the Death Penalty). About Mumia Abu-Jamal
Mumia Abu-Jamal, an award-winning journalist and the author of six books, has been on Pennsylvania’s death row for nearly three decades. He has become a global symbol in he campaign against the death penalty and human-rights abuses. The case is being litigated in the United States Supreme Court on the issue of the death penalty. A separate question regarding the prosecution’s use of unreliable expert ballistics testimony at trial, is headed to Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Mumia's lead attorney is Robert R. Bryan of San Francisco, and associate and local counsel is Professor Judith L. Ritter of the Pennsylvania Bar. Mumia was arrested during the early morning hours of December 9, 1981, in downtown Philadelphia for the alleged murder of a white police officer. He was tried in 1982 and sentenced to death the following year. The trial was a tragic example of everything that can go wrong in a capital case. The proceedings were marked by racism, inept legal representation, a bigoted and prejudiced judge, a defendant too poor to hire a good lawyer, investigator, or essential forensic experts in such fields as ballistics and pathology, a bigoted judge, a prosecution more intent on winning than seeing that justice was done, and fraud. At the time of his arrest, Mumia was already known as the "Voice of the Voiceless" for speaking on behalf of the dispossessed and against governmental misconduct and corruption. He also was President of the Philadelphia chapter of the Association of Black Journalists. Today his weekly writings and radio commentaries reach people in many countries. In 2008 Mumia was elected to membership in PEN, the association of prominent writers which is the oldest human-rights organization in the world with chapters in 144 countries. His books, writer from a small death-row cell, are: Jailhouse Lawyers: Prisoners Defending Prisoners (2009); We Want Freedom: A Life in the Black Panther Party (2008); Faith of Our Fathers: An Examination of the Spiritual Life of African and African-American People (2003); All Things Censored (2001); Death Blossoms: Reflections From A Prisoner of Conscience (1996); Live From Death Row (1995). The sensational case has raised international controversy and criticism due to the prosecution's racism and fraud. Amnesty International hascalled for a new and fair trial, and was a sponsor of the recent movie, In Prison My Whole Life. As Robert R. Bryan, Mumia's lead counsel has pointed out: "Racism is a thread that has run through this case from the moment of Mumia's arrest and continues today. The Philadelphia police, the District Attorney and some politicians are doing all possible to execute and thereby silence my client. I will not let that happen." Mumia holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Goddard College, Vermont, and a Master of Arts degree from California State University.
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