[Ppnews] Zolo Azania in Indiana Post Tribune

[PPnews at freedomarchives.org]

The Indiana Post Tribune ran a story on New Afrikan
political prisoner Zolo Azania today. (see below)

Letters to the editor can be sent to the address
below:

Post Tribune
1433 E. 83rd Ave.
Merrillville, IN 46410-6307
editor at post-trib.com
(219) 648-3000
1-800-753-5533

from:
http://www.post-trib.com/cgi-bin/pto-story/news/z1/05-18-05_z1_news_01.html

No end to death debate

May 18, 2005

By Michelle L. Quinn and Lisa DeNeal / Post-Tribune
correspondents

The fate of Zolo Agona Azania has been debated for 24
years and now — at two ends of Lake County on the same
day — forces that wish him saved and those who wish
him dead made their cases again.

At one nexus, more than 250 people, including police
officers and victims’ families, convened in Gary to
honor local officers killed in the line of duty. One
of them was Gary Police Lt. George Yaros, whose death
has been laid at the feet of Azania, then called Rufus
Averhart.

On other the end, a small group gathered outside the
Lake County Courthouse in Crown Point with yellow
signs and paintings done by Averhart (Azania).

They were there to plead with Lake County Prosecutor
Bernard Carter to abandon plans to pursue the death
penalty against Azania, who had been sentenced to
death twice in the 1981 shooting of Yaros.

Each time Azania has appealed, the death sentence has
been overturned, the most recent ruling coming from
the Superior Court of Allen County, Third District.

On May 1, Judge Steve David barred the state from
seeking the death penalty as well as denying all other
pending motions filed by Azania.

Tim Yaros of Valparaiso, the son of slain Gary Police
Lt. George Yaros, attended Tuesday’s memorial honoring
his father and other officers killed in the line of
duty. He was appalled to learn a protest was going on
at the same time in support of his father’s murderer.

“I think it was in very bad taste doing this while the
Gary Police Department are honoring fallen police
officers,” Tim Yaros said.

Though he believes the protesters have a right to
speak out against the death penalty, Tim Yaros said
they shouldn’t have held the rally on the same day as
the memorial.

Azania’s supporters said they not only approve of
David’s ruling but want Azania exonerated, because
they are convinced he didn’t kill Yaros.

Hower Emmer, a third-grade teacher in Chicago who
heads the No Death for Zolo Committee, said the
evidence was all one needs to see innocence.

“The first time his death sentence was overturned, it
was because the prosecution withheld evidence and
(Azania) didn’t have good counsel. The second time, it
was overturned because of a 'computer glitch’ that
eliminated African-Americans from serving on the
jury,” Emmer said. “Now, after 23 years, due process
cannot be guaranteed; so how can we say he’s guilty?
There’s no physical evidence.”

Wendy Maland, an English instructor with the
University of Illinois at Chicago, didn’t have a
clear-cut position on the death penalty before she
started writing to Azania and still doesn’t.

But she believes wholeheartedly that Azania is
innocent.

“He’s an exceptional person, and he’s worked so hard
on his own behalf,” Maland said.

The Rev. Charles Doyle, a senior priest with the Gary
Diocese who heads up the Duneland Coalition to Abolish
the Death Penalty, remembered when he first heard from
Azania more than 20 years ago. The letter prompted him
to write to the Post-Tribune about the death penalty,
but he wasn’t sure he wanted to get to know Azania.

“I was reluctant to establish a personal relationship,
because I was afraid that one day, he would ask me to
be a witness to his murder,” Doyle said. “He has lived
in a box for the last 20 years, never knowing when the
day would come that someone would open the door and
say, 'Come on, it’s time.’ He’s suffered so much.”

Tim Yaros — a death penalty supporter — said Doyle
shouldn’t use his religious beliefs to influence
public officials.

“I’m a Catholic, but the church should not be involved
in this (death penalty). This country is about the
separation of church and state,” Tim Yaros said.

Carter, the county prosecutor, joined the protesters
after about 20 minutes.

“I’m not trying to pass the buck, but the decision is
not solely mine,” said Carter, who said he is
pro-death penalty when appropriate. “If I have any
reason to believe he did not commit the crime, he
wouldn’t be up for the death penalty, nor would he be
charged with murder.

“It’s a tough, tough issue. I understand your
concerns, and we want to make sure we do the right
thing.”

The group presented 400 letters to Carter supporting
Azania’s release.

In Gary, the solemn wails from the Lake County
Sheriff’s Department band of bagpipes filled the air
as the Gary Police Department held a memorial to
remember colleagues who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Though not designed to address Azania’s issue, this
was a venue in which support for him was more than
muted.

A moving rendition of “Amazing Grace,” with special
lyrics honoring police officers, was performed by Gary
Auxiliary Lt. Robert Sanders.

Tim Yaros said he wishes those who support Azania
would think about the pain he caused his family.

“You don’t know what it’s like unless you had someone
in your family murdered. How many of these protesters
are in the same shoes as me and my family?” he said.

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