Sir, - On May 3rd, World Press Freedom Day, you printed a map marking each country in which journalists are imprisoned. Unfortunately, one was overlooked - the United States, where, since 1981, the president of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists, Mumia Abu Jamal, has been imprisoned on death row awaiting execution. Several years prior to Mumia's frame-up, the Philadelphia mayor Frank Rizzo blamed a "new breed of journalism" for the death of a police officer and said: "They believe what you write, what you say. And it's got to stop. And one day, and I hope it's in my career, that you're going to be held responsible and accountable for what you do."
It takes no great leap of the imagination to think that this was aimed at Mumia, who had been called the "voice of the voiceless" in tribute to his work in exposing the often brutal and racist actions of Philadelphia's police. More recently his work was banned from National Public Radio in the US after senators, including Bob Dole, threatened to withdraw the radio station's funding if it broadcast the voice of Mumia Abu Jamal.
Terry Clancy, Maynooth, Co Kildare