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January 98 – July 98 – January 99 – April 99 – September 99
March 2000 |
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| Campaign Victory Samar and Jawad are finally decategorised Due to the continuous pressure from the campaign and its supporters (thanks a million to everyone who helped in any way), the Review Committee of the Prison Service finally decided to end the oppressive Category A status of Samar and Jawad. This is indeed a victory for ordinary people's ability to campaign to overturn an injustice, although we do not underestimate the difficulties ahead in campaigning to overturn their conviction and see them freed. This is a significant and unusual result: the Bridgewater Four and some Arab prisoners are known to have spent 10 years or more as Category A prisoners. It raises interesting questions as to why at this stage, and given the claimed 'terrorist nature' of the case, should the authorities decide on decategorisation? We have actively worked to expose the illogical basis of their classification, and to highlight arguments in favour of easing it, such as the fact that Samar and Jawad were on bail during trial. For three years, the Campaign has argued that Samar and Jawad posed neither an escape risk nor were 'highly dangerous', as their Category A status deemed them to be. We involved the very public that Samar and Jawad were supposed to be a danger to. We alerted Palestinians to the outrageous argument put by the Category A committee this year that somehow the two could not be de-categorised because this would pose a threat to the current peace process. There has been a tremendous level of support for de-categorisation. Abroad, both the Lebanese government (Samar being a Lebanese citizen) and the Palestinian Authority made several representations on behalf of Samar and Jawad. In the UK, the campaign won the support of several MPs and the Prison Reform Trust. Apart from individual representations, we have also presented three petitions (over 1,020 signatures), one each year since the convictions in December 1996. The Category A status was causing severe hardship to Samar, Jawad and their families and we argued that their de-categorisation was necessary for a more humane treatment, for easing of a number of restrictions, such as strip-searching before and after visits, censorship, strict surveillance etc. Now Samar may finally be able to be moved to London with Jawad wishing to remain at Frankland for the time being. While this has hopefully secured a slight improvement in prison conditions, we hope that it will redouble the resolve of each and everyone concerned to fight until we can, by our collective efforts, overturn the wrongful conviction and free Samar and Jawad. *** Samar's new address is: HMP Holloway; 1X Parkhurst Road; London N7 0NU ******* Successful Day of Action Successful Day of Action 17th February Petition Supporters of the Campaign were uplifted by the arrival in London of three large boxes containing a 200,000 signature petition from Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon demanding justice for Samar and Jawad. A petition of this size is fairly unprecedented, and certainly Downing Street has not received such a massive representation about any issue from overseas for years. It was an honour to have Dr Abdel-Shafi and Dr. Eyad El-Sarraj, who travelled especially from Palestine to present the petitions to 10 Downing Street. They were accompanied by Lord Gilmour, Tony Benn MP, and Afif Safieh, the Palestine Authority Representative in London. About fifty supporters from all over Britain held a candlelight vigil during the late afternoon in Whitehall, opposite Downing Street. Mr Blair has already passed on the petition to Jack Straw, who has written to all of the MPs who have been involved in the case. The reply is the usual non-committal one but it shows that the Home Secretary is increasingly having to take note of Samar's and Jawad's case. Press Conference At a press conference earlier in the day Lord Gilmour stated that "I am convinced that this is a monstrous injustice." Tony Benn declared that injustice is never in the public interest and as such the use of Public Interest Immunity certificates to withhold vital and relevant evidence is deplorable. Dr. Sarraj pointed out that Samar and Jawad are formally considered to be political prisoners in the current peace negotiations. He said that it was ironic that the convictions and 20 year prison sentences on the basis of withheld evidence outdid even the Israelis in terms of injustice. Dr. Shafi said that the Palestinian people were united in their demand for justice for Samar and Jawad. The Arab press, BBC World Service, Middle East Broadcasting Corporation (TV) attended. Dr Sarraj was interviewed by the BBC's World Today on 16 February. Public Meeting About two hundred people attended the evening meeting in the House of Commons. One of the highlights of the meeting was a tape recorded message from Jawad. It was wonderful for us to hear his voice as he reviewed the injustices that have marred this case, particularly the battle to access the evidence withheld by the government and which refutes the very basis of the convictions. He urged all to continue fighting this injustice to ensure that Samar and him can secure a fair appeal free from cover ups and from political influences. Given the lack of response from all parties he's been writing to, he wondered: "Who do I really need to speak to obtain redress? Do I have to ring the head of MI5?" Indeed as supporters must know by now, the courts have been saying that the disclosure issue is up to the Home Office, the Home Office has been saying that it is a matter between the defence and the prosecution, and the prosecution has been saying it is a matter for the courts! Gareth Peirce pointed out that while Jawad sounded strong we should not underestimate the terrible personal effects of unjust imprisonment. She stressed yet again that there was absolutely no doubt in her mind that Samar and Jawad are innocent. Our two Palestinian guests said that they were carrying the hopesof tens of thousands of Palestinians that justice will be done. They put the experiments that Samar and Jawad admitted to in their proper context, namely that of the frustration of an entire people with being subject to violence and oppression, adding that it was clear to them that these were is no way connected to the bombings. They were very alarmed that evidence that could prove Samar and Jawad's innocence is still being denied to the defence, and renewed their call for disclosure. Tony Benn reminded the audience that the police had done nothing to find who really planted the bombs in July 1994, a gap that, alone, throws doubts on the prosecution. He criticised the use of PII, arguing that the first requirement of public interest in a democratic and civilised society is that justice should be done. Sir Cyril Townsend, who was also concerned about the use of PIIs, spoke of CAABU's hopes for the terrible injustice in this case to be put right with the minimum possible delay. M25 Case - Non-Disclosure is Unfair! Judgement of the European Court of Human Rights On 16th February the Court published their unanimous judgement in favour of Michael Davis and Raphael Rowe (M25 Case). The judges held that Article 6.1 of the European Convention of Human Rights had been violated, stating that "The prosecution's failure to lay evidence before a trial judge so as to permit him to rule on the question of disclosure deprived applicants of a fair trial." The withholding of evidence from trial caused a breach of fairness that is not remedied by the Court of Appeal having looked at the evidence in ex-parte hearings (without the defence's presence). The procedure would not preserve the equality of arms or protect the interests of the accused, since the defence had no chance to make representations and no access to material that could assist their case. The Court of Appeal judges were also dependent for their understanding of the relevance of the undisclosed material on the perspective and arguments given by prosecution. The original trial judge would have been able to monitor the need for disclosure throughout the trial and the defence would have been able to take up different aspects or emphases of the case as evidence and witnesses were being presented. Further, the Court of Appeal assessed the undisclosed material ex-post facto, and might have unconsciously been influenced by the guilty verdict into underestimating the significance of the undisclosed evidence. The appeal of Michael and Raphael against their convictions is in June and we wish them good luck. Samar and Jawad's Appeal The M25 judgement has repercussions for our case. Relevant material and evidence was withheld at and since the trial, and was not shown to the trial judge. When the existence of the material became known to the defence after the trial, the prosecution used PII certificates to bar the defence's access, and only eventually showed it to the Court of Appeal judges in a closed hearing. Surely this means that the trial of Samar and Jawad was unfair and the convictions unsafe! Please continue to write letters to your MP, Jack Straw, Tony Blair and the Director of Public Prosecutions, These should stress the European Court of Human Rights judgement and the enormous time since leave to appeal was granted. We are still waiting for the date of Samar and Jawad's appeal. Please be ready for a picket outside the Court of Appeal at short notice. If you can attend please let us know. The campaign widens While in Britain, we are continuing to strengthen our links with the National Civil Rights Movements and other miscarriage of justice campaigns, we are pleased that a campaign for Samar and Jawad has taken off in the USA. Support and interest has also been expressed by individuals in: Canada, Jordan, France, Germany and Malaysia. |