MARK CLEMENTS IS FREE!

From the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression - Chicago Branch

JOIN US IN WELCOMING MARK BACK INTO THE “FREE WORLD” AT 4:00 PM ON SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 19 AT THE HOME OF VIRGINIA CLEMENTS, 6643 N. SEELEY AVE. CHICAGO IL

After 28 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, the courts have decided to free Mark Clements!

In 1981 Mark Clements was 16 years old. He was arrested, beaten and tortured by Chicago Police. He “confessed” under torture and immediately repudiated is “confession.” Yet he was sentenced to four life terms without possibility of parole.

Thanks to a plea bargain worked out by Special Prosecutor Stuart A. Nudelman, attorneys for Clements, and Judge Jorge Alonso Mark was released on August 18 for “time served.” While accepting the plea, Mark has never acknowledged his participation in the crime for which he was wrongfully convicted. Although there was little doubt that Mark would have ultimately prevailed had he refused the plea bargain, the years this would have taken made the plea a viable choice.

On June 17, 1981, at 2:00 AM a fire broke out in a building owned by Eleanor Scott at 6602 S. Wentworth Ave. in Chicago. Four people, Robert T. Watson, James and Annabelle Moore, and Isadore Tucker, died in that fire, all of carbon monoxide asphyxiation and smoke inhalation. Fire investigators determined that the fire was a result of arson.

Newly discovered evidence implicates members of a motorcycle gang “The Munsters” as the perpetrators. However, On June 25, 1981, after a superficial investigation police arrested, Mark Clements, aged 16. He was beaten and tortured by Detective John McCann , and interrogated by Detective Daniel McWeeny. McWeeny and McCann have long histories of physically and psychologically abusing suspects. Both have been implicated in the Jon Burge Police Torture Case.

After over 10 hours of abuse he made a “confession” to involvement in the fire. At his trial Clements repudiated this “confession,” proclaimed his innocence, and recounted the beatings he had received from the police. There were no witnesses and no material evidence presented against Clements at his trial linking him to the crime.

Although only 16, Mark Clements was tried as an adult and sentenced to four life sentences plus 30 years in the state penitentiary.

Now free, Mark has pledged to work for the freedom of all victims of racist and political repression, starting with those wrongfully convicted and imprisoned.

For info: Chicago Branch NAARPR 312-939-2750 contact@naarpr.org