Dear Sir,
I have just found the article “Black History Month exhibition on Bradford’s Black Agenda bookshop” by Emma Clayton which was published October 7 last year.
This article claims, among other things, that Winston Silcott and Satpal Ram had their convictions overturned.
While Silcott was indeed framed for the murder of PC Keith Blakelock, his conviction for the murder of Anthony Smith remains. He had already been so convicted by the time he and his co-defendants stood trial for the Blakelock murder and all media coverage of that trial and verdict was suppressed until the completion of the second trial.
Regarding Satpal Ram, his conviction was never overturned and never will be. In November 1986, he stabbed a stranger to death in a drunken frenzy, gloated over him as he lay dying, then fled the crime scene with the murder weapon in his hand. He appealed his first conviction, an appeal that was dismissed at the leave stage.
Over the following years and with the rise of the nascent Internet, his supporters launched a campaign of lies and vilification of his victim which somehow got the case back to the Court Of Appeal in 1995 where it was dismissed in a strongly worded judgment. Undeterred, they petitioned the CCRC, which declined to refer his conviction back to the Court Of Appeal.
In spite of this, he was paroled on June 18, 2002 with much fanfare still proclaiming his innocence and vowing to clear his name. Alas, on April 24, 2003 he was ordered recalled to prison following allegations of assault and criminal damage. On May 7, his life licence was revoked and he was declared unlawfully at large until April 18, 2005 when he was arrested in London. In November 2007, he was granted day release but was not paroled again until July 2013, without the fanfare this time.
In April 2001, I set up a website which is the only source that gives the full, detailed background to this case. I have tried at various times to edit the relevant “Wikipedia” page but the people who run that self-styled encyclopaedia are not interested in the truth.
Yours Sincerely,
To SATPAL RAM: A Case Study In “Anti-Racist” Brainwashing
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