This page (below) was lifted from the site of the National Civil Rights Movement on June 26, 2001; I checked the page on September 16, 2001 and it was still the same. The original page includes the oft’ published photograph of Ram’s bruised face, (the illustrations have not been downloaded for the sake of simplicity).


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Campaign for:
  • An immediate release of Satpal Ram from prison

  • An inquiry into the trial which resulted in a miscarriage of justice

  • An inquiry into the appalling treatment of Satpal Ram by the prison authorities.

Satpal Ram is a young Asian man from Birmingham. One night in 1986 he was having a quiet meal in a restaurant with his two friends. Six drunken white people came into the Asian restaurant. They were all already quite rowdy and racially abusive to the staff. As the evening went on, they started to hurl more and more abuse across the restaurant to Satpal and his friends.

Things came to a head when near the end of the evening the waiters put on some Asian music and Satpal asked one of them to turn it up because he really liked the song. The white men got angry at this and shouted "no we don't need any more of this fucking paki music" and started a fight with Satpal and his friends. During that fight one of the white men, Clarke Pierce, smashed a glass on the table and hit Satpal twice across the cheek and across the shoulder. He then backed Satpal into a corner so that, with a table and walls behind him, he did not have anywhere else to go.

At this point Satpal was really in fear of his life.

He had already been slashed twice. Because he worked at a warehouse, Satpal had a little Stanley knife with him and he used that knife to defend himself. Both his attackers were hurt and the fight stopped. Satpal went and got treatment for his injuries.

Clarke Pierce went to hospital but he was very abusive to the medical staff and he pulled out his drips, saying he did not want to be treated by a woman doctor. He discharged himself and went home, where he later died.

Here began the appalling treatment of Satpal by the criminal justice system.

Satpal was charged with the murder of Clarke Pierce. His barrister did not meet with him and only saw him for about 40 minutes before the trial. The barrister decided to change the plea from self-defence to provocation. He also did not bring out the details of what happened at the restaurant in court. In fact most of the evidence which was heard came from friends of Clarke Pierce. Unsurprisingly, the all-white jury convicted Satpal of murder within about half an hour. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison where he remains 13 years later.

Partly because Satpal has been challenging his conviction all these years, he has had a particularly hard time in prison. He has, again and again, been beaten and often starved. He has been repeatedly strip-searched. He has spent large amounts of time in segregation, in solitary confinement. He has had his bedding taken away for large amounts of time. He has progressively lost weight. When his relatives visit, he wears three or four shirts so that they don't go home to tell his mother that he is just fading away.

The prison authorities are simply torturing him for standing up for himself.

When Satpal has complained about the kind of treatment he has received, he is the one that has been put up on a disciplinary charge for attacking prison officers.

Satpal is still challenging his initial conviction 13 years later. He maintains to this day that he is innocent.

SATPAL RAM UPDATE: 2nd April 2001

On the 2nd March, at HMP Wellingborough, Satpal Ram was stripped and segregated by prison officers in riot gear with shields following an incident at the prison where another prisoner had barricaded himself into his cell. When Satpal Ram protested to being moved to another block whilst they 'dealt' with this prisoner, the officers attacked him.

On the 5th March, after spending two days in solitary confinement, Satpal Ram was moved back to HMP Blakenhurst, where they told him that he had lost his Cat "C" status and that he had been moved back to Cat "B". The prison officers who know of Satpal Ram and who know that he's got a parole decision being made soon on whether he is eligible for release or not, will use any excuse to attack him to jeopardize this process. This is because the brother in law of Clarke Pearce is a prison officer at HMP Winsen Green and tries constantly to prevent Satpal from challenging his conviction. By being violent towards him via a network of corrupt prison officers Satpal Ram himself is perceived as a dangerous man in the name of the law (the Parole Board) and is deemed not fit for release. The parole process began a year and a half ago and is still pending today. It is a process that usually takes from six to nine months.

Satpal Ram also continues to wait for the Criminal Case Review Commission to make their decision on whether to send his case back to the Court of Appeal or not. They have now delayed their decision until mid June.

Anyone wishing to contact Satpal can do so by writing to the below address:

Satpal Ram (E94-164)
HMP Blakenhurst
Hewell Lane
Redditch
Worcs B97 6QS

Deeder Zaman + Lesley Naylor
Free Satpal Ram Campaign

For more information contact the NCRM or:

Free Satpal Campaign (London)
PO Box 23139
London SE1 1ZU

freesatpalcampaign@hotmail.com
Tel. 07947 595367


    14 Featherstone Road, Southall, Middlesex UB2 5AA.
    Tel. 020 8574 0818 / 020 8843 2333 Fax. 020 8813 9734
    info@ncrm.org