Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Bradford rioter gets 5 years

Waldo Jeffers | 24.11.2001 22:51

The Bradford riots were summoned into existence by an unholy alliance of police strategy at the highest levels, NF/Combat 18 and the Anti Nazi League (these last I would defend - with hindsight) The war against Islam continues on the local level. 100 more cases to go so far, and all to be treated equally ferociously. A warning to Asian youth and all of us in the end.

From Bradford Telegraph and Argus 24.11.01

Waldo Jeffers

Comments

Hide the following 7 comments

British justice, no justice

24.11.2001 23:00

This is disgusting. Someone who fights the BNP gets more time than Ernest Saunders, the Guinness boss who stole millions of pounds and served just 18 months. Even a child molester can get less than this. Asians should not have to put up with racial hatred and they should fight back and we should back them. A couple of burnt cars to fight the fascists is far better than allowing Asian cab drivers to be stabbed to death by NF thugs. The Asians are leading the way in civil resistance to fascism and the police that protect the fash. Shazad Ashraf is a political prisoner and we should support him.

Daniel Brett
mail e-mail: dan@danielbrett.co.uk


Fudge Judge

25.11.2001 00:03

Sickening, is it possible we can have the address put up on the site so we can write letters of support. Otherwise just as Mr Brett said!

Bastardo


sickening?

25.11.2001 00:07

Yes, throwing petrol bombs and scaffold poles is sickening, whether committed by Asians, NF or anyone else.

sceptic


hmmm, yea

25.11.2001 00:18

yea, throwin petrol bombs at police and looting shops is definitely fighting the BNP (which is so right-on regardless)...

anon


Support the media! Yeah, right!

25.11.2001 00:32

Who owns Bradford Telegraph and Argus? Newsquest, which is owned by Garnett Inc. And what else do they publish? USA Today, that bastion of truth and in-depth reporting - at least as far as the right-wing is concerned.

Anyway, as for the Asians fighting the fash, I don't blame them. I lived in Bethnal Green and Bow for a number of years and saw the way the BNP behaved towards the Bangladeshis and how the police responded - or failed to respond. Asians have no choice but to fight the fash, who have knifed their taxi drivers (Shazad Ashraf is a cab-driver), punched up school children and even nail bombed their shopping areas.

All I can say to those anonymous people that have posted here condemning me is that you haven't seen or understood the shit British Asians put up with, including the worst housing conditions in Europe. I don't want to see people throwing petrol bombs and looting, but if their concerns over racist attacks and poverty are not dealt with, how can you condemn them? Shazad Ashraf is just another young disillusioned Asian in a poor ghetto, being condemned for fighting back at injustice. At least sympathise even if you don't condone his actions.

Daniel Brett
mail e-mail: dan@danielbrett.co.uk


a bit of background

25.11.2001 00:45

A week before the Bradford Festival had hosted the entirely peaceful Bradford Mela. With the threat of the NF march, the police announced that they 'could not guarantee public order' and the last day of the festival which was to take place in Centenary Square was cancelled by the festival committee. Many people, shoppers and so on stayed out of Bradford centre that day. The anti nazi league stepped into the vacuum with a rally in Centenary Square. The NF entered unhindered through the Interchange. An Asian youth was duffed up by a Combat 18 thug. Many Asian youths hung around Centenary Square which was lined with horse-mounted police and riot police tucked in every side street, Couldnt guarantee public order or could guarantee disorder? A battleground was laid.

Waldo Jeffers


sentence

02.12.2001 15:59

In the north of Ireland, u get a six month mandatory sentence for riotous behaviour, what this usually means is that u get picked up in the hospital after being hit by plastic bullets and told that u were involved in the riots even if u weren't. U don't even have to get a trial. Here where rioting is a fairly commonplace thing I have never heard of anyone getting given such a long sentence despite doing far worse things to the police. Fuck the police that what they are paid to do- Stop violence. If they really wanted to they could. But I think what was evident from that summer of rioting in England is that they had no desire to. They stoked up the trouble and let it get to such a bad situation and then took the moral high ground, saying look at what these people have done. These people had actually been defending themselves from attack not only from the BNP but also from harrassment from the state this time in the form of the police. More power to them.
I'm pretty sure every one has heard this one b4 but really look where the violence comes from. Is it really from ordinary people in the estates or is it from the state coming in heavy handed. The state is always well prepared, knowing when violence is going to occur, so why doesn't it invest the smae level of resources in fighting the causes of such violence. If you can't answer this question yourself u need to ask yoiurself why not.
Support goes out to all those caught up in the violence, and hope the communities can repair themselves in the course of time.

Ireland


Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech