(continued)
MUMIA: 22 hours.
RW: And you get two hours out to exercise in a cage. And then you read in the newspapers that the politicians say we're coddling people in jails and we need to take away their television sets and their weight lifting programs?
MUMIA: [Laughs] I love it! I love it! In fact, the best thing they could do is that because once they take away people's diversions, then people won't have anything to barrier themselves from the repression of the system. I think it's a good development. People won't have to worry about what's on the soap opera or what's on Jeopardy or who's on Soul Train. They'll have to worry about themselves being in direct conflict with a system that is trying to extinguish their lives.
RW: What happens with your mail and your communications with your lawyers and getting support from the outside?
MUMIA: All of my mail has been severely restricted on the pretext that it might contain illegal funds for me; I might be operating a business from death row. This has included letters from supporters with no money in it that have been held for over a month. When I complain about it they say that it's only been three or four days. They don't acknowledge the fact that they've held the letter for 28 days. This has included a letter from my lawyer with material on my case that has been opened, sealed and then delivered to me some 8 to 11 days afterwards. And they say: " Oops, we made a mistake". They blame me for the volume of mail I have when I complain about it. "Well, you have so much mail that we couldn't tell the legal mail from the regular mail." And that was a letter with my lawyer's name, title, address and "Legal-Confidential" on it. The whole deal. The government has never given a damn about my right to counsel. That's why I was assigned the counsel I was assigned to and refused the right to represent myself. So now that I have a lawyer, they want to make sure that so-called confidential communications are non-confidential.
RW: The demand of your supporters is for a new trial - really, for a first trial. This is obviously a political as well as a legal struggle, with the government seeking to extend the death penalty to political dissenters. The courts are even arguing that people who have used up their appeals should be executed even if new evidence comes forward that shows they are absolutely innocent.
MUMIA: What the courts of America are showing is that there is no law, there's only process. There's only the stage and showmanship of law, not its essence. Because there's no justice. There's no balance. This is the same system that when it wants to prosecute someone it will prosecute you in the state court and if they don't get what they want, they'll come with a federal prosecution. Clearly, the person being prosecuted is in jeopardy by two entities, by the state and the federal government.
RW: This December[1994] will be the 13th anniversary of your incarceration. Waht is your message to those organizing to stop the legal lynching of Mumia Abu-Jamal?
MUMIA: My thanks to them, first of all, for their good and radical work. Second of all, don't give up the fight. I continue to write. I continue to resist. I continue to speak truth to power. I continue to rebel against the system that tried to kill me 13 years ago and continues to try to kill me today. I know that for some people 13 years ago, depending on your age of course, is an eternity ago. For others it seems just like yesterday. What should be clear to everyone, no matter what your perspective, is that this government that tried to kill me in December 1981 still wants me silent and dead today. So the struggle continues. The fight continues!!!
