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UK campaigners renew efforts to free Indian convict

Sanjay Suri in London

Campaigners around Britain are coming together in a renewed bid to secure the release of a youth of Indian origin convicted of murder in Birmingham.

Anger has risen after reports that Jack Straw, in his earlier role as home secretary, intervened personally to turn down a recommendation of parole for Satpal Ram, who has already spent 14 years in prison.

Satpal had been attacked in an Indian restaurant in Birmingham by white youths. One of the men, Stuart Pearce, came with a piece of broken glass and stabbed him on the face. Satpal hit back with a penknife. Pearce died of injuries later.

The court ruled that the deed was a straightforward case of murder and sentenced Satpal to life imprisonment. Satpal had pleaded that he acted in self-defence. He has been fighting the conviction ever since.

Campaigners who have struggled to free him said they were surprised that Straw brushed aside the recommendation of the parole board.

"We are deeply disappointed by Jack Straw's decision," a spokesman for the Free Satpal Campaign told the Indo-Asian News Service on Monday. "But we are getting more support to renew our campaign to win freedom for Satpal."

The campaign to free Satpal has entered its 14th year.

Gareth Pierce, the solicitor who overturned the convictions of the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four -- all convicted of Irish Republican Army-related bombings and murder -- is now fighting Satpal's case.

Pierce said the case is a "litany of mistakes, of things not done, of evidence not pursued". She successfully appealed for parole, only to have the decision turned down by Straw.

For Satpal, it's been a long fight against racism within prison. He has been moved from cell to cell 59 times and spent four of his 13 years in solitary confinement -- for fighting injustice within the system.

"Racism is endemic within the prison system," he said in an interview last year. "Life for me revolves around trying to get through every day without becoming a statistic of another death in custody."

The case to overturn the conviction is pending before the criminal cases review commission.

Protest over Satpal's conviction has become a popular movement. The Asian Dub Foundation, Apache Indian, the Prodigy, rasta poet Benjamin Zephaniah and author Irvine Welsh [ Trainspotting] have all been prominent in the Free Satpal campaign.

A local newspaper, Eastern Eye, has made the release of Satpal a major campaign issue. Satpal has already served four more years than was recommended for him as a lifer. Straw's move is now provoking other groups to step up the campaign for freedom for Satpal, the spokesman for the campaign said.

Indo-Asian News Service

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