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Amnesty members hold lock-in for imprisoned activist

Members of the UA chapter of Amnesty International are taking turns sitting inside a jail cell replica in an effort to bring attention to a 1980s trial that resulted in the imprisonment of a Black Panther Party activist.

In 1981, Mumia Abu-Jamal was convicted of murdering a Philadelphia police officer. The journalist and activist, a member of the Black Panthers since he was 15, was sentenced to death in 1982 in what many human rights groups say was an unfair trial.

Amnesty International and other human rights groups are campaigning to give Abu-Jamal a new trial, said Anjali Bhasin, a creative writing junior and Amnesty member.

"There's a lot of evidence that reflects he's likely innocent and he's on death row right now," Bhasin said. "We're asking people to support his evidentiary trial."

Besides taking turns sitting inside a jail cell behind Old Main for the next three days, members are also asking University of Arizona students to sign a petition to ask Philadelphia Judge William Yohn for a new trial.

Bhasin said new evidence has been discovered since the trial, which could prove Abu-Jamal's innocence. A Philadelphia medical examiner has determined the bullet that killed the officer was from a .44 caliber pistol.

Abu-Jamal had a .38 caliber gun for protection while he was a cab driver, she said.

Bhasin added that during the trial, evidence from Abu-Jamal's time with the Black Panther Party was used "out of context" by prosecutors.

Bhasin said Amnesty members are not on the UA Mall to prove Abu-Jamal's innocence, but rather to promote awareness of human rights violations.

"We're not claiming he's innocent," she said. "We're saying his human rights were violated."

Along with the jail cell replica and petition, the group also has a booth with information and statistics about the death penalty.

Amnesty member Sabin Calvert, a media arts junior, said the demonstration was not only about Abu-Jamal.

"Part of this is to promote awareness of the death penalty," Calvert said from inside the cell. "We work against the death penalty."

Calvert added that Abu-Jamal had accumulated an FBI file because he was an active member of the Black Panther Party.

"We feel he is a political prisoner because he had been watched by the FBI before this incident occurred," Calvert said.

Some UA students agreed with Amnesty's stand against the death penalty.

Mandy Siegal, creative writing and political science sophomore, signed the group's petition.

"I signed the petition because we're the only major world power who still uses the death penalty," Siegal said. "Anything I can do to further the cause against the death penalty, I will do."

Other students said they didn't understand the Abu-Jamal case that caused the Amnesty group to be out on the mall.

Amanda Hensal, a business freshman, said even though the cell caught her attention and made her stop by the booth, she did not understand the demonstration's purpose.

"I really don't know what the issue is," Hensal said. "They should have a print-out about what (Abu-Jamal) is about."