Parole Again
August 24, 2010
Political Prisoners Herman Bell and Sundiata Acoli Denied Parole
After being held captive as prisoners-of-war for damn-near 4 decades
in the United Snakes of Amerikkka's concentration camps, 2 prominent
Black Liberation Army [BLA] comrades - who sacrificed their physical
freedom so that many others may enjoy theirs - were again denied
parole recently.
Since those revelations, there have been various rallying demands
from their supporters, for the courageous men to be set free from the
belly of the beast.
This month, the plight of political-prisoners was again addressed at
Harlem's Assata Shakur/Guillermo Morales Center, during the weekly
'Cop-Watch' seminars conducted at their office. The recent
rejections by the parole boards of their respective states brought
the cases of Sundiata Acoli and Herman Bell to the forefront during
the latest meeting.
Earlier, in March of this year, Acoli was again refused parole for
the third time straight in New Jersey, while later, on July 16th,
Bell was denied his physical freedom by the parole board of New York
state for a fourth consecutive time.
Many contend that both men's fight for self-determination, community
work and affiliation with the Black Panther Party [BPP] and BLA as
being the real reason for their unjust incarcerations, and not the
crimes they are charged with committing.
"Joining the BPP was the most logical thing to do; through its
survival programs, it sought to educate, protect, and organize the
Black community. Since chattel slavery, Black Amerikkkans have long
claimed the right to pursue happiness in their own fashion," determined Bell.
The Black Liberation Army was established during the late '60s while
the original Black Panther Party was being infiltrated and
destabilized by J. ["Gay"] Edgar Hoovers' clandestine "COINTELPRO"
operations [Counter-Intelligence-Program]. Consisting of some
original BPP comrades, and other Black revolutionaries who were
battling imperialism, the BLA struck much fear into the powers-that-be.
"Under COINTELPRO, 'frame-ups', secret deals, coercion, threats,
intimidations and planted news articles, were all part of its
strategy to criminalize the Black Liberation Movement. Given these
daunting circumstances, one either went underground or left the
country. I chose to stay," Bell clarified.
Just as their predecessors had done, the BLA was instrumental in
providing much-needed food and education to inner-city youths, as
well as combating against police executions of innocent civilians;
throughout the wilderness of North Amerikkka.
On the other hand, the Justice Department reports claim that the BLA
is responsible for approximately 100 various violent incidents
nation-wide against the establishment during 1970-76; including the
October 22nd 1970 bombing of Harold Hamilton's funeral, a San
Francisco cop who was killed while responding to a bank robbery. No
additional casualties were reported.
The Fraternal Order of Police credits the freedom-fighting
organization with over a dozen police murders, such as; the ambush of
Joseph Piagentini and Waverly Jones, 2 NYC cops who were aired-out on
May 21st 1971.
Jalil Muntaquim, Albert Washington, Francisco Torres, Gabriel Torres
and Bell were framed for the murders.
Also, on August 29th 1971, John Victor Young, a San Francisco cop was
gunned down in a vacant police station. Days later, a local
newspaper received a letter allegedly signed by the BLA, claiming
culpability. Then on November 3rd of the same year, James Greene, an
Atlanta cop was clapped and killed in a patrol car his badge, gun
and wallet were taken. Investigators say research led to 2 BLA
members - Twynin Meyers, killed in a 1973 shootout with pigs, and
Kamau Sadiki, captured in 2002.
Arrested in 1973, Bell along with two comrades, Muntaquim and Albert
Nuh-Washington, a.k.a. the NY3, initially received a hung
jury. Then, even with no substantial evidence or eye-witness
accounts, were later convicted in 1975 and hit with 25-life sentences
for the 1971 murders of Piagentini and Jones.
During the second trial, the government brutally tortured and forced
a comrade of the NY3 to ante-up some secured, damaging evidence, and
dropped charges against another witness, in exchange for her
testimony. After 29 years behind bars, Washington died from cancer in 2000.
"Torture by law enforcement personnel, coerced witnesses, perjured
testimony, manufactured and circumstantial material evidence, in
conjunction with prosecutorial and judicial misconduct are what
persuaded the jury to convict 3 out of the 5 of us at the end of our
second trial," stated Bell.
During an appeal hearing years later, a federal judge discovered that
a detective had falsely testified regarding ballistics reports at the
previous trial. Additionally, it was discovered that the government
illegally destroyed the original ballistic evidence during the
appellate process. It was established that the government
consistently broke U.S. laws and the judge also mishandled the trial,
in order to help ensure a conviction.
Due to their impressive prison records for 30-plus years being
'model-inmates', earning college degrees, tutoring others - both men
seemed to be great candidates for release when they faced the parole
board in 2006, but were denied.
The following January, a joint task-force from federal and state
levels charged the BLA for Young's murder in the case now known as
the 'San Francisco 8'. Hank Jones, Ray Boudreaux, Richard Brown,
Richard O'Neal, Francisco Torres and Harold Taylor were all arrested;
and along with Bell and Muntaquim were formerly charged with murder
and conspiracy for various violent acts between 1968-1973.
By January 2008 the conspiracy charges against 5 of the men were
dropped, and Richard O'Neal was dismissed completely from the case,
whereas they were then known as the 'San Francisco 7.
On June 29th 2009 Bell plead guilty to voluntary-manslaughter. The
following month, Muntaquim plead no-contest to 'conspiracy to commit
voluntary-manslaughter'. Also in July, charges were dropped against
Boudreaux, Brown, Jones and Taylor.
Previously, back in 1975 a judge ruled that police had used
unconventional torture tactics asphyxiation with hot, wet blankets,
beatings, cattle prods, electric shock, plastic bags and sensory
deprivation to gather coerced testimonies and fraudulent evidence
against the defendants - and the charges were dismissed.
Even with an impeccable record of conduct within the institutions, a
quality list of accomplishments, a reputation for conducting
recreational activities and high recommendations from prison
officials throughout the course of his incarceration; and Bell is
still being denied parole.
Waverly Jones Jr., the son of a cop that Bell allegedly killed met
the parole board in 2004, stating:
"Me, personally, have forgiven these men for the positions that they
took back then. I don't see them as someone that's going to come out
of prison and commit violent crimes or anything of that nature. I
feel that Herman Bell and Anthony Bottom [Muntaquim] were both
victims as well of a much larger scheme which got them incarcerated
to this day.
And to me they have shown great resilience in prison, that their
mind is still intact, that their spirit is still eager to do good,
and I just pray that the parole board will look at the context and
the time and send a message to me of healing."
Bell's soldier in arms Sundiata Acoli story may be more to known to
others from his affiliation with Assata Shakur as he's highly
mentioned in her autobiography.
Sundiata Acoli was arrested for the shooting death of a NJ
state-trooper on May 2nd 1973, in a highly publicized
incident. Acoli, Assata Shakur and Zayd Shakur were driving north on
the NJ Turnpike when they were pulled over and ambushed by the pigs.
The BLA comrades returned fire. Trooper Werner Forster and Zayd were
both killed, while Assata and another trooper were wounded in the bloodbath.
Acoli escaped but was captured days later. He and Assata were
eventually convicted, after a highly volatile trial, and given a life
sentence, plus 30 years.
In 1969, as a member of the Harlem Chapter of the BPP, Acoli and 13
of his comrades had been arrested in the Panther 21 conspiracy case,
which also involved Tupac's mother - Afeni Shakur. Acoli was held
captive until they were later acquitted after just 2 hours of deliberations.
Upon arriving in Trenton State Prison, because of his affiliation
with the BPP & BLA, Acoli was confined to the special Management
Control Unit, where he was only allowed to leave his cell 10 minutes
a day to shower, and twice a week for rec-time, remaining there
almost 5 years. Although he had no federal charges, Acoli has
revolved through a number of federal prisons since 1979, where he's
on 23 hours-a-day lockdown.
Acoli was up for parole in the fall of 1992, but was not permitted to
personally attend his hearing and told to participate via phone from
Leavenworth instead. Despite an excellent prison work, academic and
disciplinary record; numerous job offers and thousands of letters of
support, Sundiata was still denied.
Instead, he was hit with another 20 years. Mandating he at least do
12 more years before being eligible for parole again. It's the
longest hit in NJ history. He was again denied when he applied in 2004.
The parole board's stated reason for the 20-year hit was Sundiata's
membership in the BPP and BLA prior to his arrest, and that
rehabilitation was not sufficiently achieved. The real reason for
the 20-year hit is to attempt to force Sundiata to renounce his
community ties and to proclaim to the world that he was wrong to
struggle for the liberation of his people. Spokesman Neal Buccino
said the NJ board has not decided when Acoli will be eligible for parole again.
Words from Assata Shakur:
"I want so much for Sundiata to know how much he is loved and
respected. I want him to know how much he is appreciated by
revolutionaries all over the world. I want Sundiata to know how much
he is cherished by African people, not only in the Americas, but all
over the Diaspora. I want him to know how much we admire his
strength, his courage, his kindness and compassion. Sundiata loves
freedom and we must struggle for the life and freedom of Sundiata."
--
To Write These Brothers Held As Prisoners Of War:
Herman Bell # 79D0262
Sullivan Correctional Facility
P.O. Box 116
325 Riverside Drive / Fallsburg, New York 12733-0116
Sundiata Acoli #39794-066 (Squire)
P.O. Box 1000, FCI Otisville / Otisville, NY 10963-1000
Also To Petition NY Governor For The Release Of Bell Write:
Governor David A. Paterson
State Capitol
Albany, New York 12224
.
0 comments:
Post a Comment