Support Zolo Agona Azania Zolo Agona Azania How you can help Zolo is no longer on death row. After 27 years, the state of Indiana has given up trying to get a death sentence for Zolo Agona Azania. Zolo remains in prison however. One next step is to ensure that Zolo is able to enroll in and complete a college degree program. Zolo's sentence may be reduced by 3 years if Zolo obtains a college degree while in prison. Zolo has been denied the ability to earn a college degree in the past because he had been sentenced to be executed. Before his arrest on these charges in 1981, Zolo had received a scholarship to Purdue University. Another next step is to challenge Zolo's 1982 convictions in federal court. Zolo can argue that those convictions were unconstitutional (in other words the convictions were contrary to, and/or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law, as determined by the U.S. Supreme Court). The Indiana courts have already acknowledged the constitutional problems with Zolo's conviction. On May 1, 2005, Judge Steve David granted Zolo's motion to bar the State of Indiana from seeking the death penalty for the third time. The Court found that "fundamental principles of fairness, due process, and speedy justice" were violated in Zolo's case. Judge David also pointed out that "the State bears most of the responsibility for the delay between the defendant's 1982 conviction and the currently pending penalty proceeding." In 1993, the Indiana Supreme Court overturned Zolo's original death sentence because the prosecution had failed to turn over a gunshot residue test. Both the Indiana Constitution and the U.S. Constitution guarantee all of us a right to a fair trial. This is not a "legal technicality," as Danielle Braff described it in the Post Tribune on June 1, 2006, but the basis of our justice system. Contact the No Death Penalty for Zolo Committee: No Death Penalty for Zolo Committee P.O. Box 478314 Chicago, IL 60647 usa Email: crsn (at) aol (dot) com www.zoloazania.org Invite someone from the Committee to discuss Zolo's case at your church, home, civic organization, etc. Join the Committee and work with us Send a donation to the Committee Write a letter to the Indiana newspapers, or your local paper Write a letter to Zolo. Zolo would appreciate letters from supporters. He can currently be reached at: Zolo Agona Azania #4969 P.O. Box 41 Indiana State Prison Michigan City, IN 46361 Below are some addresses to which you could write letters to the editor. We need to create a political climate where the courts must give Zolo a fair and just hearing, despite the racism, prejudice, and bias which has so far characterized Zolo's case. Without any pressure from our side they will find it easier to go along with what the police and prosecutors ask for. Thankfully many supporters have written thoughtful letters to the newspapers and other media and helped to support Zolo. The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, and the Indianapolis Star have written favorable editorials and printed letters supporting justice for Zolo. The Fort Wayne News-Sentinel is much more reactionary and their editorial called for Zolo's execution. The Gary Post-Tribune 1433 E. 83rd Ave. Merrillville, IN 46410-6307 Email: editor@post-trib.com The Journal-Gazette c/o Laura Emerson P.O. Box 100 600 W. Main Street Fort Wayne IN 46801-0088 USA Email: jghabayeb@fortwayne.infi.net Telephone: 219-461-8428 http://www.journalgazette.net/ Indianapolis Star c/o Editor P.O. Box 145 307 N. Pennsylvania St. Indianapolis, IN 46206-0145 USA Email: stareditor@starnews.com Telephone: 317-444-6177 http://www.starnews.com The News-Sentinel c/o Editor P.O. Box 102 600 W. Main Street Fort Wayne IN 46801 USA Email: nsletters@news-sentinel.com or nsweb@news-sentinel.com Telephone: 219-461-8444 Fax: 219-461-8817 http://www.news-sentinel.com/ns/ South Bend Tribune 225 W. Colfax Ave. South Bend, IN 46626 Northwest Indiana Times 601 W. 45th Ave. Munster, IN 46321 Telephone: 219-933-3200 Email:letters@nwitimes.com Evansville Courier & Press 300 East Walnut St Evansville, IN 47713 Telephone: 812-424-7711 The Editor The Chicago Sun-Times 401 North Wabash Avenue Chicago, IL 60611 Telephone: 312-321-3000 Fax: 312-321-3084 The Editor - Steve Mills The Chicago Tribune 435 North Michigan Avenue Chicago, IL 60611 Telephone: 312-222-3232 Fax: 312-222-4674 "Even though I am seeking help from anywhere and everywhere I can get it, my personal freedom campaign is not the Movement per se. Higher progressive efforts at publicly critical resistance are needed now. We must organize, educate, and be proactive. I do not have any doubt that We shall overcome, and there is Victory for us!" - Zolo Azania, in a March 15th, 2004 letter to Presente! (a progressive artists group in Boston, Massachusetts) Return to Main Page