McKinney Supports Lucasville 5!

[nattyreb]

Tue Feb 5, 2008 9:19 am (PST)

GREEN PARTY OF OHIO
Anita Rios
(419) 243-8772
rhannon@toast.net <mailto:rhannon%40toast.net>


MCKINNEY FOR PRESIDENT
Cynthia McKinney
510-250-0729
talkback2008@runcynthiarun.org

FREE SIDDIQUE ABDULLAH HASAN COALITION
Saadiqah Hasan
(419) 514-7634
saadiqah@freehasan.org
www.FreeHasan.org

February 1, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MCKINNEY URGES REVIEW OF ‘LUCASVILLE 5’ CONVICTIONS
Cynthia McKinney, a former U.S. Representative and current presidential
candidate, has joined a campaign to win pardons for five wrongfully
convicted death row inmates.


On Easter Sunday of 1993, inmates of the Lucasville, Ohio prison, including
Siddique Abdullah Hasan, who had become Imam of the Muslim population since his initial conviction in 1984, and was within a year of becoming eligible
for parole, staged a peaceful sit-in to protest the tuberculin skin test
injection that was mandated by the warden for the entire prison population.

The injection of phenol—an alcoholic substance—is not permissible for
Muslims to voluntarily ingest. Consequently their constitutional right to
practice their religion was being violated. An inmate uprising occurred,
resulting from the frustrations of several other groups of inmates that
decided to convert a peaceful protest into a full-scale rebellion; based on
overcrowding, inadequate medical care, and brutality in the prison.. The
deaths of nine inmates and an officer ensued. Hasan was sentenced to death
for the officer’s murder even though; the State conceded that they had no
material evidence to prove he was guilty of any crime, the State’s star witness against Hasan has recanted his testimony on two affidavits stating that the prosecution coerced him to lie in court to secure Hasan’s conviction.

Several witnesses agreed that Hasan had made courageous efforts to stop the violence and mediate among the inmate groups toward a peaceful end to the uprising,” according to the Free Siddique Abdullah Hasan Coalition, headed up by Hasan’s wife, Saadiqah. The Coalition claims that all the evidence against Hasan was fabricated and that even the State of Ohio now
acknowledges that evidence against him was lacking."

McKinney has written the following letter to Ohio Governor Ted Strickland..

Dear Governor Strickland:

It was with great hope that many of us celebrated your election as Governor of Ohio. It is always good to know that we have a man of conscience in
elected office. And now my best hopes for you have the opportunity to be
realized in a very concrete way. I am writing to ask that you please review
the case of Siddique Abdullah Hasan. I am sure you are aware of the reasons
for this request:
1. There was no eyewitness testimony that Hasan is the guilty party;
2. There was no evidence linking Hasan to murder; and
3. Hasan was not able to afford the type of defense required in a case of
this magnitude, including the inability to pay expert witnesses.

For a man of conscience, it is not easy to do nothing in the face of
injustice. Indeed, Dr. King reminded us of this when he said, "The ultimate
measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and
convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
Governor Strickland, I know you are the ultimate measure of a man and I
encourage you to leave your mark for justice on this case.

Sincerely,

/s/ Cynthia McKinney
(end of text of letter)

Hasan, in a statement on the Coalition web site, says, “There is no doubt
that the effort to create the impression that I was the person responsible
for the uprising, and the death of the prison guard, [comes from] the
State’s fear and hatred of my religion. This became evident when, during the
course of my trial in Cincinnati, the State repeatedly focused on my race,
religion and Islamic attire—all to create an atmosphere of racial prejudice
and Islamophobia before a predominately white and Catholic jury.”

The Hasans, the Free Hasan Coalition, and the Green Party are asking
citizens to flood Governor Strickland’s office with calls and letters
requesting “general amnesty” for all those convicted in the uprising. More
information, plus a sample letter, can be found at www.freehasan.org.
Saadiqah Hasan is available for comment.

McKinney, who represented the 11th Congressional District of Georgia for six
terms between 1993 and 2005, as a Democrat, has joined the Green Party,
“accept[ing] and endors[ing] its Ten Key Values,” and is seeking its
nomination for President.

“The Green Party has a platform that our country and planet needs—from
justice and peace at home and abroad, to bringing about universal access to
health care; from enacting living wages and addressing climate change, to
defending and expanding our civil rights, civil liberties, and more.

“[We] now have to do some things we’ve never done before in order to have
some things we’ve never had before. I stand with [the Green Party], ready to
help bring that about.” McKinney writes in her response to the Green Party
questionnaire.

More information about McKinney’s presidential campaign can be found at
www.allthingscynthiamckinney.com, and www.gp.org, the web site of the Green Party.


Saadiqah Amatullah Hasan
CEDP-Toledo Chapter
"Free Siddique Abdullah Hasan Coalition"
419-514-7634
www.FreeHasan.org
Saadiqah@freeHasan.org
Sherrell508@sbcglobal.net

[Jahness]

Greetings nattyreb!

Cynthia McKinney is representing as usual. She leads by example never mind if others choose not to follow. Somewhere down the line a lot more of our leaders will or might get on the ball with doing real work for our people the way Queen Cynthia McKinney is trying to.

Thanks for sharing.

Peace & Blessings!