As most of you already know, Mumia was transferred to SCI-Mahanoy in upstate PA. more than a month ago, directly after Phila. prosecutor Seth Williams announced that he wasn’t pursuing the death penalty in Mumia’s case. This meant that Mumia’s sentence went from death to life in prison without parole. Since arriving at SCI-Mahanoy, Mumia has been in the hole, on AC (administrative custody) status, solitary confinement, even though there is no valid reason for him to be in the hole. The conditions are tortuous and much worse than the conditions on death row. These conditions have been condemned by the United Nations as tortuous. Since arriving at Mahanoy, Superintendent John Kerestes and his staff have gone from one thing to the next to vent their fury and racism on Mumia. First they claimed to be waiting on paperwork that Mumia’s sentence is a life sentence and not death, but Mahanoy has no death chamber so Mumia would never be sent there if he still had a death sentence. When people saw right through that, Kerestes said that Mumia has to cut his hair before going into general population, now he’s saying that Mumia has to let them take his blood (something Mumia really doesn’t want to do) before he can be in general population. Mumia has been in prison for 30 years so why this sudden demand for his blood now. It is crystal clear that Kerestes and his staff are doing everything they can to keep Mumia in the hole under these tortuous conditions, and it’s all rooted in racism and their fury at all the world-wide attention that stays focused on Mumia, after all these years. They’re furious that their plan to legally kill Mumia ain’t working. They’re torturing Mumia for the same reason the Romans tortured Jesus Christ, because he won’t go along with the lies of the system and racism. Prison policy has nothing to do with what they’re doing to Mumia and everybody should be clear on this. We must be vigilant over Mumia, including organizations that can visit him on an official basis. We must continue to flood Supt. Kerestes with calls and emails. Mumia is up in serious racist KKK territory and we must have his back. We’ve brought Mumia too far to get lax now. Remember, the power of the people is a force to be reckoned with when the power of the people stays consistent and united.
International Concerned Family And Friends Of Mumia Abu Jamal and The Move Organization