Ali Khalid Abdullah

["Michael Hoover" <HooverM@xxxxxxxxxx>]

> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> Thursday, February 21, 2002
>
> International Campaign to Free Ali Khalid Abdullah
> c/o Pushing Forward
> 2716 SE 21st Street
> Portland, OR 97202, USA
> freeali@xxxxxxxxxxx
> (503) 232-5817 (ask for Todd)
> www.angelfire.com/dc/freeali
>
> Ali Khalid Abdullah, a New Afrikan political
> prisoner has been unjustly
> labelled a "suspected security threat" and
> "suspected terrorist" by the
> Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC.)
>
> These accusations came at the same time as Ali's
> sudden transfer from the
> Thumb Correctional Facility to another state-level
> prison.
>
> Since his incarceration in 1990, Ali has devoted
> nearly all of his spare
> time to improving the lives of himself and those
> around him. Among other
> things, he has run an anti-drug program for fellow
> prisoners, earned a
> Bachelor's degree, and produced dozens of conscious
> pamphlets distributed
> the world over. Despite his many positive efforts,
> he has been denied parole
> five times and subject to unfair treatment on
> numerous occasions.
>
> The latest case of this unfair treatment began on
> February 12. A question
> arose in the prison mail room at the Thumb
> Correctional Facility, as to
> whether Ali should be allowed to receive a leaflet
> mailed from Puerto Rico
> containing slogans such as "Smash Sexism." It was
> eventually decided that he
> should be allowed to receive it.
>
> Shortly after, he was subjected to an unusual and
> unexplained cell search,
> in which many of his letters, literature, and
> photographs where confiscated.
>
> Later that evening, he was called to the Control
> Center at the prison and
> was given "a notice of intent to conduct an
> administrative hearing." The
> notice indicated what materials were confiscated and
> stated that Ali was "a
> suspected security threat, [indicated by] group
> literature and photographs
> depicting possible terrorist activity, [and]
> uprising against institutions
> and government [and] organized from several
> countries."
>
> During this type of hearing, a prisoner is
> evaluated, and if deemed a threat
> to security, then she/he is reclassified to a higher
> prison level and is
> transferred to that level. In many cases, prisoners
> are transferred to
> federal prisons. Ali is at risk of being formally
> charged by the state, with
> the FBI headquarters and the US Justice Department
> being notified.
>
> An hour after receiving this notice, Ali was told to
> "pack up and get ready
> to be transferred." The next day(February 13) he was
> moved to Kinross
> Correctional Facility, a state-run institution in
> Kincheloe, Michigan.
>
> These events are highly disturbing and suspicious.
> They occurred shortly
> after Ali's 6th parole hearing on February 7, which
> had given him a level of
> optimism at first. Abdullah had a good record at the
> Thumb Correctional
> Facility, and prior to these incidents had no reason
> to believe that he had
> done anything to upset the authorities there.
>
> These incidents are also, of course, being carried
> out within the context of
> the U.S. government's current "War on Terrorism",
> which in addition to
> bringing carnage on Afghanistan, is being used as a
> pretext for clamp-downs
> on human rights, and officially-sanctioned prejudice
> within the US. Shortly
> after September 11, Abdullah was interrogated on the
> basis of his name and
> his faith. Similarly, his treatment over the past
> week is likely a product
> of the bigoted attitudes and policies coming to
> light in recent months.
>
> The International Campaign to Free Ali Khalid
> Abdullah is calling on all
> concerned people to support him as best as they can.
> All those who criticize
> the so-called "War on Terrorism," racism and the
> prison system have a chance
> to turn their words into concrete, productive
> actions by having Ali's back
> in this time of need.
>
> Despite such unfair treatment, Ali has remained
> committed to his work for
> positive social change. Now, he needs your help to
> clear his name and get
> these charges dropped so he can move on to winning
> his freedom and
> continuing with his work.
>
> At this point, we are asking everyone to write to
> the MDOC Officials listed
> below; and those with steady jobs to send some
> financial aid to Ali (c/o the
> campaign). In addition to the usual legal and living
> expenses, his money is
> still at
> the previous jail and won't reach him for up to a
> month.
>
> Attached is a form letter designed to help Ali fight
> these unfounded
> charges. Please edit it to fit your own
> circumstances, and mail it to the
> list
> of addresses below. This will show the prison
> officials that people around
> the world know the facts about Ali, and are driven
> to support him. We need
> the highest level of public attention on this case
> as possible, to prevent
> any further persecution of Ali.
>
> All that said, please know that this is a very
> sensitive situation and we
> need to proceed carefully. This is NOT the time to
> be hostile and
> confrontational. The goal here is to prove that Ali
> is not a terrorist
> threat and to get him free, not to confront prison
> officials on their
> issues. Any anger or political rhetoric would only
> be used as further
> evidence against Ali.
>
> "These moments are very precious & we are under
> determined pressure & peril
> by these people - thus to overcome this i'll need
> maximum effort and
> support," says Ali. "State your complaint, concerted
> concern and push for
> clearing my name and this sudden suspicion off of me
> with tact!"
>
> Letters or e-mails of support can be sent to Ali in
> care of the campaign:
> International Campaign to Free Ali Khalid Abdullah,
> 2716 SE 21st Street
> Portland, OR 97202, USA. freeali@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> For reasons described above, please refrain from
> sending anything with
> "anarchy" or similar logos until this matter is
> corrected.
>
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> ABOUT ALI KHALID ABDULLAH
>
> Ali Khalid Abdullah is a New Afrikan Political
> Prisoner in Michigan, USA. He
> has been incarcerated since 1990. Ali has a
> Bachelor's degree from
> Spring Arbor College, ran the People Against Drugs
> program at Thumb
> Correctional Facility and is an
> internationally-published author. He is
> serving a 10-to-20-year sentence for "assault with
> intent to rob while
> armed." This trumped-up charge stems from action he
> took against a
> high-level drug dealer, who
> allowed a runner to rape the 11-year-old daughter of
> a customer - as payment
> for the customer's drug debt.
>
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
> officially-sanctioned prejudice

> ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO FREE ALI KHALID
> ABDULLAH
>
> The campaign was founded by Abdullah's friends and
> supporters around the
> world in December 2001. We are working to win his
> freedom through practical,
> tactful methods and to help distribute his writings.
> Contact us to get
> involved.
>
>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
> FORM LETTER:
>
> [ADDRESSEE]
>
> [YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS]
>
> [DATE]
>
> Ms./Mr.------------,
>
> I am writing in conerns to Mr. Ali Khalid Abdullah,
> inmate # 148130, a
> prisoner formerly at
> Thumb Correctional Facility who was recently
> transferred to the Kinross
> Correctional Facility. I learned of his case through
> an internet news
> service run by civil rights advocates.
>
> I am concerned about Mr. Abdullah's transfer, but
> more importantly, I am
> very concerned about the recent implication made by
> the Michigan Department
> of Corrections labeling Mr. Abdullah as a "suspected
> terrorist".  From my
> understanding this implication has been stemmed from
> an incident with the
> mailroom supervisor, Mary Henderson at Thumb
> Correctional Facility, and has
> been followed up with some strange events, which
> ultimately led to Mr.
> Abdullah's transfer.
>
> Mr. Abdullah had a mail hearing on February 12, 2002
> over some mail rejected
> by Mailroom Supervisor Henderson, which was decided
> by ARUS Leonard and
> Singer not to be threatening material.  After this
> hearing Mr. Abdullah
> returned to his unit, around 11:05 am, where he was
> met by Officer Ross and
> Officer Powell with "orders from Inspector Hutchins
> to pack up all letters,
> books, and printed materials and send [them] to
> him".
>
> This concerned Mr. Abdullah and around 12:15 pm he
> placed calls to his
> mother and his friend Cynthia Ritsher to tell them
> what was happening. He
> asked them to call the Warden and the Director's
> Office to inquire about the
> matter.
>
> Later that day, around 5:08 pm, Lt. McDonald called
> Mr. Abdullah to the
> Control Center where he handed Mr. Abdullah a Notice
> of Intent to Conduct an
> Administrative Hearing.  In the notice the following
> was stated:
>
> "Suspected STG literature, photographs, depicting
> possible terrorist
> activity, uprising against the institution or
> government.  Organized from
> several countries."
>
> However, this I find strange as all of these
> materials now being deemed a
> possible threat to security or some kind of
> connection to a terrorist
> group(s) had already been approved by the mailroom
> supervisor as being
> acceptable and not a threat to security.  And now,
> suddenly these same
> materials are being confiscated under suspicion to
> be linked to terrorist
> activity and/or groups?  This seems a bit
> inconsistent and suspicious to me.
>
> After receiving this notice from Lt. McDonald and
> receiving the rest of his
> property that was not confiscated, Mr. Abdullah
> returned to his unit once
> again.  Approximately twenty minutes later Mr.
> Abdullah was told to "pack
> up-you're being transferred in the morning."
>
> Once again, this seems suspicious.  Mr. Abdullah was
> having no problems with
> the authorities at Thumb, had no misconduct tickets,
> and had not even five
> days before attended his parole hearing which Mr.
> Abdullah described as
> being a positive experience.  And then suddenly, all
> of the events, as
> described above, unfolded and Mr. Abdullah was
> transferred and under
> suspicion of being a security threat and under
> suspicion of being connected
> to terrorist group(s).
>
> This is not the only time that Mr. Abdullah has been
> falsely harassed under
> the guise of supposed terrorism.  Following the
> horrible events September
> 11, Mr. Abdullah was interrogated because of his
> Muslim name.  After which,
> friends of Mr. Abdullah contacted Arthur D. Stine at
> the Department of Human
> Rights for the MDOC with their concerns.
>
> I feel Mr. Abdullah is being unjustly labelled and
> is being punished under
> false allegations.  These allegations could destroy
> Mr. Abdullah's
> possibility of obtaining parole in which he has
> worked so hard to obtain.
> Mr. Abdullah is not a terrorist, he is a very caring
> and hard working
> individual who believes that we can live better
> lives if we take the time to
> learn about the negativity in our society and work
> to change it.  He has
> reached out to many people and extended only love
> and understanding and
> tries to help them with the very limited resources
> that he has to work with.
>   Mr. Abdullah has also accomplished some amazing
> things while incarcerated,
> he has earned his Bachelor's degree from Spring
> Arbor College in Michigan
> and he ran an anti-drug program while at Thumb
> Correctional Facility called
> People Against Drugs.  These are not acts of
> terrorism, but acts of
> self-improvement and compassion, something that
> should be rewarded of
> prisoners and not used to punish them further.
>
> I thank you for your time in reading this and any
> for any efforts you may
> make to look into this situation.
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
> [YOUR NAME]
>
>
---------------------------------------------------------------------
> PLEASE SEND TO:
>
> Director  [current director is resigning as of March
> 2nd.
>                     thus, no name is necessary]
>         Department of Corrections
>         Grandview Plaza Building
>         P.O. Box 30003
>         Lansing, MI  48909
>
>         Mr. Dan Bolden, Deputy Directory
>         Correctional Facility Administration
>         Grandview Plaza Building
>         P. O. Box 30003
>         Lansing, MI  48909
>
>         Senator Joesph F. Young, Jr.
>         415 Farnum Building
>         Lansing, MI  48913
>         FAX: 517.373.9320
>         senjyoung@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>         Senator Jackie Vaughn, III
>         920 Farnum Building
>         P. O. Box 30036
>         Lansing, MI  48909-7536

>
>         ACLU of Michigan
>         60 West Hancock
>         Detroit, MI  48201-1324          FAX:
> 313.578.6811