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November 28, 2003 Contact: David Wilson, 212-674-9499, freefarouk@yahoo.com, Palestinian
Activist FAROUK ABDEL-MUHTI Placed in Solitary Following Assault by Corrections
Officers
Officials in the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack, NJ, are now holding New York-area Palestinian activist Farouk Abdel-Muhti in isolation. They reportedly moved him into solitary on Nov. 25; he told a supporter that day that he thought he was to be kept "in the hole" for five days--coinciding with celebrations on Thanksgiving Day and at the end of Ramadan. The new move against Abdel-Muhti is apparently a disciplinary proceeding connected to an incident on the evening of Nov. 19 when two corrections officers pushed, kicked and punched Abdel-Muhti after finding leftist publications in his cell. Prison officials claim they are punishing Abdel-Muhti because the guards discovered that he had "stockpiled" newspapers and medicine in his cell. Prision officials also withheld all medication from Abdel-Muhti between Nov. 19 and Nov. 25; Abdel-Muhti, who is 56, needs medication for hypertension, arthritis and a thyroid condition. Abdel-Muhti's supporters say they are consulting with his legal team about an appropriate response to the assault, which they contend follows a pattern of harassment of Abdel-Muhti for his political activities. Abdel-Muhti has been detained for more than a year and a half by US immigration authorities, who claim they need to hold him while they attempt to carry out a 1995 deportation order. His attorneys argue that the government must release the activist since he is stateless and no country has accepted him. Dozens of human rights activists and other concerned people contacted immigration officials in Washington, DC, earlier this week to protest Abdel-Muhti's treatment and his prolonged detention. Local activists are planning a march on the federal building in downtown Newark on Saturday, Nov. 29, to demand Abdel-Muhti's release. The march will start shortly after 1 pm from outside Newark's Penn station, proceeding along Market Street to Broad Street and then to a brief rally at the Peter W. Rodino Jr. Federal Building at Broad Street and Court Street. --30-- ========================================================= Statement from Farouk Abdel-Muhti For Demonstration in Newark, NJ, Nov. 29, 2003 I am writing you from inside Housing Unit S-7 in Bergen County Jail in Hackensack, NJ, where I am living with 64 other immigration detainees. We are all victims of the terrorist behavior of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (BICE) and the administration of Attorney General John Ashcroft.... Before I came here, I was held for eight months and five days in solitary confinement in York County Prison, in York, PA. Shackles were placed on my hands and feet on a daily basis; I was locked in for 23 hours and 15 minutes each day. In all, I have been imprisoned for one year and seven months. But I never give up on my principles and my dignity. I thank all of you who really represent my feelings, my rights and my resistance, with the objective of winning my freedom and my rights with justice. For this reason, it is my duty to participate with all of you in the struggle against injustice, racism, oppression and police brutality. The government's conspiracies continue in this jail where I am now. I have been beaten up by the Bergen County Jail guards, who confiscated my documents and progressive publications, which I receive legally by mail and which oppose the war in Iraq and criticize the criminal conduct of this government and the administration of George W. Bush, which practices systematic terrorism. But I believe at the same time that working class people will raise up their voices in unity in the nation and all over the world, in the name of peace with justice, condemning these terrorist acts of this imperialist administration in Washington. I need for all of you to understand: my case and my rights are in your hands. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your steadfast strength and sagacity in pushing forward this unity to rescue me and take me to the door of freedom. This experiences teaches us how to win in unity, without distinction of race, religion, color or ethnicity, under the slogan "the people united will never be defeated." Individual and egoistical behavior is not our way, because we all believe in equality, justice and the freedom to build the real paradise in this world. Comrades, brothers, sisters and friends, I send you all a revolutionary and strong hug, with optimism. Victory is ours. Sincerely yours, Farouk
11/28/03: Farouk Abdel-Muhti has now been held for 581 days ========================================================= Committee for the Release of Farouk Abdel-Muhti PO Box 20587, Tompkins Square Station New York, NY 10009 Phone: 212-674-9499 * Email freefarouk@yahoo.com Website: www.freefarouk.org ========================================================= Return to Free Farouk Home Page |