Subject: M-I: Silvia Baraldini's Statement for the Parole Board (fwd)
From: jschulman-AT-juno.com (Jason A Schulman)
Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 19:20:39 EST


--------- Begin forwarded message ----------
From: Mumia-AT-aol.com
Subject: Silvia Baraldini's Statement for the Parole Board
Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 04:16:12 -0500
Message-ID: <961219020023_1619788551-AT-emout08.mail.aol.com>

Please support Silvia's request for support for her with the parole
board.
 And pass on to others.

December 12,1996


Dear Friends:

Last month I completed 14 years of imprisonment.  As I begin my 15th
year,
regaining my freedom has become a priority.  Since 1989 I have pursued
repatriation to Italy under the Strasbourg Convention.  This treaty
allows a
prisoner to serve his/her sentence in his/her native land- A deep-seated
desire to re-build a close relationship with my family, especially my
mother
who has been alone since the sudden and brutal death of my sister,
Marina, is
my motivation.   In January, 1996, the United States government denied
the
Italian government's request for my transfer for the fourth time.  An
impasse. has been reached and there is no evidence that the United States
wilt review a fifth request favorably.

I was arrested in 1982 on RICO charges, accused of having aided members
of
the Black Liberation Army in a conspiracy against the United States.  In
reality I participated in the escape of Black revolutionary Assata Shakur
who
now lives: in Cuba. At the end of a long trial, I was sentenced to the
maximum sentence of forty years.  The presiding judge furiously stated
that
if I had been a member of the Mafia I would have gotten a lighter
sentence.
 I am a political prisoner in a country which denies that any exist.  A
political resolution of our status seems far fetched and totally
inconsistent
with today's reality.  We are living at a time in history when we are
being
told that the brutal and genocidal war against the people of Vietnam was
really a misguided attempt to bring democracy to people who did not
deserve
it.  The history of the national liberation movements of the 60s and 705
which fought to eliminate colonialism and gain independence for their
nations
is being purposely misrepresented to better serve today's objectives.  In
keeping with this, a national election was just held whose hallmark was
the
successful avoidance by both parties to ever address the question of
white
supremacy and racism.  Political prisoners are now battling for their
release
in this barren ground and in a politically hostile atmosphere.  The
progressive movements that we helped to build are dormant and we remain
in
prison an uncomfortable reminder of a recent past when changing the world
seemed a possibility.

This state of affairs: has pushed many of the political prisoners who
seek
release in to the arms of the parole board.  I have resisted this step
for
many years because of the many initiatives on my behalf in Italy and
because
the parole board, an arm of the U.S government, has been singularly
unresponsive to the individuals who have appeared before it.

Now, after many discussions with individuals on both sides of the
Atlantic, I
have concluded that this is the time for me to see the Parole Board.
 Sometime in 1997, I will appear before the board and ask to be
immediately
paroled to the deportation order which will return me to Italy.  I have
reached this decision because not to do so would imply tacit agreement
with
my continued incarceration.  While I have always accepted my individual
responsibility, after fifteen years, I feel that I have paid any debt
that I
might have had to society.

What do I mean by repaying my debt to society?  I have already served
over
fourteen years in prison for conduct which for a social prisoner; would
have
resulted in parole under the guidelines after at most 52 months
incarceration.  At the time of my appeal, the appellate court called the
sufficiency of the evidence against me "a close question." If this
conduct
had been committed in Italy, I would have been living free a decade ago.

Personally, it is very important for me to focus on the future, to
rebuild a
life in my own country with my family.  Going to the board is taking
another
step toward this goal.  I write to ask all of you to support my request
for
immediate deportation by writing to the board and by contributing funds
to
the campaign.  Your support is essential, meeting the board without the
backing of a large number of supporters is futile.  In closing I thank
all of
you for your past and present solidarity not only to myself but to all
political prisoners.

Venceremos,


Silvia Baraldini


--------- End forwarded message ----------

Address of Parole Commission for Silvia Baraldini

Office of the Chairman
United States Parole Commission
Department of Justice
5550 Friendship Blvd.
Chevy Chase, MD. 20815
301-492-5990




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