[Cdhrsupport] LA - Legacy of Torture showing & Defend the SF 8 - Feb 17th

[News about recent Panther busts]

For Immediate Release:

What:   "LEGACY OF TORTURE: The War Against the Black Liberation Movement"
Los Angeles Premiere Showing!

When:   Saturday, February 17, 2007
4:00 - 7:00 PM

Where:  Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research
6120 South Vermont, Los Angeles, CA

The FBI and CA police recently arrested eight aging former Black Panthers,
some of whom were victims of torture, charging them with an alleged
conspiracy to kill cops and the murder of a San Francisco officer 35 years
ago. Denouncing the arrests as an attack on activists, the legacy of the
Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, and a violation of human rights, many
have rallied to their defense.

Their defenders say that there was a real conspiracy at the time by the
police and the FBI to kill Black Panthers!  Known as COINTELPRO, this
clandestine 'dirty war' was carried out inside the US through
assassinations, frame-ups, mass arrests and military-style assault against
the Panthers, and through torture, such as was carried out against
defendants and alleged witnesses in this case. According to a member of the
Jericho Amnesty Coalition in Los Angeles, "as the Black liberation movement
is pushing the new Democratic majority in Congress to reopen hearings into
COINTELPRO, prosecutors have trotted out a totally discredited case to try
to derail those efforts and intimidate Congress." Stuart Hanlon, one of the
attorneys in the case has pointed out that this case was already thrown out
of court once because it's based on the documented torture of the Panthers
carried out by the New Orleans police under the supervision of the San
Francisco police and federal authorities."

This new video documentary, which was released just before the indictments,
was made after some of the defendants in this case, including Altadena
residents Hank Jones and Ray Boudreaux, were released after serving jail
time for refusing to testify to a grand jury. It.is being shown as a
benefit  to support their defense. The program, sponsored by the Jericho
Amnesty Coalition - L.A. will also feature family members of the accused
and supporters from the Black, Puerto Rican, Mexicano, indigenous and other
liberation movements speaking about the importance of the Black Panthers
and of this current case.

The first court hearing for  the four defendants who live in California --
Richard Brown, Hank Jones, Richard  O'Neal, and Ray Boudreaux-was held in
San Francisco Superior Court on  January 29, 2007.  The defendants are
presently being held on bail of $3 million to $5 million each!  Their
arraignment and a bail reduction hearing was carried over until February 14
at 9:00 am in San Francisco. A support rally may be held here in Los
Angeles. Another defendant, Harold Taylor,  is fighting extradition from
Florida. Three others are in NY -- Francisco Torres, and political
prisoners Herman Bell and Jalil Muntaquin of the New York Three (whose
conviction many years ago was based on testimony from the same torture
victim who is the state's witness in this case).

For more information call 310-495-0299 or check
www.geocities.com/jerichoamnestycoalitionla

The national website for up-to-the-minute information and to sign up for
the supporters' list serve is www.cdhrsupport.org. Donations should be made
out to CDHR/AGAPE and sent to the Committee for the Defense of Human
Rights, P.O. Box 90221, Pasadena, CA 91109.
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