Satpal Ram is a young Birmingham man serving a life sentence for defending himself against a racist attack. The Attack on Satpal On 16th November 1986 Satpal went for a meal at the Sky Blue restaurant in Lozells, Birmingham. During his meal Satpal was attacked by a group of six white people who were shouting racial abuse. One of the men broke a glass, went over to Satpal's table and attacked him. This man was 13.5 stones and 6ft 2in tall. Satpal was only 9.5 stones and 5ft 11in. He stabbed Satpal in the face and arms. Satpal was in fear of his life. He had no way of escaping so he defended himself using a small knife which he used for work. In the attack both men were injured and taken to hospital. Satpal received stitches for his wounds, while his attacker refused medical treatment an later died. The Trial Satpal's barrister, Douglas Draycott, met him only once for 40 minutes a few days before the trial. He changed Satpal's defence of self-defence to provocation and did not even call Satpal as a witness in his own trial. Key independent defence witness were Bengali speaking waiters. No interpretation was provided in court, instead the Judge said he would interpret, he could not speak a word of Bengali. An all-white jury found Satpal guilty of murder largely on the evidence of the friends of Satpal's attacker. The Appeal After nearly nine years in prison, Satpal Ram came up for a appeal in October 1995. Once again judges used the evidence of Satpal's attackers to uphold his convictions. They would not let Satpal give evidence. The appeal judgement does not take into account the misinterpretation of crucial witness accounts or that Satpal was the victim of a racist attack. Satpal is appealing to the European Court of Human Rights. Prison Brutality Satpal is still a category B prisoner. This implies that he is a high-risk prisoner who may escape and prove a danger to society. This categorisation disregards the facts of Satpal's case. After twelve years in prison, Satpal should be recategorised to category D, and not placed in high-security prisons. Categorisation is just one aspect of Satpal's continuing victimisation by the prisonsystem. Throughout Satpal's sentence he has suffered harassment and attacks from prison officers. He is often put into segregation and moved around different prisons for no apparent reason. So far he has been in 55 prisons. Satpal has spent 6 months in segregation in all since he was attacked by screws in Nottingham just before his parole board hearing in December 1997. This was in July 1998, so he has spent allmost whole 1998 in segregation. The home office say that this is not a punishment. They say that they are carrying out an assessment of Satpal's needs ....... Satpal got nothing from the parole board, he is still category B. Articles The Prisoner by Simon Hattenstone,The Guardian,19/09/2001 Information on the Satpal Campaign A briefing on his case Satpal's response to the parole board An Article about Satpal from the Guardian February 2000 For all the latest news on the Satpal Campaign, see the News page Sign the online petition to Free Satpal Ram: http://www.thebird.org/petition/001016.html You can write to Satpal at: Satpal Ram (E94-164) HMP Blakenhurst Hewell Lane Redditch, Worcs B97 OSR UK WHAT YOU CAN DO 1. Write letters of protest to the Home Secretary/Jack Straw at the Home Office, 50 Queen Annes Gate, London, SW1 h9AT 2. Write to your M.P. at the House of Commons, London, SW1a 0AA If you aren't from England, you can write letters of protest to the British Embassy in your country. 3. Invite someone from the Free Satpal Campaign to speak in your area. 4. Get the single " Free Satpal Ram " by Asian Dub Foundation today. 5. Write to New criminal cases review commission. They are looking at Satpals's case at the moment, and they have the power to send it to the court of appeal. They are suppost to take into account all representations made to them on Satpal's behalf. Andrew Stranex, ccrc, Alpha tower, Suffolk st, Queensway, Birmingham, b11tt. 6. Affiliate to the Free Satpal Campaign. Free Satpal Campaign 101 Villa Road Handsworth Birmingham B19 1NH England or Free Satpal Campaign (London) PO Box 30091 London SE1 1WP London England Email:freesatpalcampaign@hotmail.com