[grc] Mumia still in danger - keep up the pressure!

[Bob Lederer]

*** PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY ****

Mumia Abu-Jamal was rushed to the hospital Monday after passing out at 
State Correctional Institution (SCI) Mahanoy. At admission, he was 
diagnosed with diabetic shock, with an extremely dangerous blood sugar 
level of 779 (for reference: coma can set in at 800). By Tues. 
afternoon, it was down to 333, still in the danger zone.

He was disappeared and denied all visits for 20 hours (or even the 
knowledge that his family was outside), while shackled to his bed (and 
remains shackled). Family members were given NO information, not even 
told he was at the hospital - they found out on their own.

Thanks to the deluge of calls to Pa. prison officials demanding that 
Mumia's family be allowed to visit him, his wife Wadiya and brother 
Keith Cook were granted 30-minute hospital visits on Tuesday morning. 
They reported that he was coherent, alert, and eating heartily, but 
weak. Today another of Mumia's brothers, Bill Cook, and his son Jamal 
Hart were able to have short visits. But also today, the prison denied a 
follow-up visit to Wadiya and Keith, invoking a new rule allowing only 
one visit per week for immediate family.

Until the movement intervened, Mumia's life was in *extreme* danger. 
There are strong indications of malfeasance by prison authorities that 
could have led to Mumia's death. Once again, the international movement 
in support of Mumia has saved his life. But it's only a partial victory 
because he's still in their hands, so his life *continues* to be in danger.

*The Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition is urging everyone to keep calling 
the Pa. prison authorities to demand that Mumia's wife and brother be 
able to visit him this week, and that his case be reviewed by doctors 
representing his family* (also give his birth name, Wesley Cook):

  * Corrections Secretary John Wetzel, 717-728-4109 or
    ra-crpadocsecretary at pa.gov <mailto:ra-crpadocsecretary at pa.gov>
  * Pennsylvania Bureau of Health Care Director Chris Oppman, 717-728-5311
  * Schuylkill Medical Center Superintendent Mark Lory, 570-621-5000
  * Mahanoy State Correctional Institute Superintendent John Kerestes,
    570-773-2158

*The fight-back is strong and continues:*

  * A large international campaign to get Mumia the care he needs.
  * A press conference Tuesday afternoon outside the hospital, featuring
    his family, lawyer, and supporters drew significant corporate media
    coverage. See AP account at
    http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/family-mumia-abu-jamal-treated-diabetes-complications-30032185
  * "Family and friends are not leaving Pottsville. Mumia is not out of
    danger and we will remain vigilant and mobilized."

Background:

  * For the past three months Mumia has been suffering from an extreme
    eczema outbreak, with raw, blistered and bloody skin. During this
    time, Mumia alerted several supporters and prison doctors about the
    depths of his concern. Not only did they fail to adequately address
    the situation, but, as Pam Africa said, "They gave him the wrong
    medication which made his condition worse."
  * Bret Grote
    <https://www.facebook.com/bret.grote.9/posts/815953471816886?fref=nf>,
    one of Mumia's attorneys, with the Abolition Law Center, said:
    "Mumia does not have a history of diabetes, but had been
    experiencing a series of symptoms that should have alerted medical
    staff at the prison to the onset of the disease. Instead, he was not
    given comprehensive diagnostic treatment and a medical crisis
    emerged that could have resulted in his slipping into a diabetic
    coma or worse."
  * Pam Africa of MOVE said, "Prison officials are lying.  Mumia is
    going through torture at the hands of Department of Corrections
    through medical neglect. It is clear to people that they want to
    kill Mumia. Inmates on the inside who questioned what was happening
    have been subjected to direct retaliation by the superintendent.
    They have been moving concerned inmates out of Mumia's unit in an
    effort to both bury and keep this critical information from the
    public."
  * In December, in alarmingly similar circumstances, political prisoner
    Phil Africa of the MOVE organization was suddenly hospitalized and
    denied family visits as well as medical updates, and within a week
    he died.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

As Bret Grote wrote today: "The state keeps trying to kill Mumia - spied 
on by the FBI since he was 15, shot in the chest and severely beaten on 
December 9, 1981, framed for a killing he did not commit and put on 
death row, held in solitary confinement under threat of execution for 30 
years, and now denied competent, basic medical care. He is alive because 
the movement has fought like hell to make it so. The government of the 
united states of apartheid can never be trusted to protect the rights or 
respect the lives of Black people or those held in prison. Never 
forgive, never forget. *Stay alert and ready to act.* Free Mumia!"

FOR MORE INFO & TO STAY UPDATED:

http://www.freemumia.com <http://www.freemumia.com>

http://www.prisonradio.com <http://www.prisonradio.com>

_https://www.facebook.com/bret.grote.9?fref=nf_

_http://sfbayview.com/_

_http://www.democracynow.org/2015/3/31/mumia_abu_jamal_moved_from_prison_