Last August's restrictions on Imam Hasan's communication have not been re-examined or reviewed, despite the many egregious due process flaws in the Serious Misconduct Panel's handling of the conduct report. Please spread the word, write Hasan and continue to keep him and all prisoner organizers in your thoughts.
For Immediate
Release: Ohio Fails to Reverse Improper Communication Restriction for
Prison Strike Leader.
CONTACT: Ben Turk
PHONE: 614-704-4699
EMAIL: Insurgent.ben@gmail.com
WEBSITE: LucasvilleAmnesty.org
Columbus, OH- Last fall
the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) put
prisoner-rights activist Siddique Abdullah Hasan on severe
communication restrictions in a Serious Misconduct Panel (SMP)
hearing that included a number of clear irregularities and violations
of due process.
Hasan filed appeals
of the decision, and attorneys Staughton and Alice Lynd and other
supporters tried to rouse the Inspector General to review the
decision and process. Neither the ODRC nor the Inspector General (who
is tasked with “investigat[ing] the management and operation of
state agencies”) have replied to these appeals or requests.
The SMP
recommendation suspended Hasan from phone and Jpay (email) access for
one year, from August 14, 2018 to August 13, 2019. The warden at Ohio
State Penitentiary, where Hasan has been held since it opened in
1996, has the authority to reduce this suspension every 3 months
after a review of good behavior and no further rule violations. No
such review has occurred.
At the time of the
restriction a number of Hasan’s visitors were permanently banned
from visiting Ohio prisons, on the basis of sending Hasan letters
about the nationwide prison strike or raising donations to support
Hasan’s efforts on behalf of prisoners and fighting his own death
penalty conviction.
Hasan has been held
in solitary confinement since 1996, he’s led multiple hunger
strikes and protests at Ohio State Penitentiary (OSP) and been a
spokesperson for nationwide prisoner rights protest movements and
strikes. In 1993 he was convicted based only on unreliable informant
testimony of charges related to the Lucasville Uprising, an 11 day
siege at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF).
The SMP decision and Hasan’s appeal can be found online here.
The SMP decision and Hasan’s appeal can be found online here.
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