| Zolo Agona
Azania Fights for His Life From Death Row, U.S.A.
Zolo's official homepage - All the latest news and updates from his supporters. |
| L'information en français | Le informazioni in Italiano |
| Art Page 1 | Art Page 2 | Art Page 3 |
| News Articles about Zolo Agona Azania |
| The Law is for Everybody - By Zolo Agona Azania |
| Jury Tampering On The Basis Of Race - From Philadelphia DA training video |
| For Immediate Release / Zola's Letter To Judge Shepard |
| Total Authoritarianism - Zolo writes on his case and the justice system |
| The Protocol For Lethal Injection In Indiana |
|
Untold Terror
in United States Must Cease Statement From African American Exiles Living In Canada |
|
"Fighting
Forward: Words that Inspire" from Common Courage Press
(this web site includes a form for signing up for electronic updates to Zolo's case!) |
| Voice of Indiana's Political Prisoners |
| Your Black Books Guide - Free ZOLO AGONA AZANIA |
FROM:
Zolo Agona Azania #4969
Indiana
State Prison, PO Box 41
Michigan
City, Indiana 46361-0041 USA
RE:
Azania vs. State of Indiana
Upper
Cause No. 02S00-0009-SD-538
Lower
Cause No. CR-81-401
On August 11, 1981 I was illegally arrested by political police and accused of killing a police officer during a bank robbery. False evidence was invented and used as a ruse against me, calculated to provide a wrongful conviction and death sentence, cloaked with improper acts with the prosecutorial machinery and resources to give it the appearance of propriety. I was convicted in 1982 on admitted perjured testimony and tainted evidence, and then sentenced to the penalty of death !
After years of contesting the bogus charge, the death sentence was reversed (overturned) by the Indiana Supreme Court in 1993. But after a second trial on the sentence only, it was put on me again in 1996. Giving up was not an option; so the struggle for liberation continues !
I am holding my head up with much dignity and self-respect. I have a positive, constructive outlook on life. I do not believe that lies are more stronger than truth. I am seeking to garner pledges of concrete support from as many people as possible, and to let people know who I am. For without the essential moral and material support from concerned people, like you on the outside of prison, one has a tendency to become isolated and alienated in here, like a scuba diver cut off from fresh oxygen twenty-thousand leagues beneath the sea. Isolation is used as a means of total control, to imbue your mind with the feeling of being alone and helpless.
Both all-white Jury trials were rigged and corrupt evidence was falsified against me, in gross violation of my human rights. Even though they've been caught lying; they'll merely fabricate more lies to cover up for being found out. Through all the fire of persecution and hatred I remained undaunted.
The evidentiary hearings on the merits of my successive petition for post-conviction relief, that New Afrikan people were systematically excluded from the Allen County Jury pool and that the prosecution knowingly put on false testimony against me, is set for March 13, 14. and 15th 2001. My defense team and I have three (3) days to present my case for a new trial.
The news media needs to know about the hearings and the numerous letters and petitions that people are writing to the court judge on my behalf. By going public will break the suffocating isolation that the status quo systems' operators are trying to conduct the hearings on my case.
Please send a copy of your letters to the news media. Let the media learn about your compassionate urgings to the Judge to give real Justice to me and grant me a new trial. Contact them at the addresses below:
1.
The News Sentinel
c/o
Editor
600
West Main Street
PO
Box 102
Fort
Wayne, Indiana 46801 USA
Tel.:
(219) 461-8298
e-mail:
nsnews@news-sentinel.com
website
: http://www.news-sentinel.com/ns
2.
The Journal-Gazette
c/o
Laura Emerson
600
West Main Street
PO
Box 100
Fort
Wayne, Indiana 46801-0088 USA
Tel:
(219) 461-8428
e-mail:
jghabayeb@fortwayne.infi.net
3.
Indianapolis Star
c/o
Editor
307
North Pennsylvania Avenue
P.
O Box 145
Indianapolis,
Indiana 46206-0145 USA
Tel.
(317) 444-6177
e-mail:
stareditor@starnews.com
website
: www.starnews.com
It really does make a big, positive difference when we all get involved and work together. Thank you very much for this and past courtesies. There is victory for Us! Rebuild to win !
In struggle and solidarity,
Zolo
Agona Azania
Dated
February 14, 2001
Zolo receives a stay of execution !
Yesterday, the Indiana Supreme Court issued a stay of Zolo's execution date on the issue of the newly discovered perjured testimony ( this is about the eyewitness being told to identify Zolo by a police officer working with the prosecution) at Zolo's first trial back in 1982. It puts us a very fast track and ordered the trial judge to rule on this claim by February 12, 2000.
As to all the new claims coming out of Zolo's retrial, including the issue of exclusion of Black's from the jury and ineffective assistance of counsel, the Court's order states that these matters are still "under consideration."
So
we have to keep up the pressure on the Supreme Court to let Zolo have
his
right
to have these issues litigated in the Indiana Courts before another
execution date is set. Letters and phone calls to the Indiana Supreme
Court urging
the Court to allow all the new issues arising out of this retrial
to
be heard by the Indiana courts.
This is certainly a partial victory for us and all of you can be assured that your efforts helped to bring this about.
Dear
Friends, i am writing to ask for your support for Zolo
Agona
Azania, a New Afrikan political prisoner on death row in Indiana.
Zolo
has been given an October 25th execution date by the Indiana Supreme
Court.
We need to write to the court demanding a stay of
execution.
This is urgent, so please pass this info along to your friends who may
be able to help. Zolo Azania is one of the numerous New Afrikans
who await execution as a result of our racist criminal justice system.
Moreover, he is a politically conscious activist, who at the time of
his arrest and capture in 1981, was actively involved in the movement
for the self-determination of New Afrikan people. The fact that he
defined himself as a New Afrikan and
was committed to the liberation of Black people within the borders of
the
U.S. directly influenced the way the police, the prosecution, and the
Indiana
courts denied him a fair trial and fanned the flames of prejudice to
obtain
the death penalty. More information about Zolo Agona Azania is also on
his
web site: http://www.prairie-fire.org/freezoloazania.html#Home
Zolo's
appeal was recently denied. His legal team (including Michael
Deutsch and John Stainthorp of the People's Law Office) is petitioning
the court
to allow Zolo to file a post-conviction petition about the incompetence
of
his trial counsel who put forward no evidence in mitigation at his
death
penalty trial. Also 70% of the Black jurors were erased from the jury
pool
at the time of Zolo's trial in Allen County Indiana.
Below is a sample letter to the Indiana Supreme Court in Indianapolis demanding that it allow Zolo the right to raise these issues in his post-conviction petition. We are hoping that you can help Zolo by writing to the Indiana Supreme Court justices on his behalf.
thank you for your support, benjamin evans -Prairie Fire Organizing Committee - Chicago
Below is just a sample letter...if you have time you can compose your own!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Randall
Shepard
Chief
Justice, Indiana Supreme Court
200
W. Washington St
Indianapolis,
Indiana 46204-2732
Dear Justice Shepard,
I
am writing you on behalf of Zolo Agona Azania, who has been scheduled
to
be executed by the State of Indiana on October 25, 2000 by order of
your
Court. I understand that your Court has not yet had the
opportunity
to review serious and fundamental constitutional violations
that
occurred in Mr Azania's trials and I am at a loss how you can order his
execution without first reviewing the merits of these claims.
As
I understand it, among the claims that you have yet to review are the
exclusion of 70% of the Black jurors from the Allen County jury pool at
the time of Mr. Azania's retrial, the failure of his defense counsel to
put on any mitigation about him at his death penalty phase retrial, and
the
recent disclosure that a critical witness at his earlier trial perjured
himself at the behest of the prosecution. These are very serious
allegations which must be carefully considered before you allow a
person to be put to death.
I
urge you to stay the October 25th execution date and allow Mr. Azania
to
have the opportunity to fairly and fully present all the issues that
have
not be considered by the Indiana courts. At the very least, simple
decency
and fairness demand nothing less.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME HERE
Zolo Agona Azania #4969
Indiana State Prison
PO Box 41
Michigan City, IN
46361-0041
The image below was deleted by NBCi in April 2001
On August 11 ,1981, i was arrested in the city of Gary and charged with armed robbery and murder. On that day the police dispatcher sent out a call-about a robbery at the Gary National Bank, 3680 Broadway. The first cop on the scene was shot. Thereafter, a citywide dragnet took place and about 10 Black (New Afrikan) people were snatched off the street!
All police reports of these arrests were either withheld or destroyed. In this atmosphere of class conflict, i was stopped in a Black neighbor-hood on the West Side of Gary by a white cop. When i demanded to know what was going on, the racist cop said, "Nigger, you shot a cop!" i vehemently denied the accusations only to be told; "Well if you didn't do it nigger, you sure as hell know who did." Then, he said "Well, i'm not sure if you did or not, but you'll do." This happened on 25th & Lincoln Street.
I was arrested because nobody else was around on the street at that time. The police officer who arrested me did not even know who I was. But since i was the only person walking down the street (about 2 1/2 miles from where the bank robbery and shooting had occurred) i was considered a suspect!
In the process of being arrested, the police forced me down on the side-walk; handcuffed me behind my back, and without provocation, hit me with his pistol and fist; thereby inflicting lacerations to the left side of my head. Then, some little children came by and he pointed his pistol at these little children too. By that time, people were coming out of their houses crowding around. The cop then picked me up, threw me in the back of his car and told me to lay on the floor and drove away. i kept my head up so that people could see that i was still alive.
The political police and the prosecutor used the news media to slander and kill me in the hearts and minds of people. What has happened to me is not an isolated incident. I was enrolled as a full time student at Gary Manpower. I had previously obtained a G.E.D. (General Education Diploma) and was qualified for a federal grant to attend college. In spite (petty malice) of my present unfortunate circumstances, however, it has been a great (big) educational experience. i had intended to organize on college campuses.
The police, the prosecutor and many others, including the white press, misused me to disrupt, disgrace and discredit the 'Gary Manpower Program', and, in the process, make New Afrikan people look bad. The Comprehensive Training and Employment Act (C.F.T.A.) funds were used to help support this program that employed thousands of poor people in the city. The white racist supremacists were extremely jealous and envious, because the bulk of C.E.T.A. funds, amounting to millions of dollars, went to Gary and other New Afrikan urban areas instead of Crown Point; Merrillivelle; Hammond; Portage, and the like, which are predominantly white (Euro - Amerikkkan). Although C.E.T.A. was being phased out in 1981, by the Ronald Reagan Administration, the adverse racist publicity following my arrest speeded up the process. The bottom line is that, i'm being used as a sacrificial lamb to burn at the alter of Moloch. The police, the prosecutor and those in their political circle, are accusing me for the things they are doing !
Moloch (Molech) was a Hebrew Semitic mythical fire god with the head of a calf or cow, and its hands stretched forth like a man to receive something. Fire is kindled in its hands and a child was put there to burn as a human sacrifice.
My hands are tied, my feet are without foundation and my voice cannot be heard. O'Lord, My God! is there no help under the heavens and throughout the earth for the widow's son?
This means that i am without a father or leader to defend, protect and look out for me. In one word: HELP!
There was no pre-trial identification of me in this case. Later on the prosecutor admitted in writing that there was no pre-trial identification procedure utilized with respect to me in connection with the August 11, 1981 armed robbery at Gary National Bank!
A paraffin gunshot residue (GSR) test performed on my hands by police shortly after my arrest showed that i hadn't fired a gun. The prosecutor failed to disclose this exculpatory evidence to my trial defense counsel, And they never informed the grand jury of this Suppressed exculpatory evidence, On May 25, 1982 I was sentenced to the penalty of death.
On May 27, 1993, the State Supreme Court of Indiana reversed the judgment of the post-conviction court, they remanded the case with instructions to set aside the sentence of death and to grant post-conviction relief in the form of new jury and judge sentencing hearings, or in the absence of such new hearings, the imposition of a sentence of years.
i was convicted in
court for unarmed robbery class C felony murder. There is no such law
or statute on the books in Indiana. i was convicted of a non-existent
crime! It appears that somebody is trying to keep this information out
of the news media because they don' t want
the public to know
about
it.
On February 12,
1996,
the jury selection process started for my retrial on the sentence only.
The trial judge had me
shackled during the trial in the presence of the all-White jury on
February 20, the jury went out to deliberate. The judge improperly
influenced them against me. The court bailiff spoke to the jurors in
the deliberation room on the orders of the judge
and said they should be
ready to be asked individually to state that their verdict is death.
They were then called
back into the court room, I was fortunate to find out about this ex
parte communication and the foreman of the jury gave a sworn affidavit
confirming it. The jury were allowed to consume alcohol during the
trial...Afrikan people were Systematically excluded from selection;
whole selections of Fort Wayne, where non-whites lived, were nixed. The
director of Allen County Court and the prosecutor, among others, blamed
the problem on a computer glitch, but racial discrimination is an
integral part of the political process and it is very unlikely that
this is a coincidence.
On March 18, 1996,
the judge accepted the jury's recommendation and sentenced me to the
death penalty again. My appeal process starts all over. My
legal defense has been mishandled by court-appointed lawyers for 16
years. I am poor and
without the necessary means to buy justice. An Uncle Tom
attorney
by the name of Isaiah Skip Cant committed
despicable treachery
against me. Skip Cant contacted me in the summer of 1991 by
letter, he said that he had heard about my case and wanted to help.
Skip Gant assured me that
he would serve as my so-called "elbow counsel," overseeing my
legal
defense. He told me that he would be my eyes, ears and legs. He told me
that
it wouldn't cost me a thing, but we would have to work with the local
attorneys
in Indiana. Mrs. Michelle M. Fennesy-Kraus and Mr. Kevin L. Likes
represented
me at the retrial on the sentence. i had previously fired another
attorney
named Randall J. Hammond off my case. Mr. Likes took Hammond's place.
Mr.
Gant eventually was appointed to my legal defense as a public defender,
so
he could get paid.
Skip Gant did not try
the case, and he did not speak up for me. Skip Gant acted in the
capacity of an
advisor. i asked Skip Gant if he was going to expose the racism
of the
prosecution against me. He said, "maybe." He also said that he was not
going
to raise anything for my defense that was not in the courts' rules of
evidence.
His minute impute on my legal defense team was self-serving. He was
more
interested in making contacts and connects with other lawyers in
Indiana
to advance his prestige and influence. Skip Gant used treachery, deceit
and
deception to win my confidence and to control me for the other defense
layers
who happened to be white. i did not become aware of this ploy
until
it was too late! Isaiah Skip Gant from Nashville, Tennessee is a
primitive
petit-bourgeoisie neo-colonialist bootlicking Uncle Tom.
i am not a common criminal. i am a conscious political prisoner of war and a target in an insane political climate rampant with racism, reaction and corruption. i do not need anybody to march in the streets for me carrying picket signs like Mumia Abu Jamal. i need help in the area of publicity. i have a lot of dignity and self-esteem. i can reach more people via the media, than by writing one letter at a time. No decision or ruling has been made on my new appeal currently pending in the Indiana Supreme Court. It has been filed in court since May 1, 1997. i am hopeful and optimistic for a positive outcome in my favor.
For more information please contact Atty. Michael E. Deutsch, People's Law Office, 1180 N. Milwaukee, Chicago, IL 60622. Tel. No's 7(773)235-0070, (847)475-8378.
Thank you very much,
Bro.
Zolo Agona Azania #4969
Indiana
State Prison
P0
Box 41 Michigan City, .
IN
46361-0041
Zolo
Agona Azania #4969 Indiana
State Prison PO Box 41 Michigan
City,
IN 46361-0041
| Zolo Agona
Azania Fights for His Life From Death Row, U.S.A.
Zolo's official homepage - All the latest news and updates from his supporters. |
| L'information en français | Le informazioni in Italiano |
| Art Page 1 | Art Page 2 | Art Page 3 |
| News Articles about Zolo Agona Azania |
| The Law is for Everybody - By Zolo Agona Azania |
| Jury Tampering On The Basis Of Race - From Philadelphia DA training video |
| For Immediate Release / Zola's Letter To Judge Shepard |
| Total Authoritarianism - Zolo writes on his case and the justice system |
| The Protocol For Lethal Injection In Indiana |
|
Untold Terror
in United States Must Cease Statement From African American Exiles Living In Canada |
|
"Fighting
Forward: Words that Inspire" from Common Courage Press
(this web site includes a form for signing up for electronic updates to Zolo's case!) |
| Voice of Indiana's Political Prisoners |
| Your Black Books Guide - Free ZOLO AGONA AZANIA |
