[Ppnews] Sundiata Acoli Parole Info

[Political Prisoner News]

Ona Move, y'all,

Below is the information compiled by the SAFC to bolster Bro. 
Sundiata's brief e-mail blurb that some of you may have received, 
with the critical point being that the letters be addressed to the 
Parole Board, but be mailed to Atty. Florence Morgan.  Please make 
sure that is stressed anywhere that you are able.  A formal mailing 
from the SAFC is forthcoming shortly for mass distribution.

Thanks so much, in struggle,

Sis. Marpessa (see below)
----------

Sundiata Acoli is a 72 year old prisoner at FCI Otisville, NY, who is 
sentenced to life with the possibility of parole, afflicted with 
common old age infirmities and has been imprisoned 36 years to date. 
He was arrested for the May 2nd, 1973 NJ Turnpike shooting incident 
in which he shot no one but merely managed to survive but in which 
his passenger, Zayd Shakur, and a New Jersey trooper, Werner 
Foerster, were killed. Another trooper, James Harper, was wounded as 
was Sundiata's other passenger, Assata Shakur, who was at the time 
the object of a nationwide "woman hunt" and she was captured. 
Sundiata was also wounded, then captured 40 hrs later. Sundiata and 
both his passengers were members of the Black Panther Party at the 
time.  For those reasons, and because Assata escaped prison long ago, 
the Parole board has twice denied Sundiata parole claiming he's 
likely to commit another crime.

Sundiata has endured some of the harshest treatment a prisoner could 
experience. Still, he maintains a favorable prison record. He is a 
talented painter and has written numerous published articles about 
the prison industrial complex. He is a beloved father, grandfather, 
brother and elder to many with a rich history of making invaluable 
contributions to his community.

In the 60's Sundiata left a promising career at NASA as a computer 
programmer to travel to the South to help register Blacks to vote. 
During his activism with the NY Chapter of the Black Panther Party, 
Sundiata contributed to various programs providing the city of Harlem 
with community control of schools, tenant control of slum housing, 
free breakfast for school children, free health care, legal clinics 
and political education classes. He also worked on community programs 
against drug dealers and police brutality. Numerous Panthers are 
still languishing in prison and have repeatedly been denied parole 
despite clear support for their release.
Sundiata comes up for parole hearing again in Feb. 2010 and people 
concerned about justice are urged to send letters, cards and 
signature petitions which express in effect: 36 years of imprisonment 
is enough. Sundiata Acoli NJ#54859/Fed#39794-066 has long ago 
fullfilled all requirements for parole and is too old, infirmed and 
is highly unlikely to commit another crime so I urge you to release 
Sundiata Acoli on parole.

As the attorneys will present your letters formally and keep record 
of the number of letters received,  please do not mail them to the 
Parole Board directly. Instead mail your letters to:
Atty. Florence Morgan
120-46 Queens Blvd., Kew Gardens, NY 11415.

Letters should be addressed to:
Chairwoman Volette C. Ross
New Jersey State Parole Board
P.O. Box 862
Trenton NJ 08625

To join the Sundiata Acoli Freedom Campaign (SAFC) email list or 
request additional information, feel free to contact SAFC by email at 
<mailto:TheSAFC at gmail.com>TheSAFC at gmail.com.

Thank you.



Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/ppnews_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20090918/cedfd660/attachment.htm>