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political prisoners

Chelsea Manning Begins Hunger Strike Against Prison Conditions

By Editor of Counter Current News - U.S. Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning announced she began a hunger strike in protest of her prison conditions as she serves a 35-year sentence for leaking classified documents. Advocacy group Fight for the Future shared a statement from the 28-year-old transgender woman as she demanded written assurances from the Army she will receive all of the medically prescribed recommendations for her gender dysphoria and that the “high tech bullying” will stop.

Update From Chelsea’s Legal Team

Bt Staff of Free Chelsea Manning - The prison has notified us that Chelsea was hospitalized and remains under a doctor’s care. At this time her doctors are recommending against a call and we are respecting those recommendations but are in close touch with the facility and will continue to monitor her condition and hope to connect with her soon. To protect her privacy, that is all we can say at the moment. Please continue to send Chelsea your good thoughts and messages of support.

Political Prisoner Rev. Edward Pinkney Fears For His Life

By Glen Ford for Black Agenda Report - Rev. Edward Pinkney, the imprisoned community activist from the mostly Black town of Benton Harbor, Michigan, believes his life is in danger. Pinkney is serving a sentence of two and a half to ten years following his conviction by an all-white jury on the flimsiest of charges of tampering with an election recall petition. He told Kenneth Rhoades, a supporter on the outside, that he’s not afraid of the inmates, but fears the government is out to do him harm – and that they might get away with it because, in his words, “they cover everything up”...

With My Brother In Guantánamo Bay, The Heart Of My Family Is Missing

By Yahdih Ould Salahi for The Guardian - I was 19 years old when my brother disappeared, and I was 20 when I discovered he was in Guantánamo. I’m 33 now, and a German citizen living in Dusseldorf, where I work as a computer systems engineer. I have a productive and peaceful life because of my brother. We grew up in Mauritania, one of the world’s poorest countries. I am the youngest of 12 siblings. My father died not long after I was born, and Mohamedou became the heart of our family. He studied hard, winning a scholarship to study engineering in Germany.

Gary Tyler Freed From Angola After 42 Years, Sentence Illegal

By Staff of The Associated Press - After almost 42 years at Louisiana's maximum security prison, Gary Tyler is a free man. Tyler had been jailed at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola since he was 16, convicted of first-degree murder for the 1974 slaying of a fellow Destrehan High School student amid rising racial tensions surrounding school integration. Now 57, he was released Friday. Norris Henderson, a counselor working with Tyler to help ease his re-entry into society, said Tyler's first reaction after walking out of Angola was relief.

Macri’s Gov’t Dismisses Calls To Release Activist Milagro Sala

By Staff of Tele Sur - Human rights groups have dubbed Milagro Sala the "first political prisoner" of the right-wing Mauricio Macri administration. Argentina's Appeals Chamber of Jujuy rejected the release of Indigenous leader Milagro Sala, after rejecting the defense appeal filed by her lawyer. For the judges, the release of Sala could "hinder the normal process" against her and the Tupac Amaru neighborhood movement she leads.

Leonard Peltier Birthday Letter From Prison

By Leonard Peltier for Popular Resistance - Well, today is another b-day for me — my 71st. I had hoped I would not be here at this age, but that's not to be. So, I have to take a deep breathe and slowly let it out… and prepare myself for yet another day in here. February 6th marks my 40th year in prison. Hey, did you know that the last time I went before the Parole Commission (2009), I was denied because I looked young and healthy… and a reason given for denying me parole was that I might be too much of an influence on the young Natives? Yeah, only in America. I've been encouraged by things I've read recently though. And looking back… It's been over 60 years, maybe a little longer. I was around 7 or 8 years old when I heard the old People talking about taking care of Mother Earth. But for me anyway, as with all young People, I did not really understand what they were trying to tell us, I guess? We spoke out against the destruction of Mother Earth, we were called a bunch of nuts. Well, today, it is called climate change, and there are now millions of us crying out against the destruction of out Mother Earth. Amazing, huh? Thankfully I have lived this long and can see we just might win this war.

Mumia Hospitalized Again

Wadiya Jamal Mumia's wife at 8:50 pm last night May 12th and told her that Mumia had been moved to the hospital. This is a disturbing development and is cause for grave concern. There are reports that he had a fever, and that he has open wounds and sores on his legs. HIs attorney Bret Grote visited him on Friday. He was engaged, alert, yet he was in pain in his knees and leg. We will be working to gather more information as the day goes on. His hospital conditions will be abhorrent: he will be chained to the bed. He could, as they did before, be arbitrarily and systematically denied visitors. The last time we were in the ICU they did not let his familly or lawyers see him, or give them any information for 24hrs. Even though they were the ICU waiting room just a few feet from Mumia's bed.. Clearly Mumia's chronic conditions remain undiagnosed and unsuccessfully treated.

Mumia’s Condition Grave: Take Action

Mumia Abu-Jamal was seen today by his wife and his condition has worsened. He, is gravely ill. We are asking everyone to call the prison. Right now. It may be late, but call whenever you get this. Mumia needs 24 hour care and supervision. He can not be in this condition in general population. In this state he may not be able ask for help, he may lose consciousness. He is too weak. (He was released from the infirmary two days ago). His condtiion: He is extremely swollen in his neck, chest, legs, and his skin is worse than ever, with open sores. He was not in a wheelchair, but can only take baby steps. He is very weak. He was nodding off during the visit. He was not able to eat- he was fed with a spoon. These are symptoms that could be associated with hyper glucose levels, diabetic shock, diabetic coma, and with kidney stress and failure.

We All Need To Keep Our Eyes On Mumia

On Thursday Mumia's wife Wadiya Jamal visited him. She shared with us that his weakened state continues, and she is deeply concerned that he still has not had the appropriate care and diagnosis-- and in fact has been returned to the environment that allowed his chronic but treatable conditions to nearly kill him. We demand that: 1) Mumia’s chosen private physician has immediate regular phone access to Mumia in the infirmary. Phone access is limited in the infirmary, and Mumia and his physician need to be in conversation throughout each week. 2) His doctor be allowed to communicate freely and regularly with the prison infirmary physicians who are currently overseeing Mumia’s care. . .

We Kill Our Revolutionaries

He hopes prisoners will organize to mount a coordinated nationwide work stoppage and hunger strike to improve conditions behind bars, including raising pay from the roughly $1 a day that prisoners now receive for eight hours of labor to the legal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. He would like to see coordinated boycotts of the overpriced commissaries. He said prisoners should purchase only the bare necessities, such as soap and toothpaste, and forego the “zoozoos and wamwams,” prison slang for junk food. He places no hope in the courts and the legislatures. Prisoners will have to start to carry out acts of mass civil disobedience for any justice, he said—that is the only mechanism left to them. “Prison authorities never give you anything without a fight,” he said, clutching white prayer beads.

Redacted Tonight: Political Prisoners, War Criminals And Monsanto

Think political prisoners is a problem only OTHER countries face? Think again. The US has many political prisoners from Chelsea Manning to former governor Don Siegelman. Most of them are behind bars for trying to reveal various crimes by our government. Most of these prisoners should be called heroes. Comedian Lee Camp breaks it down on his show "Redacted Tonight" - and he makes it somehow seem a lot funnier than this description lets on! Also Team Redacted celebrates Monsanto's loss, McDonald's struggle, and the death of King Abdullah. They also weigh in on crazy wealth inequality and America's love affair with Cuba.

Time Served For Barrett Brown

We’re making an appeal to Judge Lindsay to apply leniency and sentence Barrett Brown to time served, and we could use your help. Brown is a talented journalist who accepts responsibility for his charged conduct. He was originally charged with sharing a hyperlink to stolen information, and after that was dropped, he pled guilty to hiding his laptops, transmitting a threat, and accessory after the fact to an unauthorized access to a protected computer. He is now facing 8.5 years maximum in prison. When he is sentencedon November 24th, he will have already spent over two years in jail. Given the nature of his crimes and the lack of tangible harm resulting from them, we feel that it’s past time to let him go.

Egypt Court Sentences 23 Protesters To Prison

An Egyptian court on Sunday sentenced 23 activists to three years in prison for protesting without a permit, an act that violates a law enacted in November 2013. The men were arrested in June while protesting the restrictive protest law that requires demonstrators to obtain permission from authorities one week in advance of gathering in public, grants the interior ministry the right to reject requests and imposes severe fines for violations. In addition to violating the protest law, the men were also convicted of blocking off a road during the demonstration, damaging public property and using violence "with the aim of terrorizing citizens."

Trials Of Egyptian Activists, Many On Hunger Strike, Begin

Twenty-three Egyptian activists are due to stand trial for breaching a widely criticised law that bars protests unauthorised by the government. Among those to appear before the court in Cairo on Saturday is 20-year-old Sana Seif, who was arrested on July 21 while peacefully demonstrating against the arrest of her brother, renowned blogger and activist Alaa Abdel Fattah. Abdel Fattah has since been released, while Seif's trial has faced repeated postponements. "We don't know what to expect anymore," Laila Soueif, Seif's mother and an assistant professor of mathematics at Cairo University, told Al Jazeera. "We've given up on understanding. If things proceed according to logic, it should be postponed, since the case was referred to a new judicial circuit and a new judge. But our lawyers are braced for all scenarios."
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