Date: Sat, 10 Jul 1999 20:01:42 -0400
From: Chuck0 <chuck-AT-tao.ca>
Subject: Abu-Jamal Denies Report He Confessed


Abu-Jamal Denies Report He Confessed 

Saturday, July 10, 1999;  4:18 p.m. EDT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal says a magazine
article that reports he expressed regret for killing a police officer is
a ``rumor-turned-lie.''

Abu-Jamal, who has maintained his innocence, released a statement from
prison Friday night, saying Vanity Fair was wrong and that he had never
been contacted about the allegation by former prison volunteer Philip
Bloch. 

``A lie is a lie,'' Abu-Jamal said. ``I find it remarkable that this
rumor-turned lie was never brought to my attention by the author, by Mr.
Bloch himself or by Vanity Fair magazine, which never contacted me.
Welcome to snuff journalism.'' 

The article's author, Buzz Bissinger, wrote that attempts to contact
Abu-Jamal and his lawyer, Leonard Weinglass, were unsuccessful. 

Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther was found guilty of killing officer
Daniel Faulkner in 1981. Police arriving at the scene found the dying
officer and a wounded Abu-Jamal lying near his own gun, and several
witnesses identified him as the shooter. An officer and hospital worker
testified during the trial that Abu-Jamal confessed to the killing. 

Bloch, who befriended Abu-Jamal through his work with the prison reform
organization Pennsylvania Prison Society, told the magazine in its
August issue that they often discussed subjects from prison life to
philosophy. 

Once, Bloch said, while discussing whether violence was acceptable in
the name of one's beliefs, he asked Abu-Jamal whether he regretted
killing Faulkner and received a one-word reply: ``Yes.''

``There was a long pause,'' Bloch told Vanity Fair. ``I think we
probably realized what he had just done.''

Bloch said he came forward because of his ``disgust'' with the tactics
of those who believe Abu-Jamal was wrongly convicted. 

Abu-Jamal contends he is innocent and blames his conviction on a biased
judge and an ineffective lawyer. His writings and efforts to win a new
trial have attracted worldwide attention. 

Copyright 1999 The Associated Press

-- 
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