On 10 May, the New Jersey Supreme Court ordered the release of black political prisoner Sundiata Acoli, who had served 49 years for his involvement in the 1973 death of a state trooper.
Sundiata had been eligible for parole since 1993 but the New Jersey parole authorities had repeatedly refused to release him, despite his posing no continuing threat. Legal challenges to this continued refusal had been going on for ten years when the Supreme Court finally overturned a 2019 appeal court decision in favour of keeping him incarcerated, ruling that the Parole Board had failed to consider his years of prison ‘good behaviour’, his age or his health. This victimisation was clearly in revenge both for being convicted of the murder of a law enforcement officer and for continuing to be a politically conscious black activist within the system. Prior to his imprisonment, Sundiata had been active with both the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army, and in 1971 was one of the Panther 21, who were acquitted of firearms and conspiracy charges after an eight-month political show trial, which attracted massive support and international solidarity.
Sundiata was arrested together with Assata Shakur, who was convicted of the same killing, but who escaped to Cuba in 1979 and has lived in exile there since. The Cuban government granted her political asylum but the US authorities have always hoped to overturn this and since 2013 she has featured on the FBI list of ‘most wanted terrorists’. In addition to the other reasons for continuing to victimise Sundiata, he was the target of the US ruling class anger and frustration at not being able to have Assata behind bars.
Whilst Sundiata Acoli is finally free, other very long-serving US political prisoners from the anti-racist struggles of the 1970s remain behind bars, including Mumia Abu-Jamal and Leonard Peltier. Just days after the New Jersey court ruling on Sundiata’s case, the US Parole Commission refused to release another longstanding black political prisoner, Dr Mutulu Shakur, who has been imprisoned since 1986, is now aged 70, and has bone-marrow cancer.
Free all political prisoners!
Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! No 288, June/July 2022
