Letter On 11/28/2011 To San Francisco Japanese Consulate And Japanese Government Call For The Immediate Release of Fumiaki Hoshino and For The Democratic Righs of all prisoners. On November 28, 2011, a delegation of trade unionists, anti-war activists and people of Northern California have come together at the Japanese Consulate in San Francisco. We and others have joined together to call on the Japanese government to release Fumiaki Hoshino who has been imprisoned for more than 37 years for an alleged murder of a policeman in an anti-war protest in November 1971 in Tokyo. We believe that the trial and hearing were flawed and that there was never a fair trial in his case. We also believe that Hoshino has been targeted for harassment and intimidation by prison authorities because of his political views and opposition to US bases in Japan and Okinawa along with the introduction of nuclear weapons into Japan. In fact, he was recently denied even having visitors from the United States who wanted to talk with him directly about his case and the conditions in the prison. This attack on the democratic rights of prisoners in Japan is not an isolated case but a systemic problem of the Japanese prison system. The Superintendent of the Tokushima Prison where Fumiaki Hoshino is held seems to have a personal vendetta against Hoshino because of his political views. This effort by the Tokushima Prison superintendent is a blatant effort to continue to prevent knowledge about his case from going outside the prison to the people of Japan, the US and the world. This is also further evidence that justice is not being served by his continued incarceration in prison but that he is being held because of his anti-war political views which he continues to hold after 37 years. He is one of the longest held political prisoners in the world and his case is gaining increase support worldwide because of the injustice by his continued incarceration. We call on the Japanese government to immediately take steps to release Fumiaki Hoshino and also allow Fumiaki Hoshino to be allowed to have visitors who wish to see him. In fact, this issue is not just about the case of Fumiaki Hoshino but the democratic rights of all prisoners in Japan and internationally. Signed, US Committee To Free Hoshino Carol Seligman, Retired Teacher South San Francisco Classroom Teachers Association CTA Mark Norton, United Here Local 2* Shop Steward Frank Hotel Dorian Maxwell, TWU 250 A* Transit Operator Chris Kinder, Retired IBT GCIU*, Labor Committee To Free Mumia Joe Partansky, Human Rights Activist Mike Daly, Ironworkers Local 377* Dan Marlin Mike Bernardo TWU 250 A* Jerrold Sanders, IBEW 595* Elizar Friedman Bradley Wiedmaier SEIU-UHW* Home Care Worker Executive Board Kathy Lipscom, SEIU-UHW* Retired Marcus Holder, ILWU Local 10 * Executive Board and Education Committee Kazumi Torii, Labor Video Project Steve Zeltzer, CWA 39521*, United Public Workers For Action UPWA *organizations for identification only Statement of Labor Action Committee To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, 28 November 2011: FREE FUMIAKI HOSHINO! Criminal justice systems under capitalism are corrupt, racist, and dedicated to the defense of a reactionary ruling class. They are the first line of defense of this class against the working people of the world. No political prisoner demonstrates this more than Fumiaki Hoshino of Japan. One of the longest incarcerated political prisoners in the world, Hoshino was framed for a crime he didn't commit because he was an activist working against the US nuclear weapons base in Okinawa. He has been incarcerated for 37 years, but... He is innocent. There is no physical evidence whatsoever, and supposed "eyewitnesses" have recanted, claiming police coercion. Hoshino's case is similar to that of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a former member of the Black Panther Party, who was framed for a crime he didn't commit in 1982. Like Hoshino, Jamal was targetted for his political beliefs and activism. The Labor Action Committee To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal believes that cases such as those of Fumiaki Hoshino, native-American activist Leonard Peltier, and Mumia Abu-Jamal and others, can only be resolved through working class action. For labor action to free Fumiaki Hoshino! FREE FUMIAKI HOSHINO!