Write to Oliver Campbell MV3344 HMP Wormwood Scrubs Du Cane Road London England W12 OAE
In 1984 Winston was the victim of an unprovoked knife attack by three men at a party. During the fight Winston was handed a knife and in the process of defending himself, stabbed one of them - Anthony Smith.Winston voluntarily reported the attack to the police and was arrested. Two weeks later Anthony Smith died of injuries sustained in the fight.
Winston was released on bail. However, the death of Anthony Smith would be overtaken by far more sinister events. In 1985 a police officer, Keith Blakelock was merdered during the broadwater farm disturbances. The metropolitan police were under pressure from the media and government for arrests.Three men were arrested.Engin Raghip, Mark Braithwaite and Winston Silcott.Despite the men protesting their innocence,the press conducted a vindictive and spiteful campaign against them.Police photographs of Winston were released to the press forever associating him in the public mind eye as a murderer.He was guaranteed an unfair trial for the death of Anthony Smih in the atmosphere of retribution.
However, in 1991 the Tottenham Three were pardoned and freed. Mark Braithwaite and Engin Raghip were released but Winston remained - serving a life sentence for the death of Anthony Smith. There he remains, a black man found guilty by the racist morally bankrupt British judicial System. Despite attempts to make the Home Secretary, Michael Howard MP, re-open the case and look at the evidence, he has refused to do so. Winston said" I have never really expected Michael Howard to look at my case with anything but bias and prejudice. I am not surprised he has been forced to concede that his decision in my case was unlawful"
Winston is a political prisoner of the state.The Establishment is afraid to admit it is wrong.Help us in this struggle for justice.We urge all who read this to raise the campaign profile within the political, trade union and working class movement.Show your support to winston personally by writing to :Winston Silcot, B74053, HMP Maidstone, Country Road,Maidstone,Kent,ME14 1UZ,England
Winston Silcott Defence Campaign PO Box 6796 London N15 4PB phone:+44 0181 245 9338
Mircea Ilin is a Romanian a ylum seeker who has just been granted the right to stay in Britain. This follows attempts by the Home Office to deport him. They detained him in Rochester prison for three months
Here is Mircea's story
"In Romania I was persecuted for fighting the government. When I was 14 I was put in a correctional school for fighting for free speech. In 1990 I was on a demonstration against the government and was arrested.
I was held for six months in prison without trial. The guards beat the soles of my feat with truncheons.
I left Romania because of the years of persecution and abuse.
When I arrived in Britain I told the immigration officer what had happened to me in Romania and asked them to help. In the beginning they treated me well and I was really happy. T?hey told me they would help me find a place to live.
But afterwards they started to ask me in more detail about what happened to me in Romania. They didn't believe what happened to me in Romania.
They said I was an illegal immigrhant and that I had come into the country illegally. But it was the only way I could escape Romania.
I came to Britain to escape persecution but ended up in prison without trial here.In Rochester prison you could not move without being watched.
There are asylum seekers from Algeria, Lebanon, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Somalia, Kurdistan, Columbia, Pakistan, Estonia and other countries. The majority of tese refugees have no family or friends so they have no visitors or anyone to campaign for their release.
Many, including myself, applied for a transfer to a detention centre because the conditions are better and the regime is more relaxed. A lot of applications were turned down due to lack of funding for places.
In Rochester you have to watch television when they want, eat when they want and sleep when they want. You go crazy in the small cell.
You feel hungry, they don't give you enough food, when there was some left overs everybody wanted them
Other asylum seekers say they came to Britain for help and were just put into jail. I want asylum seekers to be welcomed into Britain and not to be scared to ask for help. They should be believed as they have left their country simply to find freedom. They should not be held in prison."
| Member of the Internet Link Exchange | Free Home Pages at GeoCities |
Get your own Free Home Page