To honor Dr. King: Challenge the Ohio prison system on, Jan. 19

[International Action Center]

*To honor Dr. King: 
Challenge the Ohio prison system on Jan. 19*
****

      

In 1995 five innocent men were sent to death row in connection with the 
prison uprising in Lucasville, Ohio in 1993. Siddique Abdullah Hasan, 
George Skatzes, Jason Robb, Namir Abdul Mateen, and Bomani Hondo Shakur 
(Keith Lamar) were convicted of capital murder in relation to the deaths 
of a guard and nine inmates.

Four of the five were actually involved in negotiating a resolution of 
grievances and ending the uprising. The fifth, Bomani Shakur, was one 
who simply refused to testify falsely. None of the Five had any 
involvement in these killings or the decision to carry them out. Other 
inmates had their sentences reduced in exchange for perjured testimony, 
which some of them have now recanted. When the African-American and 
specifically the Muslim defendants were on trial, the prosecution 
appealed to racism and anti-Islamic prejudice.

They have been in solitary confinement for almost 15 years and their 
appeals are running out.

Twenty-five other prisoners are still in prison in connection with the 
Lucasville uprising, with sentences ranging from 25 years to life. In 
many cases, charges were brought against these men because they would 
not provide false testimony against the Five. Some of these prisoners 
are also in solitary confinement.

*YOU CAN HELP REVERSE THIS HORRIBLE INJUSTICE! JOIN US FOR TWO EVENTS 
HONORING DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.'S BIRTHDAY *

**Gather at 12:00 on January 19 for a press conference *at 1:00 pm at 
St. Augustine Episcopal Church, 614 Parmalee Ave., in Youngstown, OH. 
The Lucasville prisoners have joined with prisoner advocacy 
organizations to launch a campaign for contact visits with family 
members and loved ones for all death-sentenced prisoners. Eleven states 
allow regular full contact visits for death row prisoners but Ohio does 
not. For prisoners in solitary, hugs should be a human right!
*
*Demonstrate January 19 at 2:00 PM outside the Ohio State Penitentiary* 
(OSP). OSP is a supermax prison located at 878 Coitsville-Hubbard Rd., 
Youngstown, OH. Four of the Lucasville Five are held in OSP as well as 
most of Ohio's 183 other death row prisoners.

Transportation is being organized from Cleveland. For bus reservations 
or more info, call (216) 481-6671 or email pfcenter at sbcglobal.net.
*
*On February 4, participate in the National Unity Day of Action. *Demand 
that Ohio Governor Ted Strickland overturn the wrongful convictions of 
all prisoners with charges related to the Lucasville rebellion. Write to 
him at Riffe Center, 30th Floor, 77 S. High Street, 30th Floor, 
Columbus, Ohio 43215, FAX (614) 466-9354, call him at (614) 466-3555 or 
email him at http://governor.ohio.gov/.



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