1999/8/13 今井恭平
今井恭平です。
以前、お伝えしたようにVanity fair というアメリカの雑誌に、ムミアが警官殺しを告白した、という記事が掲載されました。これは、フィリップ・ブロックという人が 7年ほど前にボランティアで刑務所訪問をしていたとき、ムミアの「告白」を聞いた、というもの。
この「告白を聞いた」なる証言の信用性に関連する記事（フィラデルフィア・デイリー・ニュース）です。以下の記事を書いたスタッフライターのJim Nolan の立場は明確に反ムミアです。（記事タイトルは、「殺人者、昔の友人を嘘つきとよぶ」となっています）記事のトーンにははっきりそれが出ていますが、それでも事実として報道せざるをえなかった部分からも、ブロックなる人物がどういう人か、ムミアの告白なるものが本当にあったのかどうか、判断の役にたつものです。
ムミアの支援者として有名なパム・アフリカとムミアの弁護士ワイングラスがWHAT (1340 AM)というラジオ局の番組に出演。ムミア自身が電話でこの問題について語った録音テープを流すとともに、「告白」なるものに反論しました。
ムミアは、ブロックが彼の告白を聞いた、とされる数ヶ月後に、ブロックからムミアに送られた手紙（1993年の日付）を公開しました。それによれば、ブロックは「再審を勝ち取れれば、無罪の可能性はかなりあると思う」とか、ムミアへの支援を約束するような文言が書かれているそうです。
ムミアはラジオで流された録音メッセージの中で[あなたに罪を告白した人間に対して、再審をすれば無罪になるだろう、とか、あなたを支援する、などという手紙を書きますか？]と尋ねている。
これに対して、フィラデルフィア・デイリー・ニュースの取材に答えながら、ブロック氏はこう反論している。
これは左翼同士の連帯の挨拶みたいなものだ。（ブロック氏は自称「左翼」だそうです）ムミアの告白を聞いた後も、私のムミア支援の気持ちは変わらなかった。いな、彼が悔いていることを知って、より強まったとも言える。しかし、今になってみると、こういう手紙を書いたことが恥ずかしい。
さてさて、このブロック氏という人の人物像もなにやら見えてきたような気がします。
以下、記事原文
Killer claims: Ex-pal is a liar
Killer claims: Ex-pal is a liar
http://www.phillynews.com:80/daily_news/99/Aug/04/local/MUMI04.htm
Jim Nolan
Daily News Staff Writer
Convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal and his supporters went on the attack yesterday against the former prison volunteer who said that Abu-Jamal confessed to the 1981 killing of police officer Daniel Faulkner during a jailhouse visit in the early 1990s.
It was the latest salvo in the raging public relations war over the future of the death-row inmate, whose appeals for a new trial have been consistently rejected by state courts, only to be championed in the court of public opinion by left-leaning celebrities, social anarchists and anti-death penalty advocates.
Yesterday's counterattack by pro-Mumia forces came courtesy of radio station WHAT (1340 AM). The station devoted two hours of morning drive air time to Mumia organizer and MOVE activist Pam Africa, who spoke on Mumia's case and presented a number of supporters, including Jamal attorney Leonard Weinglass, to attacking the credibility of the former prison volunteer, Philip Bloch, and his story.
Jamal himself, however, supplied most of the ammo.
In a taped statement recorded last week in prison and played live over the air, the former radio host called Bloch "a liar."
Jamal also forwarded a 1993 letter Bloch wrote to him some months after his reported confession, in which Bloch expresses support for Jamal getting a new trial and predicts he would go free.
". . .So - it is possible to get justice from a jury - not always - but sometimes," the letter states. "So when you get a new trial - I think that there is a good chance of acquittal."
Jamal and his supporters said the letter proves Bloch lied about his encounter with the death-row inmate, whose public cause celebre was dealt a serious blow last month when an interview with Bloch appeared in a Vanity Fair magazine story.
"Why write to a guy and write about a new trial or acquittal if that guy confessed his guilt to you?" Jamal asked on the tape played yesterday.
"The answer is simple. There was no confession. Period."
In the Vanity Fair story, Bloch - then a volunteer with the Pennsylvania Prison Society who met with Jamal a number of times and became a friend and staunch supporter - recounts a meeting with Jamal during which he asked the former Black Panther if he was sorry for killing Faulkner.
"Yes," Jamal replied, according to Bloch.
Bloch, a former left-wing activist, said he came forward years later because he had become disgusted with the vilification of Faulkner's widow, Maureen, and the elevation of a convicted cop killer to martyrdom.
Interviewed yesterday by the Daily News, the 47-year-old teacher from York said the pro-Mumia forces were "misinterpreting" the letter to serve their own purpose.
"I continued to be a supporter of Mumia after the admission," Bloch said. "His admission never changed my opinion at all. It probably improved it, when he expressed regret."
Of the letter, Bloch said: "It looks to me like a left winger trying to express solidarity with another left winger.. . .It was obvious when I wrote that I wanted to let Mumia know I was still in his corner.
"Looking back, I'm ashamed to the extent to which I was willing even after hearing [the confession] to go out and do it for the cause," said Bloch.
"I still wanted to see him get out of jail at that point. And I was willing to sacrifice principle for the cause and personal friendship."