USA: Continued detention of Albert Woodfox heaps injustice on immens..
A legal ruling that will mean the continued incarceration for long-suffering Albert Woodfox piles further injustice on a man who has suffered for decades in solitary confinement, said Amnesty International today.
On Monday 9 June a federal court ordered the immediate release of Albert Woodfox and denied the state the opportunity to try him again. The state protested that ruling and today the 5^th Circuit Court decided to keep Albert Woodfox in detention, until the appeal is heard.
"Today's heartbreaking ruling from the 5^th Circuit Court means Albert Woodfox, who has already spent 43 years in prison, faces yet further barriers to his freedom. Amnesty International supporters from all over the world had hoped to rejoice with Albert today as he walked free from
incarceration, but his continued detention is a yet another cruel blow for a man who has spent more than 40 years in intolerable solitary confinement," said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International.
Albert Woodfox's conviction had already been overturned on three separate occasions.
"State authorities must ensure the immediate release of Albert Woodfox, even one more day in prison heaps yet further injustice on a man who has already suffered so much."