Sectarian trivia

[John Lacny <deathtocapitalism@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> > World Socialist Website, http://www.wsws.org/
> >
> > The case of Mumia Abu-Jamal:

     Since I've never had much experience with the
intricacies of internecine bickering among the Trot
sects, and since many on this list have, I wonder if
someone may indulge my curiosity about a certain
question.

     Was Mark Curtis-- the SWP member and CISPES
activist convicted of rape in Iowa back in the 1980s--
a genuine political prisoner, a real victim of a
frame-up?  Or was he a bona fide sexual assailant?  I
seem to recall from my reading of recent sectarian
history that the owners of the World Socialist Web
Site-- formerly the Workers League, now the Socialist
Equality Party-- were vociferous in calling the Curtis
defense campaign a hoax perpetrated by the SWP on the
workers' movement. I know that Workers League types
are potential scabs in any case (go back and read some
of the stuff they wrote about the strikes in Decatur,
where they make excuses for scabs on the grounds that
the "union bureacracy" led the strikes badly), but do
they have a point here?  Or are they scabbing on the
fight to clear the name of a genuine political
prisoner?

     I know this is an arcane question which postdates
the time most ex-SWPers on this list left that group,
but can anyone provide a fully-documented answer?

     Thanks,

     John Lacny
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