Free Mumia!

As activists last week rightly demanded the release and the dropping all charges against journalist Julian Assange, we must never forget that the war against radical journalism is being waged on a worldwide basis.

We must also remember that this is nothing new.

Journalist Mumia Abu Jamal turns 70 in April and has spent more than 42 of those years in prison for a crime he not only didn’t commit but couldn’t have committed.

Much of that time was spent on death row until, in 2011, he was released into the general prison population under another sentence - life without possibility of parole or, in other words, death by imprisonment at SCI Mahanoy.

Mumia’s health has taken a turn for the worse.

Recent visitors are reporting that a debilitating long-term skin condition, including painful around-the-clock itching, has returned with a vengeance.

An appeal against his 1982 conviction for the murder of a police officer in Pennsylvania was granted in 2018.

In early 2019, new evidence was discovered by the attorneys in six previously undisclosed evidence boxes uncovered by Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner.

But, in late March 2023, Mumia’s legal battle for release was dealt a setback when Judge Lucretia Clemons from the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas filed notice of her intent to dismiss his appeal petition based on that new evidence. Appeals of Clemons’ ruling are in process. 

With ample evidence of police, prosecutorial and judicial misconduct in the case, supporters continue to demand that Krasner use his authority to free Mumia.

But the years of imprisonment have taken their inevitable toll on Mumia.

Poor prison diet, limited exercise and possibly toxic prison water have jeopardised the health and wellbeing of Mumia.

Since 2016, Mumia has experienced bloodied open wounds all over his body, severe itching and hardening, leather-like skin conditions, thought to be related to a hepatitis C infection which had gone untreated for years. 

After taking the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PA DOC) to court in January 2017, Mumia won a lawsuit that not awarding Mumia treatment for hepatitis C would be “cruel and unusual punishment.” 

But the unnecessary delay in treatment appears to have left him with other health issues.

In March 2021, Mumia lost 30 pounds while ill from Covid-19; at the same time he was still dealing with the severe skin condition. 

On April 19, 2021, he underwent double bypass heart surgery. His doctor then prescribed a cardiac-healthy diet and regular exercise. 

But, for nearly three years, the prison has failed to provide Mumia with the required diet. 

As well as demanding justice for Mumia in the same way that we are demanding it for Assange we must demand the basic health care that has clearly been missing for many decades for Mumia.

We know that the establishment are determined to hand Assange back to the United States so he can be put on trial for the “crime” of journalism.

The journalism of Mumia has also been a thorn in the flesh of the US state. We must not allow them to kill Mumia.

In reality freedom will be the only effective health treatment for Mumia.

Free Mumia!