Complex: “After nearly 45 years in prison—and with no appeals left in the United States—Mumia Abu-Jamal is taking his case to the United Nations. The imprisoned writer…filed a petition on Tuesday, July 28, asking the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to examine whether racism, judicial misconduct, suppressed evidence, and decades of harsh confinement have kept him unlawfully behind bars.

‘Hope is an element of struggle, is it not?’ Abu-Jamal told The Guardian. ‘As we used to say in the old days, “A luta continua.”‘

The filing represents a dramatic new front in one of America’s most divisive criminal cases. Abu-Jamal’s legal team, led by Bret Grote of the Abolitionist Law Center and joined by the ACLU and Center for Constitutional Rights, wants international experts to review alleged violations dating back to his 1982 trial.

To be clear, the UN panel cannot order the United States to release him. A condemnation, however, could sharpen calls for a retrial, commutation, or release.”

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Photo: Lisa Terry