Hi comrades,

I know it's popular to stick up for prisoners who- once locked up for a day-to-day crime claim to be "matyrs of idoelogy"- but isn't it a fact that Bowden was sentenced for a brutal murder- no, not of a politician, but of a random person after a drinking session?

I'm not having a crack at the ABC here by the way, but they should choose their cases carefully, afterall, sticking up for a petty thug and murderer isn't the best way to broadcast the message of Anarchism...

...but i'm Communist, what do I know eh? ;)


Take care now,

Barkan

"I know it's popular to stick up for prisoners who..."
If it is so popular then why do so few folk do it ? Which prisoners do you write to ?

"but isn't it a fact that Bowden was sentenced..."
A crime doesn't have to be political for a prisoner to be political. To support some prisoners who have politicised since their conviction regardless of crime is a more humanitarian position than refusing support. People change, even if a communist finds that hard to believe.

"I'm not having a crack at the ABC here by the way, but..."
You are taking a cheap shot at a prisoner ABC support though, so you are implying they don't have the wit to choose their own priorities without the snidey advice of an arm-chair critic.

"...but i'm Communist, what do I know eh? ;)"
You said it not me.
Helpful advice' like that from 'comrades' like you is better suited to The Sun letterspage.

The key phrase here, Comrade Barkan, is: "now being kept in jail because of his politics rather than because of his original conviction".
Please try to read the articles before feeling you have to comment.

I get the impression he's putting it on to gain support from people who are too... good-hearted to see the facts.
If i''m proved wrong, then i'll take it all back- but i'm just advising that the ABC keeps an open mind, that kind of thing is just bait for the media and politicians to use against them.

always in solidarity,

Barkan

Barkan, it is hard to take your comment as well meaning advice since it is so askew from the facts. John was moved from open release working with disabled kids in the communtiy, and is now being harrassed in a top-security prison simply for refusing to condemn ABC as terrorists.

If a prisoner support group can be labelled as terrorists simply because they are anarchists, then all anarchists have to respond. If someone who has been in prison for 25 years can have the priciple to blow his own parole and liberty simply for refusing to say 2+2=5. Making someone say anarchist equals terrorist isn't about truth or justice, it is about breaking the spirit of resistance. Refusing your own liberty for principle is inspirational rather than self-promoting. The harrassment of John Bowden is an attack on all of our freedom.

"Bowden has written for a self-proclaimed anarchist website called ABC Brighton, and says he supports many of their ideals and actions. A review of this website brings into question the nature of this group. The members of this group appear to be primarily eco-terrorists or para-military members involved in what they see as battles against political systems and principles.....".

Danny,

one persons "terrorist" is anothers freedom fighter, i'd take it as a compliment ;)

I see what you're saying though, and after doing a little bit of reading, it does sound like he's getting a raw deal in spite of his past... indiscretions, understand that that's the first thing anyones going to see.

But still, no one can deny this is all cannon fodder for the media and the government, which is aching to classify any activist of any ideology as a terrorist... should we accept the compliment?

I wasn't just ripping this apart for a laugh by the way, my grandads an anarchist, and I know that real Anarchism has nothing to do with craziness or anything brutal. So don't get me wrong there.

Anyways, take care now

Barkan

Hands off John Bowden! Published in Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! 197 July/July 2007

On 18 April 2007, after nine months in an open prison and shortly before a parole hearing to decide his suitability for release after 25 years in prison, John Bowden was placed in solitary confinement. The next day he was moved to a closed prison. .

On the day of John’s transfer the Dundee Courier’s front-page headline proclaimed 'Castle Huntly killer has terror links'. The article begins: ‘A 'Castle Huntly prison social worker fears a brutal killer, due for parole in two weeks, has links to terrorists. A report by the social worker claims that low-security inmate John “Ginger” Bowden is in continual contact with “eco-terrorists or paramilitary members” and has received visits from “people involved in terrorism”.’

The ‘social worker’ in question is Matt Stillman, who John describes as ‘a right-wing American entrenched in punitive ideas about the role of the parole and probation system’, and who appears to have been chosen specifically for this reason for the task of writing a vital report for consideration by the Parole Board panel that will determine if John is to be released.
The alleged ‘terrorists’ are in fact Brighton Anarchist Black Cross (ABC). ABC is a longstanding organisation, with small but active groups in many countries, dedicated to supporting ‘class struggle prisoners’. FRFI has worked with ABC groups for many years, united by our shared understanding of the importance of the struggle within prison. ABC’s main activities are writing to prisoners, organising benefits to raise funds for prisoners’ welfare and supporting or organising solidarity pickets of prisons. To label Brighton ABC as ‘terrorist’ is ridiculous and easily refutable; however this attack on John Bowden and ABC is intended to send a message to prisoners in British gaols that they stand up for themselves and others at their peril, and to prison support activists to back off or risk being blamed for decisions not to release. Neither John nor ABC are bowing to this pressure and are fighting the attack politically. All FRFI readers in and out of prison are encouraged to support their campaign.

John Bowden was imprisoned for murder in 1980, and has been in contact with FRFI since 1983. In 1984, following a trial resulting from a protest at Parkhurst the previous year, he wrote: ‘I was banished from open society for a serious infringement of criminal law – yet here I am deprived of any legal or civil protection from the murderous intentions and actions of a barbaric and antiquated penal system…I shall continue the struggle in every way possible to tear down that cloak of state secrecy and reveal the gross inhumanity that it seeks to hide.’

John has been good to his pledge, taking every opportunity that has presented itself to organise, educate and empower prisoners, to encourage political activists outside prison to be interested in and understand the use of prison as a weapon of oppression against the working class, to write for radical publications and to correspond with political and politicised prisoners around the world.

During this time the prison system itself has undergone many changes. John has always been quick to seize the opportunities presented by ‘liberal’ moments but has never been taken in by the promises of reform. In 1989-91 John worked within Long Lartin maximum security prison to organise a series of forums at which outside speakers, prisoners and prison staff would openly debate aspects of imprisonment. The prison responded well initially, allowing John and others to invite in guests who would never ordinarily have been permitted, including representatives of FRFI, but, just as the first and biggest forum was about to take place and the prison was basking in the reflected glory, the ‘liberal’ governor had John ghosted to Winson Green prison, where he was viciously assaulted by screws. The forum went ahead without him and John later successfully sued the Prison Service for the attack.

After the 1990 Strangeways uprising, John wrote a manifesto for prisoners’ rights, which he and other Long Lartin prisoners submitted to the Woolf Inquiry into the revolt. He also contributed to Larkin Publications 1995 book on the uprising: Strangeways 1990: a serious disturbance, writing:

‘Within a prison system that had relied so heavily on brutality and an institutionalised denial of basic human rights, the Strangeways uprising represented an eloquent statement that things would never again be quite the same…Prisoners had shown that even one of the most brutal gaols in England, a true bastion of screw power and authority, could be reduced to a burning wreck if and when prisoners said enough was enough. The lesson was certainly not lost on those who manage and administer the prison regime…The liberal façade of Woolf was coupled with a hidden agenda motivated by revenge and a determination to eradicate protest on the scale of Strangeways for ever more...’

Indeed, between 1990 and 2000 the British prison system was completely overhauled and hundreds of new divide-and-rule measures introduced, with the aim of preventing resistance on the scale of Strangeways ever occurring again. This attack has had a significant degree of success and by 2000 when Turkish prisoners were on hunger-strike, and John and Mark Barnsley were attempting to initiate solidarity within the British prison system, the smallest of group actions had become something many prisoners would shy away from for fear of loss of privileges, bad reports and ultimately denial of release.

In this climate John continued to operate politically, organising where possible and talking at length with younger prisoners, encouraging them to read about and understand the alienating and oppressive situation they found themselves in. At the same time, he began to prepare himself for his own possible release. Prior to April he had spent two years working unsupervised in the outside community as a volunteer on projects for the mentally ill and socially vulnerable, and had qualified as a literacy tutor for people with learning difficulties. He had been allowed frequent home leaves. As he wrote recently: ‘The two fundamental criteria determining a life sentence prisoner's suitability for release, the expiry of the recommended period of time served in the interests of retribution, and the absence of any risk to the public, were both sufficiently established in my case. ‘

However, two decades of exposing and confronting the reality of British prisons were not going to be forgiven. John writes: ‘The truth is that my treatment is politically motivated and inspired by a determination to continuously punish me for having fought the system in the past and encouraging others to do so, and also by a determination to render me intellectually and politically compliant and submissive. As far as the prison system is concerned, the imperative now is not about negating any genuine risk that I might pose to the community, that stopped being an issue many years ago, but primarily about eradicating my political identity and spirit. From this point on, therefore, my continuing imprisonment is nakedly political and centres wholly on what I continue to represent to a prison system ever fearful of a politically awakened and militant prisoner movement.’

Hands off John Bowden!
Published in Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! 197 July/July 2007

On 18 April 2007, after nine months in an open prison and shortly before a parole hearing to decide his suitability for release after 25 years in prison, John Bowden was placed in solitary confinement. The next day he was moved to a closed prison. .

On the day of John’s transfer the Dundee Courier’s front-page headline proclaimed 'Castle Huntly killer has terror links'. The article begins: ‘A 'Castle Huntly prison social worker fears a brutal killer, due for parole in two weeks, has links to terrorists. A report by the social worker claims that low-security inmate John “Ginger” Bowden is in continual contact with “eco-terrorists or paramilitary members” and has received visits from “people involved in terrorism”.’

The ‘social worker’ in question is Matt Stillman, who John describes as ‘a right-wing American entrenched in punitive ideas about the role of the parole and probation system’, and who appears to have been chosen specifically for this reason for the task of writing a vital report for consideration by the Parole Board panel that will determine if John is to be released.
The alleged ‘terrorists’ are in fact Brighton Anarchist Black Cross (ABC). ABC is a longstanding organisation, with small but active groups in many countries, dedicated to supporting ‘class struggle prisoners’. FRFI has worked with ABC groups for many years, united by our shared understanding of the importance of the struggle within prison. ABC’s main activities are writing to prisoners, organising benefits to raise funds for prisoners’ welfare and supporting or organising solidarity pickets of prisons. To label Brighton ABC as ‘terrorist’ is ridiculous and easily refutable; however this attack on John Bowden and ABC is intended to send a message to prisoners in British gaols that they stand up for themselves and others at their peril, and to prison support activists to back off or risk being blamed for decisions not to release. Neither John nor ABC are bowing to this pressure and are fighting the attack politically. All FRFI readers in and out of prison are encouraged to support their campaign.

John Bowden was imprisoned for murder in 1980, and has been in contact with FRFI since 1983. In 1984, following a trial resulting from a protest at Parkhurst the previous year, he wrote: ‘I was banished from open society for a serious infringement of criminal law – yet here I am deprived of any legal or civil protection from the murderous intentions and actions of a barbaric and antiquated penal system…I shall continue the struggle in every way possible to tear down that cloak of state secrecy and reveal the gross inhumanity that it seeks to hide.’

John has been good to his pledge, taking every opportunity that has presented itself to organise, educate and empower prisoners, to encourage political activists outside prison to be interested in and understand the use of prison as a weapon of oppression against the working class, to write for radical publications and to correspond with political and politicised prisoners around the world.

During this time the prison system itself has undergone many changes. John has always been quick to seize the opportunities presented by ‘liberal’ moments but has never been taken in by the promises of reform. In 1989-91 John worked within Long Lartin maximum security prison to organise a series of forums at which outside speakers, prisoners and prison staff would openly debate aspects of imprisonment. The prison responded well initially, allowing John and others to invite in guests who would never ordinarily have been permitted, including representatives of FRFI, but, just as the first and biggest forum was about to take place and the prison was basking in the reflected glory, the ‘liberal’ governor had John ghosted to Winson Green prison, where he was viciously assaulted by screws. The forum went ahead without him and John later successfully sued the Prison Service for the attack.

After the 1990 Strangeways uprising, John wrote a manifesto for prisoners’ rights, which he and other Long Lartin prisoners submitted to the Woolf Inquiry into the revolt. He also contributed to Larkin Publications 1995 book on the uprising: Strangeways 1990: a serious disturbance, writing:

‘Within a prison system that had relied so heavily on brutality and an institutionalised denial of basic human rights, the Strangeways uprising represented an eloquent statement that things would never again be quite the same…Prisoners had shown that even one of the most brutal gaols in England, a true bastion of screw power and authority, could be reduced to a burning wreck if and when prisoners said enough was enough. The lesson was certainly not lost on those who manage and administer the prison regime…The liberal façade of Woolf was coupled with a hidden agenda motivated by revenge and a determination to eradicate protest on the scale of Strangeways for ever more...’

Indeed, between 1990 and 2000 the British prison system was completely overhauled and hundreds of new divide-and-rule measures introduced, with the aim of preventing resistance on the scale of Strangeways ever occurring again. This attack has had a significant degree of success and by 2000 when Turkish prisoners were on hunger-strike, and John and Mark Barnsley were attempting to initiate solidarity within the British prison system, the smallest of group actions had become something many prisoners would shy away from for fear of loss of privileges, bad reports and ultimately denial of release.

In this climate John continued to operate politically, organising where possible and talking at length with younger prisoners, encouraging them to read about and understand the alienating and oppressive situation they found themselves in. At the same time, he began to prepare himself for his own possible release. Prior to April he had spent two years working unsupervised in the outside community as a volunteer on projects for the mentally ill and socially vulnerable, and had qualified as a literacy tutor for people with learning difficulties. He had been allowed frequent home leaves. As he wrote recently: ‘The two fundamental criteria determining a life sentence prisoner's suitability for release, the expiry of the recommended period of time served in the interests of retribution, and the absence of any risk to the public, were both sufficiently established in my case. ‘

However, two decades of exposing and confronting the reality of British prisons were not going to be forgiven. John writes: ‘The truth is that my treatment is politically motivated and inspired by a determination to continuously punish me for having fought the system in the past and encouraging others to do so, and also by a determination to render me intellectually and politically compliant and submissive. As far as the prison system is concerned, the imperative now is not about negating any genuine risk that I might pose to the community, that stopped being an issue many years ago, but primarily about eradicating my political identity and spirit. From this point on, therefore, my continuing imprisonment is nakedly political and centres wholly on what I continue to represent to a prison system ever fearful of a politically awakened and militant prisoner movement.’

(reposted - guess someone didn't like the first title which was about communists in solidarity with prisoners. Why do some anarchists - not ABC who actually support prisoners and therefore know who else really does - want to pretend they have a monopoly on solidarity?)

Donald Ryan.

John Bowden murdered Donald Ryan.

Now that John Bowden has served the sentenced prescribed to him he should be released.

I do not know John Bowden. I obtained the name of his victim online. If it is incorrect please correct me and I apologise. If the relatives if Donald Ryan do not wish his name to be published then this must be respected.

to draw a bit of a conclusion to the debate over supporting bowden, here are the main points that people threw up in response to the call for solidarity:

ABC had no info on their site on the nature of Bowden's original offence

It was the first time many ABC/Bowden supporters had heard anything about the nature of the offence.

ABC has not produced anything in response to the concerns, though various people have claimed that he didn't do what they thought he did, but they don't say what he really did.

The response of some supporters has been a bit OTT: if you don't support Bowden, you aren't an anarchist/you're a tool of the state/you're a cunt. If you even start *asking questions* then you're counter revolutionary.

In this climate of confusion and calls for blind support, many people have stayed away from the issue; it has obscured the main point - that bowden has been kept in for association with the ABC and the ABC are being smeared. All anarchists sympathise with this, nobody thinks he should be kept in. What has thrown the anarchist community is the fact we only found out wtf bowden was meant to have done AFTER the calls for solidarity.

At this time, all anarchists are in support of bowden regarding political oppression; at this time not all anarchists are going to support the ABC for the above reasons.

Also 'ABC is not a terrorist organisation'. No, but a lot of the groups it supports, according to the law, are. That doesn't mean we should not support the ELF etc. but at least be a bit more prepared for such accusations. They aren't exactly greenpeace. The unabomber is listed with no reference to the fact he killed a load of innoccent people.

Good luck to bowden anyway.

Is there anywhere this is published? I'd be interested in having a read of it.

Thanks

If you are referring to the 'manifesto' mentioned in the FRFI article, it was published in a copy of that paper in 1991. If you want to get the back issue, you can contact our office. However, it is quite time-specific and some of the detail may not be of great interest now.

After Strangeways the political climate around prisons was temporarily very reformist and there was a lot of talk of improving conditions. The LL prisoners' manifesto was basically aimed at pushing this as far as it could go and emphasising mechanisms through which prisoners could have more control over their own lives - representative councils etc.

Prove yourself. I imagine you have prepared three examples of what a Scottish ABC shouldn't be doing. Instead of that, name three things a Scottish ABC should be doing. And say if you personally could spare an hour or two hours a week ?

It's none of my business to dictate the actions of other groups, if was just giving few thoughts on how their actions would be perceived by the people in power who would love to wipe them out. I don't have any complaints about them either; we're all in solidarity right?

A couple of hours for what Danny? I'm registered on the League forums, let me know what you've got in mind, we're always keen to lend a hand to other groups.

Barkan

Right. I hate the S word but John Bowden uses it so I'll learn to bite my tongue.

I think there is a need for a Scottish ABC to support
1) those detained in Scotland by the British state for dubious or political reasons
2) To support Scots detained elsewhere by other states.
3) To support any anarchist or political prisoners where ever.

Not very focussed I admit, feel free to redefine it. I'm not really a group player and I'm not good at defining things. I'm good at initiating things but not at sustaining them. I'm good at getting arrested but not at writing to prisoners for years. I hope to start a Freepost ABC by the end of the year that will pay for prisoners postage costs and relay their letters via email. I also hope to host a blog from a prisoner in as many prisons as possible.

So. If your skill-set is complimentary (ie opposite) to mine, then I'd ask you to help out. If all you feel able to do is publicise the call for a Scottish ABC, that would be appreciated. If you really have an hour or two a week, then there are already prisoners to write to, campaigns to organise and an organisation to build. So far though I only have a crappy blog and noone else has contributed - if you are any good at editting blogs and have something to contribute then just drop an email address on the main site and I will invite you to join.

I'd also appreciate that as many people or groups as possible edit or contribute any prision news to this as possible. It is not meant as a blog for a group, it is meant to be the kick-start for a group.

John Bowden was convicted of killing a homeless man then hacking him into pieces. He was found guilty after the mans head was found in his fridge. There were later reports that he decorated his cell with photos of the mans dismembered body taken from the police evidence photos. This is the man your fighting for? WHAT!!!

I wasn't reading the tabloids in 1980. I haven't bothered investigating the murder for two simple reasons - one, John admits culpability and remorse, and two after 27 years, that crime is not why he is still being held. He is being held to punish dissent. He is being held to break the spiriti of resistance.
I have witnessed a one-man campaign here to hang him then flog him which strikes me as dubious - Jammyface will smear, disappear and then smear again under a different name taking no account of the arguments presented to him. One thing I have learned from his smears is that the victim was a convicted sex-offender - that doesn't excuse the murder, but it does call into question the textual framing of these smears. "John Bowden was convicted of killing a convicted sex-offender" doesn't quite carry the same tabloid-shock value does it ?

So you allege there were 'later reports that he decorated his cell with photos of the mans dismembered body taken from the police evidence photos'. Did you write those reports ? Because I can find no link to them outside of your allegation. And they aren't really sensible are they ? John became politicised in prison and started working for prisoners-rights. As such, he always recieved 'special-treatment' from the authorities. To suggest he is allowed to decorate his cell with images of his victims cadaver is laughable. I wasn't even allowed to pass a music CD to him. Your absurd allegation is akin to suggesting he wears his victims bones as jewellry or something equally preposterous. So I have to ask, why are you smearing John Bowden ? What is your angle ? Are you just a 'hanging-is-too-good-for-them' moron, do you have a personal interest in this case, or are you a more sinister propagandist than that ?

John killed a man. He was sentenced for a tariff and he served that tariff. He became politicised and started working for prisoners-rights, became hated by the authorities for his defiance of their unjust rules. Still, he was on open release from an open prison working with handipapped kids in the community due to be released. He received a visit from a humanitarian prisoners-support group. They called themselves anarchists so the prison authorities condemned them as terrorists, and so they put John back into the highest security prison because he had the principles to refuse to condemn all anarchists as terrorists.

So, say you are right, John has learned nothing and is a psychopathic murderer whose only wish is to murder again even after 30 years. If you are right, then why was such a monster allowed freedom to work in the community with vunerable children ? Howver it seems odd that he would choose an oppressive prison regime rather than parole simply to avoid smearing anarchists. The real monsters will kow-tow, take the shit they are dealt simply to get out. John has effectively his principles over his freedom. This is to be admired.

I met John for the first time last week. He is open, approachable, pleasant and committed. He is widely respected throughout the prison system except by the authorities who remember his activist defiance, and his knowledge and experience would be a great resource for prisoners were he to be released.

Now I can admire his principles and his stoicism, but I can't hope to compare to him. I would sell out my granny rather than spend a day in Glenochil, I obviously don't have his moral fibre. I feel slightly ashamed at my political commitment compared to Johns. So I thank you for restoring my self-pride, because I can't see any valid reason for such a base, faceless and vindictive camapaign against John as the one you have launched unless you are representing the State here.

Actually it was the staff at Parkhurst prison who started trying to distribute and exhibit photos from his trial to turn other prisoners against John. This led to a protest by him and another prisoner Jimmy McCaig in 1983. The details of this protest and the subsequent trial at Winchester Crown Court are available to anyone who wants to investigate further from any perspective, supportive, derogatory or just plain curious.

The term harassment can seem a bit strong to anyone unfamiliar with John's case. When I met John recently he described how when he was first incarcerated the only abuse he had to face was the daily physical brutality of the prison officers. He descibes a changed system now, where the actual prison officers are quite straightfoward people, but who have been supplimanted by a regime of middle-class 'professionals' who are far more abusive by nature.

I can only comment on that from my own limited persepective. Last month I wrote John my first letter. I forgot to include a Stamped Addressed Envelope so in my next letter I sent him some stamps. The prison chaplain intervened and seized the stamps as 'currency'.

So I went to visit John. I took him compilation CD as I love music. I was told by the prison I wouldn't be allowed to take it in to him as it would breach copyright laws, so I got written permission from each of the copyright holders, mostly the singer-songwriters themselves. I visited him, handed over the CD and offered the written permission which I was told by reception wouldn't be needed.

I was very chuffed to have got the first homemade legal CD into prsion, until I was told, 'no, all prisoners recieve pirate CDs - it's just John who isn't allowed to'.

John never received my CD and informed me of that by letter. I phoned the prison and asked why, and was told due to copyright law, and that I should have passed in written permission. So I posted the legal permission I had offered twice before.

John has dropped out of contact. By all accounts his mail is 'disappearing'. I just phoned to check whether he received he had since been given his CD. He hasn't. When I asked why, I was told the CD contained 'sectarian' material that isn't permitted. I challenged that. There isn't a sectarian song on the CD, they are all humanist or anarchist. I was then told by 'Mr Brown' that there was songs 'disparaging the English prison service' that couldn't be permitted. This from the SPS ! There are no songs on the CD directly 'disparaging the English prison service', they are just songs about freedom.

So I then phoned back to speak to the governor or the deputy governor. I was passed to the deputy governor, a Ms Brenda Stewart. She said sghe knew nothing about the matter, but suggested I wrote to the relevant officer in charge of Johns hall. She said he was sitting opposite from her and she would pass me across to him if I wanted but that I'd be bttter off writing to him. I said I'd been delayed for three weeks so i would rather take up her offer and speak directly to the officer. She then said they were too busy at that moment and hung up the phone mid-sentence.


Now, I have a problem with any public servant treating members of the public with contempt. I have a problem with my stamps being stolen. I have a problem with a legal CD being intercepted by screws.

It is not a big deal to John. He probabaly wouldn't even like the CD, I have no idea of his tastes. I am sure of one thing though. He has a legal right to hear it. And the prison staff at HMP Glenochil have a duty to act in a legal fashion which they are mocking by their harrassment. Tghey have already committed theft from me. They have now broken copyright law. They think they can escape the consequences of their crimes, but they are ignorant of one of the basic laws of the universe - undue repression encourages more dissent. I will be writing to the artists who gave permission for John Bowden to hear their work to inform them of the decision of the Scottish Prison Service to deny that right.

I should point out to these petty nasty villains, they live in our community. They cannot persecute people illegally with immunity. They cannot steal and abuse and expect to be respected. From my own experience, Brenda Stewart is unfit to shovel shit from one place yto another. She is Stasi, she is the sort of person who would willingly act as a Nazi guard just to pay off her mortgage.

It is no longer about the abuse of violent screws - it is about the abuse of the incompent prison-profiteers. And it isn't about John. It is about every prisoner subject to meaningless abuse from an intrinsically vindictive system.


Personally, I think we should punish everyone who is willing to work for the British prison gulag.

I suggested John certain actions. I asked for his approval in case by supporting him, I made his situation worse. He said go for it, my situation can't be any worse. Guess what I am going to do ?

I submitted my email on that site, get in touch when you can.

Barkan

So, Danny, what are you going to do? Hope it's mobilise for 13 July and not something silly.

"Hope it's mobilise for 13 July and not something silly."

Well I am fucking furious at being stolen from and treated like shit by incompetent nazi jailors. So I will be trying my best to calm down and mobilise for the 13th, certainly taking legal action against these petty thugs.
And if being sensible still doesn't work, being silly will be my only recourse.

'I suggested John certain actions. I asked for his approval in case by supporting him, I made his situation worse. He said go for it, my situation can't be any worse. Guess what I am going to do ? '

Was only responding to this as frankly I couldn't guess and had no idea what you were getting at.

You almost expect smears, lies, and harrassment from jailers and from the tabloid press, but it really is contemptuous when you get the same from individuals (or in this case probably ONE individual) passing themselves off as 'radicals'. At least one such scumbag - John from the N.Ireland group 'Organise!' - has been responsible for a vicious internet stalking campaign against John Bowden, a well-respected prison militant, whose been in jail since before this moron was born. Good for you Danny, and the others, for sticking up for John, I'll certainly be supporting him on July 13th - and before and after too.

Many thanks to Indymedia for giving this issue the prominence it deserves.

I know john through being in the system with him im 20 years younger than john but as we are both from england me being a scouser and john a cockney we were introduced to each other now ive met lads from england while being in the scottiosh jails and i didnt get on with them but johm you know right away hes the type of man you want on your side as hes loyal and genuine in jail you get asked what your in for and as we were on the normal wing you know its not going to be rape or child abuse that you will hear from lads mouths so john said murder and that was it he killed a fella in 1980 he told me ok who am i to judge anyway but to me john is a gentleman a man who im proud to call a friend and in his last letter he said to me that im one of the best ladsm hes met in the system now ive never been no big criminal and never will be i got jailed for drug offences in scotland trying to make a few quid obviousley its wrong but i did what had to do at that time and it cost me 7 years i got out in may and out of the m4 letters ive sent john 1 has got through and that means theres £50 in postal orders missing ,i will do what i can for john now im out and got a few quid in my pocket and people who are slagging him i laugh at these no marks who havent got a clue about john and what happens in the real world anyway good luck john

I got the same impression from John after only an hour. I have heard the same tributes from other ex-prisoners. I believe there are other prisoners we should be reaching out to.

I hope you are still writing to John. They have started fucking with his mail since we started supporting him, maybe before that from what you say. Most of the people who want to support him now have no prison experience and need folk like you to help out and educate us. If you can email me at  criticalmess@riseup.net I'd like to talk to you over the phone.

Go well.

Can someone from Indymedia put the details of the 2nd day of solidarity with John on this main page for him?

Free Bowden Now!

i was in jail with john and malko i got out last year in dec john is a great lad a real cons con who youd want in your corner as malko says hes loyal and genuine john and malko got on really well so im sure malko will do his best malko im suprised your on a computer all you said was you were going to find a nice little blonde who you knew and see if you could talk her into your bed did your liverpool charm work i remember your lib date was may 5th or 15th hows things write back on here and then ill give you my e mail adress ok malk good luck to you and john

Friday 13th July has been chosen as the date for the 2nd International Day of Solidarity with John Bowden. On that day, around the world, please make every effort to hold an action in support of John and in defence of the Anarchist Black Cross (ABC.)

John Bowden is a long-term prison resister who has been at the forefront of the British prison struggle throughout his time in jail – More than 25 years!

After decades of struggle, John has spent the past couple of years in an open prison at Castle Huntly in Scotland. He worked unsupervised in the outside community as a volunteer on projects for the mentally ill and socially vulnerable, and qualified as a literacy tutor for people with learning difficulties. For almost a year John was also allowed frequent home leaves, and was not regarded as any form of risk to the public.

All this recently changed however, when Matthew Stillman, a right-wing American social-worker was brought in to do a hatchet-job on John and accused him of having links with a ‘paramilitary’ and ‘terrorist’ organisation – namely the ABC!

While easily refuted, Stillman’s ludicrous allegations against a legitimate prisoner support organisation have had severe consequences for John, who refuses to renounce his links with the ABC. He has been moved to a high security prison at Glenochil, and damaging allegations (Stillman’s lies) hang over him, which we believe are specifically designed to prejudice the parole board when they consider John’s application for release on licence in August.

The attack on John and on the ABC by the Scottish Prison Service is not only designed to punish a well-known and articulate prison dissenter, it is an attack upon the right of prisoners to hold political views and to seek ‘outside’ support.

Please join us in an international show of strength against the attempt to ‘terrorize’ both John Bowden and the ABC. Let’s make Friday 13th July an inauspicious day for the Scottish Prison Service.

Our solidarity has no limits.

Friends of John Bowden
www.myspace.com/friendsofjohnbowden

Useful addresses:

John Bowden, 6729, HMP Glenochil, King O' Muir Road, Tullibody, Clackmannanshire, FK10 3AD. Scotland. (Please sends letters and solidarity cards, SAEs, postal orders made payable to ‘The Governor’.)

Audrey Parks, Governor, HMP Glenochil, King O' Muir Road, Tullibody, Clackmannanshire, FK10 3AD. Telephone: 01259 760471. Fax: 01259 762003. (Messages of protest.)

The Care Commission, Headquarters, Compass House, 11 Riverside Drive, Dundee, DD1 4NY. Telephone: 01382 207100. Fax: 01382 207289. (Complaints about social-worker Matthew Stillman.)

Scottish Prison Service HQ, Communications Branch, Room 338, Calton House, 5 Redheughs Rigg, Edinburgh, EH12 9HW. E-mail:  gaolinfo@sps.gov.uk Phone: 01259 760471. Fax: 01259 762003. (Postcards reading ‘Hands Off John Bowden!’ and other forms of protest.)

The Parole Board for England & Wales, Grenadier House, 99-105 Horseferry Road, London, SW1P 2DD. (Solidarity pickets and letters supporting John's application.)

Other ideas

Solidarity pickets, noise demos, banner drops, leafleting, fax blockades, collective card signings, info meetings, pamphlet readings, benefit events.

Please show initiative and imagination and show your solidarity with John Bowden and the ABC.

Please show some initiative people. We can all organise something to support John on July 13th.

Okay I know this sounds petty but it is meant as an illustrative point. I made John a CD and it hasn't been passed to him. Any other prisoner and it would not be a problem. I have complained about this several times and John has complained about it too. My complaint has been met with a different excuse and different avenue of redress on each occasion. I have been treated like shit by senior prison staff and I'm not even a prisoner - so why shouldn't I use the law against them ?

John is being imprisoned for resisting prison oppression, under lock-down conditions in a high-security prison. He has been denied a CD he didn't request and probably won't like. So big deal - three prisoners have died at Perth prison this month alone, why fuss over a CD ? Cos John was threatened with Perth prison earlier and the only reason he is still alive is because we are keeping up the attention on him.

I've had a good response to my call to start a Scottish prisoner support group for cases like Johns. I've been bit delayed in organising it by ongoing shit in my own life but I'll get back on it tommorow - anyone who is interested please get in contact. In the meantime, for your amusement :



Dear Audrey Park,


I am pleased to hear you acknowledge my previous letters although I remain confused by your response so I will address the three points you say relate to the issues raised in all three letters.

Your first point states ' 1. Stamps sent in are held in the prisoner's property, as they can be a form of drug introduction to prisons. The Complaints Commisioner has been consulted regarding the position and shares SPS's view that this is a necessary restriction in the interests of security ".

I find this bizarre as I am unaware of any drug craze involving stamps outside of prison, although perhaps with several thousand stamps glue-sniffing could be a risk. Just conceivably, you think they could be soaked in cocaine and then licked ? The stamps I sent in were self-adhesive. I did ask that even if you don't issue all the stamps at once then you make them individually available for Mr Bowden as and when he requires them for corresspondence. I cannot see any possible risk of drug introduction from issuing individual stamps. I can see the withholding of stamps as a breach of article 10 of the Human Rights Act and will be happy to take this up with the Complaints Commisioner if you were to tell me who this commisioner is and how I can contact them. I should point out that staff are still liable to follow the Human Rights act regardless of instructions from superiors.

Your second point states " Nothing but proper 'shop bought' CDs are allowed to be handed in. This applies to all prisoners".

Now I asked you in advance in my first letter if I could take in a home-made CD if I aquired copy-right permission. If this is a genuine policy then you could have informed me at that time and saved me the expense and effort. You never. When I brought in the CD I informed them it was home-made and offered the written copyright permission which I was told 'wouldn't be necessary' - reception obviously didn't see this as a problem. When I found out the CD hadn't been passed to Mr Bowden I was told it was because the CD was 'sectarian and dismissive of the English prison system'. This is both a slanderous lie, and a breach of the copyright which was specifically limited to Mr Bowden. It is also a completely different excuse. Now, you are telling me only 'proper' "shop bought" CDs can be taken in to any prisoner. Again, a completely different excuse. To continually prevaricate and come up with endless different reasons smack of gross dishonesty. I also know for a fact other prisoners do receive home-made CDs without copyright permission, so it smacks of petty harassment of Mr Bowden.

I am writing to the various artists who have contributed their work to inform them that SPS staff have slandered their work and broke their copyright. Some of them are fairly wealthy people and I hope they will consider legal action against your staff. However, I still want to get this CD to Mr Bowden as a matter of principle now so I want further clarification of what you class as a "proper 'shop bought' CD". The blank CD I sent in was shop-bought in ASDA. As the manufacturer of that CD I was acting in complete compliance with copyright law. This meant a print run of only one CD, the costs of which I paid for as a gift to Mr Bowden. So, please quote me which prison regulation I broke and define how I can produce a CD to pass to a prisoner which does not breach your extremely vague guideline.

Of course, if you are saying that CDs can only be passed to prisoners that are available for anyone to purchase in the shops, then that is already the case. I have already received permission from the artists to produce a second identical CD to Mr Bowdens and to sell it in the shops. This is publically available for anyone to buy, either by contacting myself or by visiting Avalanche Records in 63 Cockburn Street, Edinburgh. Since it is an extremely limited edition CD the price is £999.99 with all profits going to prisoner support charities. Feel free to buy it for yourself. Now if there is sufficent interest in the CD I will be contacting the singer-song-writers again with a view to release it much more widely at a more reasonable cost, again with all profits going to prison support, and with a full explanation of why the CD was released.

Your third point states " 3. The book was issued to Mr Bowden ". In none of my letters have I mentioned a book so I am at a loss as to what you are talking about or which of the issues I have raised this concerns.

One direct question that I did ask that you fail to mention is what is the proper complaints procedure is for me to follow in complaining about the issues I have raised is, and the way that I have been treated by the HMP GlenOchil senior staff. I hope you can inform me of that. If I was to ask any other public servant about a complaints procedure then they would inform me. If I was to ask a policeman how to complain about police treatment, they would direct me without hestitation to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. They are under a legal obligtion to do so. If I was to ask JobCentre staff how to complain about their treatment then they would send me a complaints form. I know nothing about the prison service but I do presume you are similar to every other public service in having a complaints procedure that you are obliged to tell me about upon request. So, for the second time, I am asking how to complain about senior staff at HMP Glenochil.


Let me summarise.
1. I believe withholding stamps to be a breach of the Human Rights act and will be pursing this legally.
2. The CD you have withheld is a "proper" CD and is available to purchase in the shops. To withold it without a real and consistent reason is dishonest harassment and will result in much more bad publicity for the SPS and HMP Glenochil.
3. I again request that you tell me the proper complaints procedure for me to follow against senior HMP Glenochil staff.


sincerely,

Danny,i know it seems mad not to allow stamps and cds into jail but they think people who are getting alot of stamps in might be using them to buy drugs so if someone gets £10 worth of stamps in they can swap these either for a bag of smack or swap them for things that the person selling the gear wants eg tobacco or food if you havent done a sentance then youd be amazed what people will use to buy drugs in my local jail walton (liverpool) ive seen lads swapping everything they own for smack because the jail is polluted with smack its not as bad as that in any of the scottish jails i was in except as youd expect castle huntly a open jail so thats why they wont let stamps in its a currency its mad i know but the cds i have to agree with only because of the dirty beasts who have been sent in cds with chidrens pornography on them instead of the bob dylan album it says on it or will have some bob dylan at the start and end but 99% is showing totally evil things and we cant let them horrible fucking monsters watching that its bad enough we allow them to breath the same air we do dont get me wrong they know if johns getting sent a cd in it is what it says it is but thats the reason the fucking beasty bastards and you mention perth jail i was in there in 2003 on C hall and its gone now but what a shithole its worse than barlinnie or it was then anyway KEEP LAUGHING JOHN YOU KNOW THEY HATE SEEING THE CONS HAVING A LAUGH your mate malko

The CD is just music, it's been banned for having a photo of his demo on the cover tho' they won't admit that.
I told the governor before, if she thinks the stamps are currency then just dole them out to him one at a time when he is writing letters.
And both you me and the SPS know John isn't a druggie or a sex-offender, this is just harrasment cos he stood up to them. Some prisoners get stamps, some prisoners get CDs - it's 'divide and conquer' tactics - priveleges for the obedient, punishment for the principled.

There will be a demo outside the SPS HQ at 3pm on the 13th of July Malko. I hope you can come - if you need transport of digs then I'll try and sort that out, email me. 3 prisoners dead in HMP Perth in the last month - and we aren't supposed to have a death penalty anymore.

We are starting a prisoner support group here and could use your input and experience, it'd be good to talk to you anyway. I'll write another post about the demo and the group in a couple of days when I have all the details but anyone who reads this and is interested just email me.

Subject to SOCPA etc being agreed, will be on Friday 13th (lucky for some) at Parole Board as before, from 12.30 to 2pm.

As part of the 2nd International Day of Solidarity in support of John Bowden and in defence of the Anarchist Black Cross (see main feature on UK Indymedia), various solidarity actions and events are already being organised. A list of the UK actions we know about follows. If you are unable to attend one of these events we strongly urge you to organise your own protest or to spend a few minutes writing out some postcards or making a few phonecalls. John Bowden needs and deserves our fullest possible support.

London

Solidarity Picket of the Parole Board HQ, Grenadier House, 99-105 Horseferry Road, London, SW1P 2DD. 12.30-2.00pm. Please bring placards and banners.

Edinburgh

Solidarity Picket of the Scottish Parliament. Commencing 3pm. Please bring placards and banners. Also see Scottish Indymedia for details of a support meeting to be held in Edinburgh the previous week.

Brighton

A day of solidarity at the Cowley Club, which will include card-signing, letter-writing, and access to a phone provided by Brighton ABC. 12.00-5.30pm

Leeds

Solidarity actions will take place plus a get-together at The Common Place to sign cards, write letters, etc starting at Noon and running throughout the afternoon. Copies of John’s pamphlet Tear Down The Walls! will also be available.

Useful addresses:

John Bowden, 6729, HMP Glenochil, King O' Muir Road, Tullibody, Clackmannanshire, FK10 3AD. Scotland. (Please sends letters and solidarity cards, SAEs, postal orders made payable to ‘The Governor’.)

Audrey Parks, Governor, HMP Glenochil, King O' Muir Road, Tullibody, Clackmannanshire, FK10 3AD. Phone: 01259 760471. Fax: 01259 762003. (Messages of protest.)

Social Services Department, Perth & Kinross Council, 2 High St, Perth, PH1 5PH. Phone: 01738 475000. Fax: 01738 475710. (Complaints about social-worker Matthew Stillman.)

Scottish Prison Service HQ, Communications Branch, Room 338, Calton House, 5 Redheughs Rigg, Edinburgh, EH12 9HW. E-mail:  gaolinfo@sps.gov.uk Phone: 01259 760471. Fax: 01259 762003. (Postcards reading ‘Hands Off John Bowden!’ and other forms of protest.)

John Bowden is a long-term prison militant, who has been in jail for more than 25 years. While not originally imprisoned for anything political in nature, John has been a bulwark of the prison struggle and of prisoner solidarity throughout his time inside. He is a highly articulate political writer; a fierce critic of injustice wherever he sees it. His willingness to speak out, and to support other prisoners, (he was for example instrumental in first helping to publicise the case of the ‘Birmingham 6’), has not been without personal consequences. John has spent years in segregation, being ‘ghosted’ to every corner of the British penal gulag, and has suffered countless beatings and years of daily abuse. Even after more than 25 years the harassment and victimisation continues.

Until very recently John was in an open prison at Castle Huntly in Scotland. He had spent two years working unsupervised in the outside community as a volunteer on projects for the mentally ill and socially vulnerable, and had qualified as a literacy tutor for people with learning difficulties. For almost a year he had also been allowed frequent home leaves, and was not regarded as any form of risk to the public. All this changed however, when Matthew Stillman, a right-wing American social-worker (who for example, insists on calling Irish people ‘Micks’), accused John of having links with a ‘paramilitary’ and ‘terrorist’ organisation – namely the Anarchist Black Cross (ABC)!

The ABC are a perfectly legal and entirely legitimate prisoner support organisation, with origins that go back to Tsarist Russia. Autonomous branches of the ABC exist all over the world, including groups in Brighton and in Leeds.

Stillman’s lies are easily refuted, but they were eagerly taken up by the Scottish Prison Service, who used them as a pretext for ‘ghosting’ John from Castle Huntly to a maximum security prison at Glenochil. Since a massive campaign was launched in support of John however, and Stillman’s report came under more scrutiny, the SPS have begun to waver. John remains in maximum security conditions though, with all that entails, and Stillman’s enormously prejudicial report currently remains on his parole dossier.

John Bowden’s parole application is due to be considered in August, and the latest Prison Service campaign is clearly aimed at preventing his release. More than that however, it is designed to intimidate other prisoners thinking of supporting their fellow prisoners, and to damage the ability of the ABC to function as an arm of assistance.

For months, since the ABC was vilified, and John Bowden victmised, Leeds ABC have been helping to co-ordinate an international campaign of protest, which has seen solidarity actions everywhere from Edinburgh to Japan, and a constant stream of protest aimed at SPS HQ. This Friday, July 13th, sees the second International Day of Solidarity in support of John and the ABC (see  http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/scotland/2007/06/373463.html and  http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/leedsbradford/2007/07/374935.html).

In Leeds various support actions are planned, and Leeds ABC will be holding an info stall at the Common Place on Wharf Street (between Calls Lane and Swinegate.) There’s a large card to sign for John, and there’ll be postcards to send for the SPS (who you can also e-mail.) Come along and show your support and find out more about the work of the ABC, we’ll be there from 12 noon until 3.00pm. It’s also an opportunity to purchase John Bowden’s excellent pamphlet Tear Down The Walls! The café will be open as usual on Fridays, selling tea and coffee and a range of vegan food.

If you’re unable to be there you can still help:

John Bowden, 6729, HMP Glenochil, King O' Muir Road, Tullibody, Clackmannanshire, FK10 3AD. Scotland. (Please sends letters and solidarity cards, SAEs, postal orders made payable to ‘The Governor’.)

Audrey Parks, Governor, HMP Glenochil, King O' Muir Road, Tullibody, Clackmannanshire, FK10 3AD. Phone: 01259 760471. Fax: 01259 762003. (Messages of protest.)

Social Services Department, Perth & Kinross Council, 2 High St, Perth, PH1 5PH. Phone: 01738 475000. Fax: 01738 475710. (Complaints about social-worker Matthew Stillman.)

Scottish Prison Service HQ, Communications Branch, Room 338, Calton House, 5 Redheughs Rigg, Edinburgh, EH12 9HW. E-mail:  gaolinfo@sps.gov.uk Phone: 01259 760471. Fax: 01259 762003. (Postcards reading ‘Hands Off John Bowden!’ and other forms of protest.)

For more information e-mail Leeds ABC at  leedsabc@riseup.net (Website: www.myspace.com/leedsabc)

To find out more about John Bowden and the campaign in support of him see www.myspace.com/friendsofjohnbowden or the main feature on UK Indymedia.

The far left has essentially given up on the British working class as the agents of their revolution and the task has been transfered to criminals and Third World immigrants, hence the SWP's almost exclusive orientation towards Muslims in the form of "Respect". They have become filled with hatred and bitterness for the people they claim to represent by decades of being rejected by the British workers. This I think explains their sneering contempt for victims. The criminal, on the other hand, is seen as an ally because he is "oppressed" by the system and in their desperation these Marxists see a potentionally revolutionary aspect to every prison riot and every campaign to prove some criminal's innocence or obtain more cushy conditions.

All this is shown most clearly by the Revolutionary Communist Group which explicitly sees prisoners as warriors in the long-awaited revolution, mounting campaigns for notorious criminals and sending its newspapers to prisons. The RCG is tiny, but this is a feature shared in a less clearly spelled-out form by the left in general.