Death row

Catholic wins fresh appeal
A CATHOIJC WHO has been on Death Row for ten years for a crime many believe he did not commit has been granted a retrial.
The plight of Manuel Salazar, a Mexican-American artist, has attracted a great deal of publicity, as well as support from a number of Church groups and Amnesty International. The 29-yearold artist was visited in his US prison by Gerry Hunter of the Birmingham Six, and Judith Ward.
Salazar was arrested in 1985 for the murder of a policeman in his home town of Joliet, Illinois. Subsequent reports have shown that the policeman had stopped Manuel's car, beat the Mexican artist, and pulled a gun on him. During the struggle which followed, he was shot and killed by the gun which was still in his hand. The autopsy revealed that the policeman was drunk when he and his fellow officers stopped the car.
Salazar fled back to Mexico, but in May 1985 was illegally abducted and forcibly returned to Joliet. Last September he was granted a retrial, and his lawyers have filed a petition claiming that his continuing custody is illegal because his abduction from Mexico was a violation of a US/Mexico extradition treaty. The hearing will be held on 30 May 1995.
Native by Birth and by Blood
is an exhibition of Manuel Salazar's paintings, next week, at Congress House, 23-28 Great Russell Street, London,