Mumia Abu-Jamal: The conviction of civil rights attorney Lynne Stewart and her co defendants, translator Mohammed Yousry and paralegal Ahmed Sattar is a triumph of fear over reason. The three legal workers were charged and convicted of aiding and abetting terrorism in connection with a representation of the blind Egyptian Sheik, Omar Abdel-Rahman. When the former Attorney General, Ashcroft, announced the arrest of Stewart, he did so on the Late Night [with] David Letterman talk show, certainly an unprecedented venue for such an announcement. And as it began on TV, so is it often prosecuted – with a fearsome visage of Osama Bin Laden, beamed to jurors via videotape, threatening to attack America on the Sheik’s behalf. Even though the judge dutifully instructed the jury that Osama Bin Laden had nothing to do with the case, how do you wash something like that from the mind after it’s been admitted into evidence? Lynn’s husband, activist Ralph Pointer, put the hammer to the nail when he said of the trial, “This prosecution doesn’t have a damn thing to do with terrorism. It has to do with politics and putting Lynne Stewart away.” Stewart was really targeted because she ignored unconstitutional rules put in place by the government. In an interview with Stewart, she spoke about what the case was really about.
Lynne Stewart: The Justice Department decided that things that I did as a lawyer are now to be outlawed, are now to be made into crimes in order to deter other lawyers from vigorously defending people. What I basically did was, I issued a press release on behalf of my client. They said that this press release was materially aiding a terrorist organization, thus making it impossible for any first amendment right to be protected. And to me, that is the real essence of this work, is that we be permitted to defend people such as yourself in these cases, as political people, not just as defendant number 10872.”
Mumia Abu-Jamal: Recently, Black political prisoner Albert Woodfox of the Angola Three, talked about the importance of lawyers in destroying isolation.
Albert Woodfox: I think this was a pretty strong shot across the bow, as they say, you know. If you dare put forth an honest attempt to uphold the standards of law in this country, we will get you, you know. We will destroy you, because in most cases, they are our only voice to the outside world, you know.”
Mumia Abu-Jamal: And now, the state has prevailed, sending shock waves through the defense bar that already shies away from the kind of cases that has been Stewart’s staple for a generation. She’s taken on cases involving members of the Black Panther Party, the Attica brothers, Puerto Rican independence fighters, and since at least 1995, the blind Sheik. In order to put into operation the draconian special measures of the government, the state needs to seed fear into those who are sworn to protect and provide a full and vigorous defense — lawyers. But the battle isn’t over. Perhaps what has happened has awakened many people in this country who would have preferred to slumber. Lynne Stewart, paralegal Ahmed Sattar and professional translator Mohammed Yousry plan to stage a vigorous appeal of this outrageous verdict. They will need your support now more than ever. It’ll take the work of many to undo John Ashcroft’s revenge. From death row, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.
These commentaries are produced by Noel Hanrahan for Prison Radio.
