Demand for Mumia-Abu Jamal’s release
December 29, 2020

Dear Governor Wolf,

I am Akiko Hoshino, Co-chair of Hoshino Defense Committee, and the wife
of the innocent prisoner Fumiaki Hoshino who died last year in prison
after 44 years detention. On November 14, 1971 he led a demonstration
against the Okinawa Reversion Agreement between the U.S and Japan and
was sentenced to indefinite term imprisonment for framed-up charge of
killing a policeman. There was no physical evidence at all; only forced
eyewitness testimonies of juvenile participants of the demonstration
were the incriminating evidence. The “most competent evidence” was
that a juvenile saw a man in beige jacket beating the policeman and he was
Hoshino. However, according to the physical evidence found out later,
Hoshino wore light blue jacket and gray trousers.

In 2018, when he spent 30 years in prison since his conviction, we
strongly demanded the parole board to initiate the examination for
parole, because the correctional regulation stipulates that a prisoner
who has been over 30 years in prison shall be examined by the board. Our
demand was denied. On May 30, 2019, Fumiaki Hoshino died after an
unsuccessful liver cancer surgery. The Tokushima Prison gave no medical
care until the tumor had grown to 5.5 inches by 4.3 inches. After the
surgery, the Medical Correction Center in East Japan did not care
Hoshino in the ICU but left him in a recovery room without even nurse’s
round every four hours in the night. We filed a state compensation
lawsuit against the Prison and the Medical Correction Center.

We, the National Railway Motive Power Union of Chiba (Doro-Chiba) is the
railroad workers’ union that has been fighting against the division and
privatization of Japan National Railways—the biggest union busting in
Japan’s history and unprecedented unfair labor practices enforcement by
the government itself in 1987. Together with many labor unions in the
U.S. and around the world, Doro-Chiba has been advocating struggles to
free Mumia Abu-Jamal.

We are pleased to hear the Pennsylvania Supreme Court dismissed the
petition of the widow of the police officer and the Fraternal Order of
Police to remove the DA Larry Krasner as prosecutor in Mumia Abu-Jamal’s case, because Krasner had not continued suppression of exculpatory
evidence. This is one step forward to a retrial.

We heard a news about Covid-19 infections and an inmate death in SCI
Mahayana. For senior and immune compromised inmates, Covid-19 is deadly
disease.

The prison authority refused to give medical care for Mumia’s hepatitis
C which severely injured his health including his immune system.
Fortunately, Mumia and 7,000 inmates eventually got the medication for
hep C after supporters’ protest actions and petitions including ours in
Japan. However, his health damage caused by hep C and extremely long
imprisonment is very grave. Mumia must be released immediately.

Day in, day out, Mumia is suffering pain and deadly health risk. In
prison one cannot keep social distance. It is urgent to release senior
and immune compromised prisoners.

Mumia Abu-Jamail is innocent. He has been behind bars for 39 long years
and suffered hep C. Please free Mumia immediately.

Sincerely,

Akiko Hoshino, Co-chair of Hoshino Defense Committee
<[email protected]>

National Railway Motive Power Union of Chiba (Doro-Chiba)
<[email protected]>