Gov't and media harass Mumia supporters
By Betsey
Piette
Philadelphia
"All the lies we can fit into print" would be an apt
slogan for the Philadelphia Inquirer, whose latest attack on
the International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia
Abu-Jamal (ICFFMAJ) over the issue of the group's non-profit
status appears designed to hurt the group financially just
before Abu-Jamal's scheduled Aug. 17 court appearance.
ICFFMAJ spokesperson Pam Africa told Workers World: "This
is a diversion away from the real issue here, which is the
state's attempt to murder Mumia. We are in complete
compliance with every request. They are attempting to
discredit International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia
Abu-Jamal because we are fighting to win freedom for
Mumia."
On Aug. 5, an Inquirer article by Monica Yant Kinney and
Craig R. McCoy was full of innuendo claiming that the support
group for Mumia Abu-Jamal had not complied with state
requests for financial details, and that the group refused to
open its books for inspection. A similar article appeared in
the New York Times.
Attacks aimed at cutting funds for Mumia's
support
However, the Inquirer article contradicted itself in a
later paragraph when it acknowledged that the group provided
financial figures for 1999 when it first applied for and
received tax-exempt status from the IRS, and sought state
recognition as well. The Inquirer reporters also never
explain how they came to have a copy of private
correspondence between the Pennsylvania Bureau of Charitable
Organizations (BCO) and the Abu-Jamal support group.
Tiffany Johnson, a representative of ICFFMAJ, told Workers
World that the group quickly responded to four new requests
outlined in a letter it received from the BCO dated July 9,
2001, weeks before the Inquirer article appeared. "We
understand that BCO regulations require us to make our
reviewed financial statements and tax statements available
for public review," Johnson noted. "But why is it that the
BCO is faxing our private correspondence to the press? And
why didn't the Inquirer report that we complied with the
BCO's requests?"
The Philadelphia Inquirer and the state of Pennsylvania
have been working hand-in-hand to hamper fund-raising on
Abu-Jamal's behalf for over two years. On the day before the
Millions for Mumia rally in April 1999, the Inquirer for the
first time targeted the Black United Fund of Pennsylvania, a
registered charity that had collected donations on behalf of
ICFFMAJ throughout much of the 1990s. Using the pretext that
BUF had failed to renew its state charity registration, the
city of Philadelphia, then under Mayor Ed Rendell, kicked the
fund out of its employees' charity drive.
This public retaliation against BUF for supporting
Abu-Jamal cost the charity $99,000, about a quarter of its
annual income. It was also a direct attack against the
African American community in Philadelphia, which is the
primary beneficiary of BUF's work.
To avoid further attacks against BUF, the ICFFMAJ
incorporated in July 1999. It completed its first fiscal year
on June 30, 2000. State and federal tax laws gave the ICFFMAJ
until mid-November 2000 to file (even without any of the
usual extensions). Yet on Oct. 16, 2000, the ICFFMAJ received
a letter from the Pennsylvania attorney general's office
demanding that it disclose the names and amounts of all
contributions received since 1991. The letter also demanded
that the Abu-Jamal support group turn over all its receipts
to the state within two weeks.
ICFFMAJ countered the state's initial attack with help
from the American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged the
legality of the state's requests. However, when the ICFFMAJ
submitted the required financial statements, the state then
demanded to see all receipts for reported expenses. The
state's demands are without precedent for newly established
non-profit organizations with the designation 501(c)(3).
Office broken into, records stolen
"We were in the process of meeting the filing requirements
for our first fiscal year when portions of our records were
stolen from our office in June of 2000," Johnson said. "It's
like a witch hunt," she stated. "As soon as we meet one
request, they come up with another. The Attorney General's
office became involved while we were working to meet the
deadlines for the BCO requirements."
Johnson explained that the Pennsylvania attorney general's
office had also intervened in Abu-Jamal's case in 1995, prior
to his Post Conviction Relief Act hearing. The Department of
Corrections was illegally opening privileged legal
correspondence from Abu-Jamal's attorneys outlining defense
plans for the PCRA hearings, and sending it to the attorney
general's office, after which it mysteriously ended up in
Governor Tom Ridge's office. Abu-Jamal brought a civil suit
against the Department of Corrections in 1995 to expose this
practice. "We're wondering if this is their retaliation for
our catching them in the act of violating Mumia's rights in
1995," Johnson stated.
"Each time the state and the media attack us, we come back
stronger than ever," Pam Africa told Workers World. "Since
the Inquirer article appeared August 5, our phones have been
ringing off the hook from supporters telling us they'll be in
court with Mumia on Aug. 17."
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
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