Tag Archives: free ohio movement

Ohio Muslim Prisoner Threatened With Punishment For NPR Interview On Prison Strike

From Shadowproof

Ohio prisoner Imam Siddique Abdullah Hasan says he was recently threatened with disciplinary action by an investigator at the Ohio State Penitentiary for speaking on the National Public Radio program, “On Point,” about the September 9 national prison strike.

Hasan, who is a Muslim spiritual leader on death row for his alleged role in the 1993 Lucasville Uprising, said he was informed he would be written up for unauthorized use of the phone and could have his phone and email privileges restricted, despite an understanding with prison officials that he could use his phone and email time to communicate with media as he has done for the past decade.

On Monday, Hasan told Shadowproof he was not sure when the disciplinary actions would come down, but he and his supporters expect it to be imminent. If it happens, it will be the second time he’s faced retaliation for supporting the strike in as many months.

“I’m getting kind of mentally exhausted. How am I going to deal with this nonsense?” Hasan said. “I’m not going to throw in the towel. I just remain in the trenches.” Continue reading →

A Prison Strike Organizer Suffers Retaliation for Speaking With Journalists

From The Intercept

A prisoner at Ohio State Penitentiary says he is facing disciplinary action for participating in an NPR interview about the nationwide prison strike that started on September 9. 

Nearly a month after inmates embarked on the largest prison strike in the country’s history, the media and the public continue to know little about where and how the action played out, and even less about officials’ retaliation against striking prisoners.

As The Intercept has reported, that’s no coincidence. Prison officials regularly go to great lengths to control the information leaving their institutions, and this strike has proven no exception, despite gradually developing media interest in the protest.

Undeterred by challenges, prison activists have succeeded in releasing sporadic updates on the strike as it spread across the country, and some of them have even used a combination of contraband cellphones and their regularly allotted phone time to speak with media organizations.

But those calls come at a cost.

In an incident suggesting just how difficult and risky it can be for prisoners to communicate with the outside, and with journalists in particular, Siddique Hasan, a prison activist sentenced to death for his role in a 1993 prison uprising, said he was “written up” by a prison investigator for his participation in a September 28 episode of the NPR show “On Point with Tom Ashbrook.” Continue reading →

Is a Prison Strike Leader Being Falsely Accused of Inciting Terrorism?

From AlterNet

Siddique Abdullah Hasan is a key organizer for an upcoming labor strike in prisons across the country.

Activist and advocates are concerned that a politically active Muslim prisoner, Siddique Abdullah Hasan, has been falsely accused of inciting terrorism at Ohio State Penitentiary, where he is incarcerated. About half a dozen Muslim prisoners at the facility are on hunger strike, demanding that the disciplinary charges be dropped and Hasan cleared of all wrongdoing, according to activists working outside the prison.

Hasan is a key organizer for the upcoming September 9 labor strike and work stoppage, which is poised to take place in prisons across the country. Outside activists told AlterNet they suspect the allegations were intended to delegitimize the events of September 9 and sow fear about people organizing from the inside

“When you start to get actions in favor of the confined citizen, it might empower more confined citizens to speak up,” explained Tahiyrah Ali, a spokesperson with the Free Ohio Movement, one of the groups organizing around the upcoming work stoppage. Continue reading →

Detailed Update from Imam Siddique Abdullah Hasan and Other Hunger Strikers.

From Lucasville Amnesty

They have given me thirty (30) days restrictions. It was a deliberate plan to cut off my direct communications with the outside world prior to the national event/action, notwithstanding their own policy only permits them to suspend my privileges for a period of up to two hundred eighty-eight hours (See paragraph (C) of rule 5120:1-10-12 of the Administrative Code or disciplinary isolation.) This restriction policy became effective 2/16/2016.
I agree that prison officials are “so used to being invisible and hiding its corruption and abuses from the public”; however, we must reveal what happened in my recent situation. Thus continue to work with the media and attorneys to expose the problems in my case. (I plan on filing my appeal to the Warden on Monday.)
There are three of us–Keith Dewitt Jr., David Martin and myself–still on hunger strike. We are all Muslims and are dissatisfied with the contract Imam’s work performance, treatment of Muslims, and using his position to remove Muslims from their services merely because they disagree with some of his teachings. The others that were on the hunger strike were showing their solidarity about me being wrongfully put in the hole. They were demanding that I be released from isolation. When that materialized, they ended their strike.
Hereunder are some of the problems in my case: Continue reading →

Hasan Update: Retaliation Against Prisoner Leader Inspires Hunger Strike

hasan prayerFrom LucasvilleAmnesty.org

Youngstown, OH- On Thursday August 18, 2016 the Ohio State Penitentiary (OSP) Rules Infraction Board (RIB) restricted Imam Siddique Hasan, of the Free Ohio Movement, from phone and email kiosk access. In response, Hasan and other Muslim prisoners have begun a hunger strike.

The RIB found Hasan guilty of violating Rule 59 of the OAC (Ohio Administrative Code) Section 5120-9-06 Inmate Rules of Conduct, which reads, (59) Any act not otherwise set forth herein, knowingly done which constitutes a threat to the security of the institution, its staff, other inmates, or to the acting inmate. (http://codes.ohio.gov/oac/5120-9-06 )

According to the RIB conduct report, S. Ishmael, a freelance Imam who leads prayers and religious study classes at OSP and nearby Trumbul Correctional, accused Siddique Hasan of making threats against the institution. On August 1, 2016, Ishmael told OSP staff that Hasan had asked him to wear a suicide vest in to the institution. This conversation was supposed to have taken place during religious study on July 22. Hasan and other Muslims attending the class deny Imam Ishmael’s allegation.

“The staff Imam’s story is an absurd and offensive stereotype.” OSP prisoner David Martin told supporters over the phone. “If Hasan was supposed to have made this threat on July 22, why did it take nine days before the man told staff about it? What was he doing for those nine days?”

Continue reading →

Update on Siddique Abdullah Hasan

[To see the initial post on Hasan’s punitive treatment, see here.]

Around noon eastern time, Hasan got word out through lawyers that he was doing fine and that if anyone wanted to correspond with him they should include a stamp for the reply since he could not go to the [jpay] kiosk.

Hasan has access to postal mail, so you can send him letters, and it sounds like also to JPay, but not the kiosk machine, so if you write him an email (and visit JPay.com to find out how if you don’t already) be sure to click the “include a stamp for reply” box before sending.

Please also continue to call the prison 330-743-0700. They are routing all the calls to a specific person, so lets keep her busy. Ask when he’s going to be let out of the hole and demand that this bogus investigation end immediately.

Also, write to Hasan, the more mail he gets the more support we’re demonstrating. You can include a total of 5 sheets of paper and 3 embossed (postage pre-printed) envelopes, so if you have any handy, slip them in to make sure he’s got supplies to write people back.

His address is

Siddique Abdullah Hasan

R130-559

OSP

878 Coitsville-Hubbard Rd

Youngstown OH 44505

Hunger Strike at Lukkkasville prison in Southern Ohio

Please contact Director Gary Mohr at ODRC Central Office # 614-752-1150, joellen.smith@odrc.state.oh.us

and

Warden Ronald Erdos at Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF)  # 740-259-5544, Larry.Greene@odrc.state.oh.us

Express support for the hunger strike and request that they meet the striker’s demands. More information about the demands are below.

Letter from hunger striker Chaz ‘Abdullah” Burch

I am contacting you to make you aware of my “Hunger Strike” and my demands and to ring the alarm about the oppressive administration here. And to make sure my strike is “documented.”

Being falsely incarcerated since the age of 16-teen years old for a crime I didn’t commit, sentence to 100 plus years and fighting daily for my liberation which as been no easy task against this racist regime here at Southern Ohio Correctionala facility (S.O. C. F.) in Lukkkasville, Ohio. Continue reading →

Strike Against White Supremacy: Mobilize for the September 9th Prisoner General Strike

by It’s Going Down


Across the country freeways are blocked, people take the streets, law enforcement officers are confronted and their buildings are occupied, and more and more people are questioning the institutions of policing and incarceration. In the past month, nearly every major city and many smaller ones have seen some sort of protest, demonstration, or disruption in the wake of ongoing police murders that have recently included two African-American men, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. Helping set the context for this rebellion has been growing anger at both Trump and Clinton and ongoing resistance to white nationalist and fascist organizing which becomes more and more confrontational. At the same time, talk of abolishing the police and the prison system is no longer a fringe idea, as these positions are being discussed more and more broadly by wide segments of popular social movements. Continue reading →

Invitation to Bend the Bars Conference

From Bendthebars.noblogs.org

Greetings from Columbus, Ohio!

You are invited to Bend the Bars 2016, a Midwest convergence in support of prisoners’ struggles.

When: August 26-29

Where: Columbus, OH

What: A weekend of workshops and discussions on prisoners’ resistance, the national prison strike starting September 9, and broad opposition to prisons, along with a public demonstration in solidarity with ongoing prison struggles.

Who we are: a group of individuals involved in prisoner solidarity work in the Midwest.

Who it’s for:
We hope to assemble a diverse group of individuals, groups, and organizations that are united by a desire to work against prisons, in support of our friends and family members who are locked up, and prisoners who are organizing themselves and acting up on the inside. Long-term supporters, former prisoners,  prisoners’ families as well as those who are just starting out and wanting to learn more are all encouraged to attend.  (Party-based organizations and politicians are discouraged from attending.)

If you plan on attending:
1.If you want to come to Bend the Bars, please RSVP with how many people will be attending and what kinds of accommodation you will need.  The website will be updated as more details of the convergence come together, but feel free to contact us with any questions.

2. The organizing process for the convergence is ongoing, so we want to hear from you! What activities, structure, and content do you want to see?  Specifically, we will have several slots for workshop sessions throughout the weekend.  What discussions do you want to be a part of?  Do you want to talk about the work that you’re doing? What projects and initiatives do you want to learn more about? Some topics we are interested in are supporting prison rebellion and prisoner organizing, support for individual prisoners, resistance to maximum security units, resistance to solitary confinement, prison publications, and literature distribution. Let us know if you would like to put something together! Continue reading →