A coup d'état (, ; plural: coups d'état)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either civil or military. A coup d'état succeeds if the usurpers establish their dominance when the incumbent government fails to prevent or successfully resist their consolidation of power. If the coup neither fully fails nor achieves overall success, the attempted coup d'état is likely to lead to a civil war.

Typically, a coup d'état uses the extant government's power to assume political control of the country. In ''Coup d'État: A Practical Handbook'', military historian Edward Luttwak says, "A ''coup'' consists of the infiltration of a small, but critical, segment of the state apparatus, which is then used to displace the government from its control of the remainder", thus, armed force (either military or paramilitary) is not a defining feature of a coup d'état.

Etymology

Although the coup d'état has featured in politics since antiquity, the phrase is of relatively recent coinage; the Oxford Dictionary identifies it as a French expression meaning a “stroke of State”. In 1646, James Howell used the phrase in the book ''Louis XIII''; the first English usage dates from 1811, referring to Napoleon Bonaparte's deposing the Revolutionary Directory in 1799. Prof. Thomas Childers, of the University of Pennsylvania, indicates that the English language's lacking a word denoting the sudden, violent change of government derives from England's stable political traditions and institutions. French and German history are coloured with such politico-military actions.

Since the unsuccessful coups d'état of Wolfgang Kapp in 1920 (the Kapp Putsch), the Swiss German word ''Putsch'' (pronounced ; coined for the Züriputsch of 1839) also denotes the same politico-military actions: in Metropolitan France, ''putsch'' denoted the 1942 and 1961 anti-government attacks in Algiers, and the 1991 August Putsch in the USSR; the German equivalent is ''Staatsstreich'' (the German literal translation of ''coup d'état''), yet a ''putsch'' is not always a coup d'état, for example, the Beer Hall Putsch was by politicians without military support.

Usage of the phrase

Linguistically, ''coup d'état'' denotes a "stroke of state" (French: ''coup'' [stroke] ''d''' [of] ''État'' [state]). Analogously, the looser, quotidian usage means “gaining advantage on a rival”, (intelligence coup, boardroom coup). Politically, a coup d'état is a usually violent political engineering, which affects who rules in the government, without radical changes in the form of the government, the political system. Tactically, a coup d'état involves control, by an active minority of military usurpers, who block the remaining (non-participant) military's possible defence of the attacked government, by either capturing or expelling the politico-military leaders, and seizing physical control of the country's key government offices, communications media, and infrastructure. It is to be noted that in the latest years there has been a broad use of the phrase in mass media, which may contradict the legal definition of ''coup d'état''.

''Pronunciamiento''

The ''Pronunciamiento'' (Pronouncement) is a Spanish and Latin American type of coup d'état. The ''coup d'état'' (called ''golpe de estado'' in Spanish) was more common in Spain and South America, while the Pronunciamiento was more common in Central America. The ''Pronunciamiento'' is the formal explanation for deposing the regnant government, justifying the installation of the new government that was effected with the ''golpe de estado''. Edward Luttwak explains how a coup d'état and a ''pronunciamiento'' are different; in the former, a military faction deposes the civilian government and assumes power, in the latter, the military depose the civil government and install another civil government.

History

Coups d'état are common in Africa; between 1952 and 2000, thirty-three countries experienced 85 such depositions. Western Africa had most of them, 42; most were against civil regimes; 27 were against military regimes; and only in five were the deposed incumbents killed. Moreover, as a change-of-government method, the incidence of the coup d'état has declined worldwide, because usually, the threat of one suffices to effect the change of government; the military do not usually assume power, but install a civil leader acceptable to them. The political advantage is the appearance of legitimacy, examples are the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, and the change of government effected in Mauritania, on 3 August 2005, while the president was in Saudi Arabia.

Types

The political scientist Samuel P. Huntington identifies three classes of coup d'état:

Breakthrough coup d'état: a revolutionary army overthrows a traditional government and creates a new bureaucratic elite. Generally led by mid-level or junior officers. Examples are China in 1911, Bulgaria in 1944, Egypt in 1952, Turkey in 1960, Greece in 1967, Libya in 1969, Portugal in 1974 and Liberia in 1980.

Guardian coup d'état: the "musical chairs" coup d'état. The stated aim of such a coup is usually improving public order and efficiency, and ending corruption. There usually is no fundamental change to the power structure. Generally, the leaders portray their actions as a temporary and unfortunate necessity. An early example is the coup d'état by consul Sulla, in 88 B.C., against supporters of Marius in Rome, after the latter attempted to strip him of a military command. A contemporary instance is the civilian Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's overthrow by Chief of Army Staff General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in 1977, who cited widespread civil disorder and impending civil war as his justification. In 1999, General Pervez Musharraf overthrew Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the same grounds. Nations with guardian coups can frequently shift back and forth between civilian and military governments. Example countries include Pakistan, Turkey (1978 and 1980), and Thailand. A bloodless coup usually arises from the Guardian coup d'état.

Veto coup d'état: occurs when the army vetoes the people's mass participation and social mobilisation in governing themselves. In such a case, the army confronts and suppresses large-scale, broad-based civil opposition, tending to repression and killing, such as the coup d'état in Chile in 1973 against the elected Socialist President Salvador Allende Gossens by the Chilean military. The same happened in Argentina throughout the period 1930-1983. The 20 July 1944 plot by parts of the German military to overthrow the elected National Socialist government of Adolf Hitler in Germany is an example of a failed veto coup d'état.

A coup d'état is typed according to the military rank of the lead usurper.

The veto coup d'état and the guardian coup d'état are effected by the army's commanding officers.

The breakthrough coup d'état is effected by junior officers (colonels or lower rank) or non-commissioned officers (sergeants). When junior officers or enlisted men so seize power, the coup d'état is a mutiny with grave implications for the organizational and professional integrity of the military.

In a bloodless coup d'état, the threat of violence suffices to depose the incumbent. In 1889, Brazil became a republic via ''bloodless coup''; in 1999, Pervez Musharraf assumed power in Pakistan via a ''bloodless coup''; and, in 2006, Sonthi Boonyaratglin assumed power in Thailand as the leader of the Council for Democratic Reform under Constitutional Monarchy.

The self-coup denotes an incumbent government — aided and abetted by the military — assuming extra-constitutional powers. A historical example is President, then Emperor, Louis Napoléon Bonaparte. Modern examples include Alberto Fujimori, in Peru, who, although elected, temporarily suspended the legislature and the judiciary in 1992, becoming an authoritarian ruler, and King Gyanendra's assumption of “emergency powers” in Nepal. Another form of self-coup is when a government, having been defeated in an election, refuses to step down.

Resistance to coups d'état

Many coups d'état, even if initially successful in seizing the main centres of state power, are actively opposed by certain segments of society or by the international community. Opposition can take many different forms, including an attempted counter-coup by sections of the armed forces, international isolation of the new regime, and military intervention.

Sometimes opposition takes the form of civil resistance, in which the coup is met with mass demonstrations from the population generally, and disobedience among civil servants and members of the armed forces. Cases in which civil resistance played a significant part in defeating armed coups d'état include: the Kornilov Putsch in Russia in August 1917; the Kapp Putsch in Berlin in March 1920; and the Generals' Revolt in Algiers in April 1961. The coup in the Soviet Union on 19–21 August 1991 is another case in which civil resistance was part of an effective opposition to a coup: Boris Yeltsin, President of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, stood on top of a tank in the centre of Moscow and urged people to refuse co-operation with the coup.

Post-military-coup governments

After the coup d'état, the military face the matter of what type of government to establish. In Latin America, it was common for the post-coup government to be led by a junta, a committee of the chiefs of staff of the armed forces. A common form of African post-coup government is the revolutionary assembly, a quasi-legislative body elected by the army. In Pakistan, the military leader typically assumes the title of chief martial law administrator.

According to Huntington, most leaders of a coup d'état act under the concept of ''right orders'': they believe that the best resolution of the country's problems is merely ''to issue correct orders''. This view of government underestimates the difficulty of implementing government policy, and the degree of political resistance to certain correct orders. It presupposes that everyone who matters in the country shares a single, common interest, and that the only question is ''how'' to pursue that single, common interest.

Current leaders who assumed power via coups d'état

Qaboos of Oman* Teodoro Obiang Nguema MbasogoDési Bouterse**** Blaise CompaoréOmar Hasan Ahmad al-BashirIdriss DébyYahya Jammeh** Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani* François Bozizé** Frank BainimaramaMohamed Ould Abdel Aziz*** Andry Rajoelina

Title	! Name	! Assumed office	! Country
List of heads of state of Libya	Leader and Guide of the Revolution	Muammar al-Gaddafi	1 September 1969
Sultan of Oman	Sultan	|	23 July 1970
List of heads of state of Equatorial Guinea	President	|	3 August 1979
President of Suriname	President	|	25 February 1980
List of heads of state of Burkina Faso	President	|	15 October 1987
List of Presidents of Sudan	President	|	30 June 1989
List of heads of state of Chad	President	|	2 December 1990
List of heads of state of The Gambia	President	|	22 July 1994
Emir of Qatar	Emir	|	27 June 1995
List of heads of state of the Central African Republic and Central African Empire	President	|	15 March 2003
Prime Minister of Fiji	Acting Prime Minister	|	5 December 2006
List of heads of state of Mauritania	President	|	6 August 2008
List of heads of state of Madagascar	President of the High Transitional Authority	|	17 March 2009

* Monarchs who overthrew their own fathers.

** Both Jammeh and Bozizé were subsequently confirmed in office by apparently free and fair elections. The election confirming Jammeh was marked by repression of the free press and the opposition. An opposition leader described the outcome as a "sham".

*** Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz was subsequently confirmed by a narrow margin in the Mauritanian presidential election, 2009, which were regarded as "satisfactory" by international observers.

**** Dési Bouterse relinquished power on two occasions, and got elected as head of a coalition government August 12, 2010.

See also

Assassination

Civil-military relations

Contrast with civilian control of the military

Coup de main

Dictatorship

Kleptocracy

List of fictional revolutions and coups

List of protective service agencies

Military dictatorship

Political corruption

Political warfare

References

Bibliography

Curzio Malaparte, ''Technique du Coup d'État'' (Published in French), Paris, 1931

S.E. Finer, ''The Man on Horseback: The Role of the Military in Politics'', Pall Mall Press, London, 1962. p. 98.

D. J. Goodspeed, ''Six Coups d'État'', Viking Press inc., New-York, 1962

Edward Luttwak, ''Coup d'état: A practical handbook'', Harvard University Press, 1969, 1980. ISBN 0-674-17547-6

Ken Connor and David Hebditch, ''How to Stage a Military Coup: From Planning to Execution'', Pen and Sword Books Ltd, 2008, ISBN 978-1-84832-503-6

McGowan, Patrick. 2005. “Coups and Conflict in West Africa, 1955-2004: Part I, Theoretical Perspectives.” ''Armed Forces & Society'', vol. 32: pp. 5–23.

McGowan, Patrick. 2006. “Coups and Conflict in West Africa, 1955-2004: Part II, Empirical Findings.” ''Armed Forces & Society'', vol. 32: pp. 234–253.

Beeson, Mark. 2008. “Civil-Military Relations in Indonesia and the Philippines: Will the Thai Coup Prove Contagious?” ''Armed Forces & Society'', vol. 34: pp. 474–490.

N'Diaye, Boubacar. 2002. “How Not to Institutionalize Civilian Control: Kenya's Coup Prevention Strategies, 1964-1997.” ''Armed Forces & Society'', vol. 28: pp. 619–640

External links

Category:Civil–military relations Category:French words and phrases

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Catherine Austin Fitts is the president of Solari, Inc., the publisher of ''The Solari Report'', managing member of Solari Investment Advisory Services, LLC., and a supporter of the 9/11 Truth movement.

Background

Fitts served as managing director and member of the board of directors of the Wall Street investment bank Dillon, Read & Co. Inc., as Assistant Secretary of Housing and Federal Housing Commissioner at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development in the first Bush Administration, and was the president of Hamilton Securities Group, Inc., an investment bank and financial software developer.

Fitts has a BA from the University of Pennsylvania, an MBA from the Wharton School and studied Mandarin at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She publishes a column, "Mapping the Real Deal," in ''Scoop'' in New Zealand.

Fitts signed a statement released by the organization 9/11 Truth in 2004 that calls for a new investigation into the September 11 attacks. She confirmed her support for the statement in 2009.

References

External links

Fitts' Bio from Solari

Category:American financial businesspeople Category:Investment bankers Category:Living people Category:People from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Wharton School alumni

name	DJ Green Lantern
background	non_performing_personnel
birth name	James D'Agostino
alias	The Evil Genius, James 1 The Green Lantern
origin	Rochester, New York, U.S.
instrument	Sampler, Keyboards, Turntable
genre	Hip Hop, R&B;
occupation	DJ/Producer/On-Air Personality/Rapper/Singer
associated acts	Immortal Technique, Styles P, Busta Rhymes, Eminem, Uncle Murda, DJ Head, Nas, Crime Mob, Lil' Mo, Cashis, 50 Cent, Fort Minor, Mike Shinoda, Styles Of Beyond, Ryu, Tak, Celph Titled, Apathy, Holly Brook, Juelz Santana, Ghostface Killah
website	djgreenlantern.tv
notable instruments	The 1's and 2's }}

DJ Green Lantern (born James C. D'Agostino in 1975) is an American-Italian-Puerto Rican DJ and hip hop music producer from Rochester, New York. In 2002, D'Agostino was signed by Eminem to become the official DJ for Shady Records after DJ Head stepped down for undisclosed reasons. D'Agostino left the label in 2005 due to a dispute with Shady Records rapper 50 Cent.

Biography

Rise to fame

DJ Green Lantern came to prominence with his "Invasion" mixtape series, the first set of officially sponsored mixtapes from Eminem's Shady Records. On the series, spanning three mixtapes (later to be spun off into the ''Armageddon'' series), the DJ broke several diss records, furthering the issues between Eminem and Benzino/''The Source'' as well as the entire Shady camp and Ja Rule/Murder Inc.

He is also recognized as a producer, featuring on his own mixtapes several "Green Remixes," including, most notably, a remix of the Nas and Tupac Shakur collaboration, "Thugz Mansion." He also produced D-Block's "2 Guns Up", an acclaimed street single, which originated as a freestyle rap on his Hot 97 radio show, "In the Lab" (the most memorable of which has also appeared as a mixtape, "The Best of In the Lab"). "In the Lab" is formatted as a one-hour (with commercials) mix show, in which DJ Green Lantern blends a cappella and instrumental tracks from various artists, as well as breaking new and underground music (such as the Ghostface Killah and El-Producto collaboration "HideYaFace").

"Bin Laden"

D'Agostino also produced Ludacris' "Number One Spot," the second single off of his album ''The Red Light District'', and Immortal Technique's "Bin Laden" single, which blames the Reagan Doctrine (under which the U.S. aided the mujahideen in Afghanistan) and U.S. President George W. Bush for the September 11, 2001 attacks.

With the Shady Records family

As a member of the Shady Records family, D'Agostino also hosted a show on Eminem's Sirius Satellite Radio channel, Shade 45, along with an accompanying mixtape released in the fall of 2004. As Eminem's DJ, D'Agostino was responsible for touring with him and spinning at shows such as the Shady National Convention and The Game's album release party. D'Agostino's much anticipated album ''Armageddon'' was set to be released under Shady Records, but controversy and an eventual parting would put the release in limbo.

Hip-Hop Nation

In summer 2007, D'Agostino returned to Sirius Satellite Radio on the ''Hip-Hop Nation'' channel. He hosts a show called ''The Invasion''.

Bar Exam 2

D'Agostino recently put together and mixed the highly anticipated ''Bar Exam 2'' mixtape by acclaimed underground MC Royce Da 5'9". Green took over for DJ Premier and Statik Selektah who hosted and mixed Royce's first Bar Exam Mixtape. The Bar Exam 2 was pushed back several times because of Green Lantern's inability to mix the tape due to his touring. After several stated released dates, Bar Exam 2 was finally released on September 15 as a free download on HipHipDX.com. Due to the high anticipation of the mixtape, Royce gave the mixtape the slogan "Happy Bar Exam 2, It's a Holiday" prior to its release.

Pulse of the People

D'Agostino collaborated with Dead Prez on their latest album, ''Pulse of the People: Turn Off The Radio, Vol. 3'', released in June 2009

Discography

2005 ''Conspiracy Theory: Invasion Part II''

2005 ''New World Order''

2006 ''New York State of Mind''

2006 ''Throwback Classics, Vol. 1''

2006 ''You'll See''

2006 ''Team Invasion: Best of DJ Green Lantern and Dipset''

2007 ''Alive On Arrival''

2007 ''Hood Rules Apply''

2007 ''R.O.C. Stars Street Leak: American Gangster''

2007 ''Shady Times: Invasion Part I''

2007 ''Truth Shall Set You Free''

2007 ''Countdown to Armageddon (Invasion 3)''

2007 ''The MySpace Invasion''

2007 ''I Produced That''

2008 ''Grand Theft Auto IV: Liberty City Invasion [Soundtrack]''

Other Releases

''Most recent to earliest (possibly some earlier mixtapes; these are rare and lesser known)''

''DJ Green Lantern, Russell Simmons & Barack Obama: Yes We Can (The Mixtape)

''Grafh and DJ Green Lantern: The Oracle 2

''Royce Da 5'9" and DJ Green Lantern: Bar Exam 2

''07-07-08'' (with Cassidy and Team Invasion)

''Dj Green Lantern and Immortal Technique: The 3rd World''

''Charles Hamilton & DJ Green Lantern: Outside Looking''

''Nas & DJ Green Lantern: The Nigger Mixtape''

''Monster Mash Part 2''

'' Grow Season'' (with Wiz Khalifa)

''07-07-07'' (with Cassidy and DJ Thoro)

''The MySpace Invasion Vol. 3''

''Cocaine on Steroids'' (with N.O.R.E.)

''The MySpace Invasion Vol. 2''

''Respect The Shooter'' (with Uncle Murda)

''Monster Mash''

''The Sirius Invasion''

''MySpace Takeover'' (with Team Invasion)

''Pre-Release Therapy'' (with Ludacris)

''Say Uncle'' (with Uncle Murda)

''AND 1 Streetball - The Official Video Game Mixtape''

''In The Kitchen'' (with DJ Khaled and Team Invasion)

''On My New York Shit'' (with DJ Kay Slay)

''This Ain't No Greezy Talk'' (with Team Invasion)

''The Internet Invasion'' (with Ghostface Killah)

''DJ Green Lantern presents Fort Minor: We Major'' (with Mike Shinoda) 2005

''Razor Tag'' (with Styles of Beyond)

''Ain't No Greezy Talk: Team Invasion Edition'' (with DVD / with Team Invasion)

''The Green Lantern Instrumentals'' (Hosted by Team Invasion)

''Team Invasion Presents: Keyshia Cole''

''The Best of Green Lantern and D-Block'' (Hosted by Team Invasion)

''The Best of Green Lantern and Shady Records'' (Hosted by Team Invasion)

''5 Star General''

''Shade 45: Sirius Bizness'' (Hosted by Eminem)

''Public Enemy Number One'' (with Beanie Sigel)

''The Oracle'' (with Grafh)

''The Champ Is Here'' (with Jadakiss/ Hosted by Big Mike)

''Countdown To Armageddon 2: Back To The Lab'' (hosted by Dame Dash)

''The Best Of In Da Lab Vol. 1''

''Rap Phenomenon II: 2Pac'' (with Dirty Harry and DJ Vlad)

''Invasion Part 1''

''Get in Where U Fit in'' (with the Young Gunz)

''New World Order Pt.2''

''The Chosen One''

''Takin' it to The Streets''

''Inherited Beef Vol.1 (With Ronald)http://www.datpiff.com/Ronald-Inherited-Beef-Vol1-mixtape.225867.html

''Just Us and The Gunz''

''In Too Deep''

''Rookie of the Year''

''Coming of Age''

''Millennium All-Stars'' (with DJs Tony Touch, Mister Cee, Ron G, Funkmaster Flex, Doo Wop, DJ Enuff, Spinbad, and DJ Dale)

''The Green Ghost Project'' (with Styles P)

''Man vs Many'' (with ''Nefew'')

References

External links

Official Website

Category:1976 births Category:AND1 Category:Living people Category:American hip hop musicians Category:Hip hop DJs Category:Mixtape DJs Category:Italian hip hop musicians Category:People from Rochester, New York

de:DJ Green Lantern es:DJ Green Lantern fr:DJ Green Lantern

name	Mumia Abu-Jamal
image name	Mumia03.jpg
birth name	Wesley Cook
birth date	April 24, 1954
birth place	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
conviction	First degree murder
conviction penalty	Death
conviction status	Incarcerated
children	}}

Mumia Abu-Jamal (born Wesley Cook on April 24, 1954) was convicted of the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner and sentenced to death. He has been described as "perhaps the world's best known death-row inmate", and his sentence is one of the most debated today. Before his arrest, he was an activist and radio journalist who became President of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists. He was a member of the Black Panther Party until October 1970.

Since his conviction, his case has become an international cause célèbre, and he has become a controversial cultural icon. Supporters and opponents disagree on the appropriateness of the death penalty, whether he is guilty, or whether he received a fair trial. During his imprisonment he has published several books and other commentaries, notably ''Live from Death Row'' (1995).

Since 1995, Abu-Jamal, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections #AM8335, has been incarcerated at Pennsylvania's SCI Greene, where most of the state's capital case inmates are held. In 2008, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the murder conviction, but ordered a new capital sentencing hearing over concerns that the jury was improperly instructed. Subsequently, the United States Supreme Court allowed his July 1982 conviction to stand, and ordered the appeals court to reconsider its decision to rescind the death sentence. On April 26, 2011, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction as well as its decision to vacate the death sentence. The issue of the sentence was remanded for a new hearing. The death penalty may be imposed again or Abu-Jamal may receive a sentence of life without parole.

Early life and activism

Abu-Jamal's father died when Abu-Jamal was nine years old. Abu-Jamal was given the name Mumia in 1968 by his high school teacher, a Kenyan instructing a class on African cultures in which students took African classroom names. According to Abu-Jamal, 'Mumia' means "Prince" and was the name of anti-colonial African nationalists conducting warfare against the British in Kenya at the time of its independence movement. He adopted the surname Abu-Jamal ("father of Jamal" in Arabic) after the birth of his son Jamal on July 18, 1971. His first marriage at age 19, to Jamal's mother, Biba, was short-lived. Their daughter, Lateefa, was born shortly after the wedding. Mazi, Abu-Jamal's son by his second wife, Marilyn (known as "Peachie"), was born in early 1978. Abu-Jamal separated from Marilyn and commenced living with his third and current wife, Wadiya, shortly before the events that led to his incarceration.

Involvement with the Black Panthers

In his own writings, Abu-Jamal describes his adolescent experience of being "kicked ... into the Black Panther Party" after suffering a beating from "white racists" and a policeman for his efforts to disrupt a George Wallace for President rally in 1968. The following year, at the age of 15, he helped form the Philadelphia branch of the Black Panther Party, taking appointment, in his own words, as the chapter's "Lieutenant of Information", exercising a responsibility for writing information and news communications. In one of the interviews he gave at the time he quoted Mao Zedong, saying that "political power grows out of the barrel of a gun". That same year, he dropped out of Benjamin Franklin High School and took up residence in the branch's headquarters. He spent late 1969 in New York City and early 1970 in Oakland, living and working with BPP colleagues in those cities. He was a party member from May 1969 until October 1970 and was subject to Federal Bureau of Investigation COINTELPRO surveillance from then until about 1974.

Education and journalism career

After leaving the Panthers he returned to his old high school, but was suspended for distributing literature calling for "black revolutionary student power". He also led unsuccessful protests to change the school name to Malcolm X High. After attaining his GED, he studied briefly at Goddard College in rural Vermont.

By 1975 he was pursuing a vocation in radio newscasting, first at Temple University's WRTI and then at commercial enterprises. In 1975, he was employed at radio station WHAT and he became host of a weekly feature program of WCAU-FM in 1978. He was also employed for brief periods at radio station WPEN, and became active in the local chapter of the Marijuana Users Association of America. From 1979 he worked at National Public Radio-affiliate WUHY until 1981 when he was asked to submit his resignation after a dispute about the requirements of objective focus in his presentation of news. As a radio journalist he earned the moniker "the voice of the voiceless" and was renowned for identifying with and giving exposure to the MOVE anarcho-primitivist commune in Philadelphia's Powelton Village neighborhood, including reportage of the 1979–80 trial of certain of its members (the "MOVE Nine") charged with the murder of police officer James Ramp. During his broadcasting career, his high-profile interviews included Julius Erving, Bob Marley, and Alex Haley, and he was elected president of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists.

At the time of Daniel Faulkner's murder, Abu-Jamal was working as a taxicab driver in Philadelphia two nights a week to supplement his income. He had been working part-time as a reporter for WDAS, then an African-American-oriented and minority-owned radio station.

Arrest for murder and trial

On December 9, 1981, in Philadelphia, close to the intersection at 13th and Locust Streets, Philadelphia Police Department officer Daniel Faulkner conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle belonging to William Cook, Abu-Jamal's younger brother. During the traffic stop, Abu-Jamal's taxi was parked across the street, and Abu-Jamal ran across the street towards the traffic stop. After arriving at the traffic stop, shots were fired by both Abu-Jamal and Officer Faulkner at each other. Both were wounded, and Faulkner died. Police arrived on the scene and arrested Abu-Jamal, who was found with a shoulder holster, a revolver, and spent cartridges in his revolver, in his possession. He was taken directly from the scene of the shooting to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital where he received treatment for his wounds. He was later charged with the first-degree murder of Daniel Faulkner.

The case went to trial in June 1982 in Philadelphia. Judge Albert F. Sabo initially agreed to Abu-Jamal's request to represent himself, with criminal defense attorney Anthony Jackson acting as his legal advisor. During the first day of the trial, Judge Sabo warned Abu-Jamal that he would forfeit his legal right to self-representation if he kept being intentionally disruptive in a fashion that was unbecoming under the law. Due to Abu-Jamal's continued disruptive behavior, Judge Sabo ruled that Abu-Jamal forfeited his right to self-representation.

Prosecution case at trial

The prosecution presented four witnesses to the court. Robert Chobert, a cab driver who testified he was parked behind Faulkner, identified Abu-Jamal as the shooter. Cynthia White, a prostitute, testified that Abu-Jamal emerged from a nearby parking lot and shot Faulkner. Michael Scanlon, a motorist, testified that from two car lengths away, he saw a man, matching Abu-Jamal's description, run across the street from a parking lot and shoot Faulkner. Albert Magilton, a pedestrian who did not see the actual murder, testified to witnessing Faulkner pull over Cook's car. At the point of seeing Abu-Jamal start to cross the street toward them from the parking lot, Magilton turned away and lost sight of what happened next.

The prosecution also presented two witnesses who were at the hospital after the altercation. Hospital security guard Priscilla Durham and Police Officer Garry Bell testified that Abu-Jamal confessed in the hospital by saying, "I shot the motherfucker, and I hope the motherfucker dies."

A .38 caliber Charter Arms revolver, belonging to Abu-Jamal, with five spent cartridges was retrieved beside him at the scene. He was wearing a shoulder holster, and the shell casings and rifling characteristics of the weapon were consistent with bullet fragments taken from Faulkner's body. Tests to confirm that Abu-Jamal had handled and fired the weapon were not performed, as contact with arresting police and other surfaces at the scene could have compromised the forensic value of such tests.

Defense case at trial

The defense maintained that Abu-Jamal was innocent of the charges and that the testimony of the prosecution's witnesses was unreliable. The defense presented nine character witnesses, including poet Sonia Sanchez, who testified that Abu-Jamal was "viewed by the black community as a creative, articulate, peaceful, genial man". Another defense witness, Dessie Hightower, testified that he saw a man running along the street shortly after the shooting although he did not see the actual shooting itself. His testimony contributed to the development of a "running man theory", based on the possibility that a "running man" may have been the actual shooter. Veronica Jones also testified for the defense, but she did not see anyone running. Other potential defense witnesses refused to appear in court. Abu-Jamal did not testify in his own defense. Nor did his brother, who said at the crime scene, "I ain't got nothing to do with this."

Verdict and sentence

The jury delivered a unanimous guilty verdict after three hours of deliberations.

In the sentencing phase of the trial, Abu-Jamal read to the jury from a prepared statement. He was then cross-examined about issues relevant to the assessment of his character by Joseph McGill, the prosecuting attorney.

In his statement Abu-Jamal criticized his attorney as a "legal trained lawyer" who was imposed on him against his will and who "knew he was inadequate to the task and chose to follow the directions of this black-robed conspirator, [Judge] Albert Sabo, even if it meant ignoring my directions". He claimed that his rights had been "deceitfully stolen" from him by Sabo, particularly focusing on the denial of his request to receive defense assistance from non-attorney John Africa and being prevented from proceeding ''pro se''. He quoted remarks of John Africa, and said: :"Does it matter whether a white man is charged with killing a black man or a black man is charged with killing a white man? As for justice when the prosecutor represents the Commonwealth the Judge represents the Commonwealth and the court-appointed lawyer is paid and supported by the Commonwealth, who follows the wishes of the defendant, the man charged with the crime? If the court-appointed lawyer ignores, or goes against the wishes of the man he is charged with representing, whose wishes does he follow? Who does he truly represent or work for? ... I am innocent of these charges that I have been charged of and convicted of and despite the connivance of Sabo, McGill and Jackson to deny me my so-called rights to represent myself, to assistance of my choice, to personally select a jury who is totally of my peers, to cross-examine witnesses, and to make both opening and closing arguments, I am still innocent of these charges."

Abu-Jamal was subsequently sentenced to death by the unanimous decision of the jury.

Appeals and review

State appeals

Direct appeal of his conviction was considered and denied by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania on March 6, 1989, subsequently denying rehearing. The Supreme Court of the United States denied his petition for writ of ''certiorari'' on October 1, 1990, and denied his petition for rehearing twice up to June 10, 1991.

On June 1, 1995 his death warrant was signed by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge. Its execution was suspended while Abu-Jamal pursued state post-conviction review. At the post-conviction review hearings, new witnesses were called. William "Dales" Singletary testified that he saw the shooting and that the gunman was the passenger in Cook's car. Singletary's account contained discrepancies which rendered it "not credible" in the opinion of the court. William Harmon, a convicted fraudster, testified that Faulkner's murderer fled in a car which pulled up at the crime scene, and could not have been Abu-Jamal. However, Robert Harkins testified that he had witnessed a man stand over Faulkner as the latter lay wounded on the ground, who shot him point-blank in the face and then "walked and sat down on the curb".

The six judges of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled unanimously that all issues raised by Abu-Jamal, including the claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, were without merit. The Supreme Court of the United States denied a petition for certiorari against that decision on October 4, 1999, enabling Ridge to sign a second death warrant on October 13, 1999. Its execution in turn was stayed as Abu-Jamal commenced his pursuit of federal habeas corpus review.

In 1999, Arnold Beverly claimed that he and an unnamed assailant, not Mumia Abu-Jamal, shot Daniel Faulkner as part of a contract killing because Faulkner was interfering with graft and payoff to corrupt police. The Beverly affidavit became an item of division for Mumia's defense team, as some thought it usable and others rejected Beverly's story as "not credible".

Private investigator George Newman claimed in 2001 that Chobert had recanted his testimony. Commentators also noted that police and news photographs of the crime scene did not show Chobert's taxi, and that Cynthia White, the only witness at the trial to testify to seeing the taxi, had previously provided crime scene descriptions that omitted it. Cynthia White was declared to be dead by the state of New Jersey in 1992 although Pamela Jenkins claimed that she saw White alive as late as 1997. Mumia supporters often claim that White was a police informant and that she falsified her testimony against Abu-Jamal. Priscilla Durham's step-brother, Kenneth Pate, who was imprisoned with Abu-Jamal on other charges, has since claimed that Durham admitted to not hearing the hospital confession. The hospital doctors have stated that Abu-Jamal was not capable of making such a dramatic bedside confession at that time. In 2008, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania rejected a further request from Abu-Jamal for a hearing into claims that the trial witnesses perjured themselves on the grounds that he had waited too long before filing the appeal.

Federal ruling directing resentencing

Abu-Jamal did not make any public statements about Faulkner's murder until May 3, 2001. In his version of events, he claimed that he was sitting in his cab across the street when he heard shouting, then saw a police vehicle, then heard the sound of gunshots. Upon seeing his brother appearing disoriented across the street, Abu-Jamal ran to him from the parking lot and was shot by a police officer. The driver originally stopped by police officer Faulkner, Abu-Jamal's brother William Cook, did not testify or make any statement until April 29, 2001, when he claimed that he had not seen who had shot Faulkner.

Judge William H. Yohn Jr. of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania upheld the conviction but voided the sentence of death on December 18, 2001, citing irregularities in the original process of sentencing. Particularly, He ordered the State of Pennsylvania to commence new sentencing proceedings within 180 days and ruled that it was unconstitutional to require that a jury's finding of circumstances mitigating against determining a sentence of death be unanimous. Eliot Grossman and Marlene Kamish, attorneys for Abu-Jamal, criticized the ruling on the grounds that it denied the possibility of a ''trial de novo'' at which they could introduce evidence that their client had been framed. Prosecutors also criticized the ruling; Officer Faulkner's widow Maureen described Abu-Jamal as a "remorseless, hate-filled killer" who would "be permitted to enjoy the pleasures that come from simply being alive" on the basis of the judgment. Both parties appealed.

Federal appeal

On December 6, 2005, the Third Circuit Court admitted four issues for appeal of the ruling of the District Court: 1) in relation to sentencing, whether the jury verdict form had been flawed and the judge's instructions to the jury had been confusing; 2) in relation to conviction and sentencing, whether racial bias in jury selection existed to an extent tending to produce an inherently biased jury and therefore an unfair trial (the ''Batson'' claim); 3) in relation to conviction, whether the prosecutor improperly attempted to reduce jurors' sense of responsibility by telling them that a guilty verdict would be subsequently vetted and subject to appeal; 4) in relation to post-conviction review hearings in 1995–6, whether the presiding judge, who had also presided at the trial, demonstrated unacceptable bias in his conduct.

The Third Circuit Court heard oral arguments in the appeals on May 17, 2007, at the United States Courthouse in Philadelphia. The appeal panel consisted of Chief Judge Anthony Joseph Scirica, Judge Thomas Ambro, and Judge Robert Cowen. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania sought to reinstate the sentence of death, on the basis that Yohn's ruling was flawed, as he should have deferred to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court which had already ruled on the issue of sentencing, and the ''Batson'' claim was invalid because Abu-Jamal made no complaints during the original jury selection. Abu-Jamal's counsel told the Third Circuit Court that Abu-Jamal did not get a fair trial because the jury was both racially-biased and misinformed, and the judge was a racist. The last of those claims was made based on the statement by a Philadelphia court stenographer named Terri Maurer-Carter who, in a 2001 affidavit, stated that Judge Sabo had said "Yeah, and I'm going to help them fry the nigger." in the course of a conversation regarding Abu-Jamal's case. Sabo denied having made any such comment.

On March 27, 2008, the three-judge panel issued a majority 2–1 opinion upholding Yohn's 2001 opinion but rejecting the bias and ''Batson'' claims, with Judge Ambro dissenting on the ''Batson'' issue. On July 22, 2008, Abu-Jamal's formal petition seeking reconsideration of the decision by the full Third Circuit panel of 12 judges was denied. On April 6, 2009, the United States Supreme Court also refused to hear Abu-Jamal's appeal. On January 19, 2010, the Supreme Court ordered the appeals court to reconsider its decision to rescind the death penalty, with the same three-judge panel convening in Philadelphia on November 9, 2010, to hear oral argument. On April 26, 2011, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals reaffirmed its prior decision to vacate the death sentence on the grounds that the jury instructions and verdict form were ambiguous and confusing.

Life as a prisoner

In 1991 Abu-Jamal published an essay in the ''Yale Law Journal'', on the death penalty and his Death Row experience. In May 1994, Abu-Jamal was engaged by National Public Radio's ''All Things Considered'' program to deliver a series of monthly three-minute commentaries on crime and punishment. The broadcast plans and commercial arrangement were canceled following condemnations from, among others, the Fraternal Order of Police and US Senator Bob Dole (R-KS). Abu-Jamal sued NPR for not airing his work, but a federal judge dismissed the suit. The commentaries later appeared in print in May 1995 as part of ''Live from Death Row''.

In 1999, he was invited to record a keynote address for the graduating class at The Evergreen State College. The event was protested heavily. In 2000, he recorded a commencement address for Antioch College. The now defunct New College of California School of Law presented him with an honorary degree "for his struggle to resist the death penalty".

With occasional interruptions due to prison disciplinary actions, Abu-Jamal has for many years been a regular commentator on an online broadcast, sponsored by Prison Radio, as well as a regular columnist for ''Junge Welt'', a Marxist newspaper in Germany. In 1995, he was punished with solitary confinement for engaging in entrepreneurship contrary to prison regulations. Subsequent to the airing of the 1996 HBO documentary ''Mumia Abu-Jamal: A Case For Reasonable Doubt?'', which included footage from visitation interviews conducted with him, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections acted to ban outsiders from using any recording equipment in state prisons. In litigation before the US Court of Appeals in 1998 he successfully established his right to write for financial gain in prison. The same litigation also established that the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections had illegally opened his mail in an attempt to establish whether he was writing for financial gain. When, for a brief time in August 1999, he began delivering his radio commentaries live on the Pacifica Network's ''Democracy Now!'' weekday radio newsmagazine, prison staff severed the connecting wires of his telephone from their mounting in mid-performance.

His publications include ''Death Blossoms: Reflections from a Prisoner of Conscience'', in which he explores religious themes, ''All Things Censored'', a political critique examining issues of crime and punishment, ''Live From Death Row'', a diary of life on Pennsylvania's death row, and ''We Want Freedom: A Life in the Black Panther Party'', which is a history of the Black Panthers drawing on autobiographical material.

Popular support and opposition

Abu-Jamal's supporters protest at perceived injustice or deplore the death penalty in his and other cases. Labor unions, US and foreign city governments, politicians, advocates, educators, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and human rights advocacy organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have expressed concern about his case. They are opposed by the family of Daniel Faulkner, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the Fraternal Order of Police. In August 1999, the Fraternal Order of Police called for an economic boycott against all individuals and organizations that support Abu-Jamal.

Abu-Jamal has been made an honorary citizen of about 25 cities around the world, including Paris, Montreal, Palermo and Copenhagen. In 2001, he received the sixth biennial Erich Mühsam Prize, which recognizes outstanding activism on behalf of a liberatory vision of human society in keeping with that of its anarchist namesake; in particular, most of its awardees have been activists in the cause of social justice for persecuted minorities. In October 2002, he was awarded honorary membership of the Berlin-based Association of Those Persecuted by the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists and Antifascist Groups (VVN-BdA).

On April 29, 2006, a newly-paved road in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis was named ''Rue Mumia Abu-Jamal'' in his honor. In protest of the street-naming, US Congressman Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) introduced resolutions in both Houses of Congress condemning the decision. The House of Representatives voted 368–31 in favor of the resolution. In December 2006, the 25th anniversary of the murder, the executive committee of the Republican Party for the 59th Ward of the City of Philadelphia—covering approximately Germantown, Philadelphia—filed two criminal complaints in the French legal system against the city of Paris and the city of Saint-Denis, accusing the municipalities of "glorifying" Abu-Jamal and alleging the offense "apology or denial of crime" in respect of their actions. In 2007, the widow of Officer Faulkner coauthored a book with Philadelphia radio journalist Michael Smerconish entitled ''Murdered by Mumia: A Life Sentence of Pain, Loss, and Injustice.'' The book was part memoir of Faulkner's widow, part discussion in which they chronicled Abu-Jamal's trial and discussed evidence for his conviction, and part discussion on supporting the death penalty. J. Patrick O'Connor, editor and publisher of crimemagazine.com, argues in his book ''The Framing of Mumia Abu-Jamal'' that the preponderance of evidence establishes that it was not Abu-Jamal but a passenger in Abu-Jamal's brother's car, Kenneth Freeman, who killed Faulkner, and that the Philadelphia Police Department and District Attorney's Office framed Abu-Jamal.

In 2010, investigative journalists performed a series of tests that produced results inconsistent with the case against Abu-Jamal. Dave Lindorff and Linn Washington reproduced the shooting and showed that the shots which missed should have produced marks visible on the pavement. An expert photo analyst found no such marks visible in the highest-available-quality photo of the part of the crime scene where the body was found. A ballistics expert medical examiner said that the idea that police could have failed to recognise such marks at the crime scene was "absolute nonsense". Abu-Jamal's lawyer said that the results constituted "extraordinarily important new evidence that establishes clearly that the prosecutor and the Philadelphia Police Department were engaged in presenting knowingly false testimony".

See also

Alfonzo Giordano

''In Prison My Whole Life'' - 2008 documentary film

References

External links

Video

1996 video of death row visitation interview with Mumia Abu-Jamal

Competing Films Offer Differing Views - video report by ''Democracy Now!''

Audio

Mumia Abu-Jamal's Radio Broadcasts

Supporter groups

Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition (New York City)

Partisan Defense Committee

The Mobilization To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal (San Francisco)

Journalists for Mumia

Educators for Mumia Abu-Jamal

Opponent groups

Summary of the prosecution 's case

Fraternal Order of Police news, press releases, and communications relating to Mumia Abu-Jamal

Justice For Daniel Faulkner

Category:1954 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century American criminals Category:African American journalists Category:African American writers Category:American anti–death penalty activists Category:American columnists Category:American people convicted of murdering police officers Category:American newspaper reporters and correspondents Category:American political writers Category:American prisoners sentenced to death Category:American radio reporters and correspondents Category:Black Panther Party members Category:France – United States relations Category:Marxist journalists Category:Pennsylvania political activists Category:People convicted of murder by Pennsylvania Category:Prisoners sentenced to death by Pennsylvania Category:Writers from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Crime in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Goddard College alumni Category:California State University, Dominguez Hills alumni

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Honorific-prefix	His Excellency
Name	Michel Martelly
Office	President of Haiti
Primeminister	Jean-Max Bellerive
Term start	14 May 2011
Predecessor	René Préval
Birth date	February 12, 1961
Birth place	Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Party	Farmers' Response Party
Spouse	Sophia Martelly
Children	4
Profession	MusicianComposer }}

Name	Sweet Micky
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Michel Joseph Martelly
Born	February 12, 1961Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Instrument	VocalsKeyboard
Occupation	MusicianComposer
Years active	1988–2011
Genre	Compas music
Website	}}

Michel Joseph Martelly (born 12 February 1961), also known by his stage name "Sweet Micky", is a Haitian politician, former musician and businessman, currently the incumbent President of Haiti. Before entering politics, Martelly was a performing and recording artist, composer and businessman.

In July 2010, he announced that he would be running for the Presidency of Haiti. Martelly previously supported the disbanded Haitian military, FAd'H, and supporters of the 1991 coup d'état, such as the notorious killing squad, the Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti (FRAPH).

On 4 April 2011, a senior Haitian official announced that Martelly had won the second round of the election against candidate Mirlande Manigat. The election is widely regarded as having been undemocratic and fraudulent. Martelly was only included in the run-off after pressure from the OAS and the United States government, turnout was extremely low (under 24%) and the country's largest political party, Fanmi Lavalas, had been excluded from the electoral process. Martelly's campaign was managed by the Spanish firm Solas, which has ties to Spain's People's Party.

Early life

Martelly was born in Côtes-de-Fer, a small town on the southeastern coast of Haiti near Jacmel. The middle-class son of a petroleum plant supervisor, Martelly is a self-taught keyboard player and singer. After graduating from high school, Martelly briefly enlisted in the Haitian Military Academy. Following an unsuccessful stint in the Armed Forces, Martelly subsequently moved to the United States where he briefly enrolled at Red Rocks Community College in Lakewood, Colorado. In 1986, after one semester, he returned to Haiti just as Jean-Claude Duvalier, then president-for-life, was heading into exile. Martelly later on returned to the U.S. with his then-girlfriend, Sophia, whom he later married in a small ceremony in Miami, Florida. Martelly continued to work on a construction site for a year until moving back to Haiti in 1987. Upon their return to Haiti, Martelly had his first breakthrough in the musical industry when he began playing keyboard as a fill-in musician in local venues in Pétionville and Kenscoff, some of the upscale suburbs of Port-au-Prince.

Music

Michel Martelly has been heralded as a pioneer of a unique brand of kompas music, a style of Haitian dance music sung in predominantly Haitian Creole language. Originally, ''Compas'', or Kompa, was the creation of Nemours Jean-Baptiste. Martelly, a keyboardist and the self-proclaimed President of Compas, popularized a ''nouvelle génération'', or "new generation" style, of smaller bands with few members that relied predominantly on synthesizers and electronic instruments to reproduce a fuller sound. Martelly's and Sweet Micky's live performances and recordings are sometimes laced with "burlesque" and humorous sociopolitical commentaries and satires. Outlandish and outspoken, Sweet Micky has been known to drink publicly while performing in wigs, costumes, and Scottish kilts, and occasionally remove his own attire while performing. While arguably the most recognized and applauded musician and public personality in Haiti, Martelly's performance style has sometimes ignited controversy throughout Haitian communities. After completing his high school at the Saint-Louis de Gonzague, he tried a career in engineering, however, his musical talent and his entertainer's skills took over his professional life so he became a popular recording artist and entertainer.

Recording career

By 1988, Martelly's musical talent, charismatic persona, and his pattering style of compas had gained tremendous popularity at El Rancho Hotel and Casino and The Florville, another local venue. That year, he recorded his first single, ''Ooo La La'', which became an instant hit, followed by "''Konpas Foret des Pins''" which was released in 1989, also a number hit from his debut album ''"Woule Woule"''. During the period of about 1988-2008 Michel Martelly using his stage name Sweet Micky recorded fourteen studio albums and a number of live CDs. His music blends Haitian music with fresh interpretations of compas, zouk, reggae, salsa, Caribbean soca and jazz-fusion. In 1997, Martelly's appeal to other musical genres was evident when Wyclef Jean of The Fugees featured him on the title track for Jean's solo effort ''Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival featuring the Refugee Allstars''. As Jean proclaims on 'The Carnival,' "Surprise - it's Sweet Micky, y'all!" Also in 1997, Martelly released an album containing one of his most celebrated hits, Pa Manyen ("Don't Touch"). The song is an adaptation of "Angola", composed by the renowned artist/composer/record producer Ramiro Mendes (of the Mendes Brothers), first recorded by Cesária Évora, the legendary Cape Verdean singer. Pa Manyen went on to be featured in various compilation albums, including the popular ''Putumayo Presents: French Caribbean'' in 2003. The song was also covered by Venezuelan singer, Soledad Bravo as "Canta, Canta Corazon" and by Jose Luiz Cortes of Cuba. See also the Mendes Brothers' original version of the song, performed by Ramiro Mendes included in the group's 1997 album - Para Angola Com Um Xi Coracao. Martelly is also notorious for his cursing on stage as well as using homophobic slurs.

Political career

Martelly's relationships with members of Haiti's past governments and with U.S. diplomats has been met with mixed opinions and criticism by music fans and activists alike. Martelly is reportedly a friend of President René Préval, and has previously acknowledged such friendships as well as the one with Lt. Col. Michel François, the former Port-au-Prince police chief, who was later convicted in absentia of human rights abuses.

Prior to the coup that overthrew Aristide, Martelly operated a nightclub called the Garage, often frequented by Haitian military and other members of the ruling class. Later, after a second coup had overthrown Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Martelly played a free concert to oppose the return of the ousted president and any American presence on the troubled island. The charismatic Martelly refused to back down from criticism of his affiliations with politicians and government officials. As he once stated to a news reporter, "''I don't have to defend myself....It's my right. It's my country. I can fight for whatever I believe in.''"

In 1997, Michel Martelly participated in "Knowledge is Power", an HIV educational music video with a message about preventing the spread of HIV. His humanitarian work as the President of the Foundation Rose et Blanc, created by his wife Sophia and himself, to help the poor and disenfranchised of the country, was the basis for his choice as the Good Will Haitian Ambassador for the Protection of the Environment by the current Haitian Government. In 2010 he ran for President of Haiti where he challenged the results as to whether he placed second, making the runoff, or third. On 3 February 2011, it was announced that he would participate in a run-off election scheduled for 20 March 2011. Martelly proposes to re-instate the Armed Forces of Haiti, which were disbanded by former president Aristide in 1995.

On 4 April 2011, a senior official announced that Martelly had won the presidential run-off election against candidate Mirlande Manigat with more than 60% of the vote. His success is attributed by some to the fact that he hired a professional marketing firm, Ostos and Sola, and also held political rallies with music in a traditional Haitian style.

Martelly was sworn in as President of Haiti on 14 May 2011. The following day, the incumbent Prime Minister, Jean-Max Bellerive, resigned to allow Martelly to choose his own Prime Minister.

Personal life

Martelly currently lives in Haiti, but held several homes in Palm Beach, Florida, which he subsequently lost through defaulting on the mortgages. He lives with his wife and former manager, Sophia, and their four children, Olivier, Sandro, Yani, and Malaika. In 2006, Martelly announced his unofficial retirement from recording and performing but two years later announced a return to music with a new single, ''Magouyè'', and the video/short film, "Bandi Legal yo ki rive". He is a cousin of Port-au-Prince hotel manager and musician Richard Morse.

Discography

Title	Released	Type	Label	as...

References

External links

Micky's masquerade: Michel Martelly is Haiti's new president. But the musician has a dark side. ''Miami New Times''. June 9, 2011.

Martelly's Historically Weak Mandate ''Center for Economic and Policy Research'', April 5, 2011.

Vote Michel Martelly ''official campaign site''

Interview: Haitian presidential candidate Michel Martelly challenges political elite, Gary G. Yerkey, ''Christian Science Monitor'', November 19, 2010

Haitian Musician Campaigns in Miami, Frank Tester, ''NBC Miami'', March 4, 2011

Haiti candidate Martelly lost three South Florida properties to foreclosure (also Haiti presidential candidate Martelly defaults on three Florida properties), Frances Rhodes, ''The Miami Herald'', March 7, 2011

Michel Martelly’s Electoral Coup d’Etat Annis, Roger. ''Haïti Liberte''. Volume 4-39.

*

Music

Sweet Micky: ''Mon Colonel'', music video

|years=2011–present}}

Category:1961 births Category:Current national leaders Category:Haitian musicians Category:Haitian politicians Category:Living people Category:People from Port-au-Prince Category:Presidents of Haiti

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