Nobel Laureate Urges Retrial for Abu-Jamal

On the heels of a string of victories for death penalty opponents, Nigeria’s Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka urged Pennsylvania Gov. Thomas J. Ridge on Saturday to join the fight to get U.S. death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal a new trial.

Soyinka, who flew from Paris on Friday to visit Abu-Jamal, said the black journalist, whose case has become an international cause celebre, was wrongly convicted of the 1981 murder of a Philadelphia policeman.

“I am amazed that more American governors are not trying to emulate the actions of Illinois’ governor,” Soyinka said to a group of Abu-Jamal supporters in Pittsburgh.

In January, Illinois Gov. George Ryan ordered a moratorium on executions, citing 13 Illinois death row prisoners who had been released since 1977 after their convictions were overturned.

“I am still waiting for a reply from a letter I wrote with [retired South African] Archbishop Desmond Tutu a year ago to the Pennsylvania governor asking that a review be done of the Mumia Abu-Jamal case,” said Soyinka, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986.

Death penalty opponents in the United States have been heartened by developments that began with Ryan’s action.

Last month, the New Hampshire Legislature voted to repeal its death penalty, only to see the measure vetoed by Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen.

Last week, Texas Gov. George W. Bush delayed the execution of a death row inmate to allow for new DNA tests.

Abu-Jamal is one of 230 prisoners on Pennsylvania’s death row. He has appeals pending and there is currently no warrant for his death or date set for execution.

Marcus Rediker, a history professor at the University of Pittsburgh, said during Saturday’s press briefing that a federal judge was to determine whether a hearing will be set after June 23 to review Abu-Jamal’s case.

Pennsylvania carried out no executions from 1962 to 1995, when Ridge took office. Since then, three have died by injection.

The governor’s office could not be reached for comment Saturday.