Trying to overturn a guilty verdict in this country even with everyone realizing it is unjust, becomes a nightmare, it is a battle that seems to go on forever,

It is mainly due to the fact that those involved in the judicial system would rather ignore what goes on than try to change it.

However as each day passes our resolve grows stronger-in the knowledge that we are fighting for what is right and just and eventually we will succeed in bringing changes.

At present we can rest in the knowledge that our conscience is clear, as we are the ones being victimised.

The victor’s are not those who can inflict the most, but those who can suffer the most. A saying that has became become very true.

I would like to wish everyone involved in the fight for Justice a Happy New Year.

Perhaps in 2003 this farce that they call a justice system at some point will be reviewed so that drug dealers and convicted-prisoners cannot be presented by the crown as reliable prosecution witnesses.

They say that the courts are all in favour of the defendants obviously the person or persons who made those remarks never sat through a trial in England.

Of course if anyone has been the victim of a crime their first reaction is to want revenge, but revenge at what cost? 'When innocent people are incarcerated for years and years, their lives and the lives of their families destroyed.

Can you imagine if your were on trial and tried to call a convicted prisoner to give evidence on your behalf, or a self confessed drug dealer, who had been offered massive inducements to do the same.

Not only would the judge point out how unreliable your witnesses were fie would probably order you face charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Justice must be a double edged sword, 'Yet the prosecution can do what they like in a trial and use these type of witnesses to send men and women to prison for life.

It has now become the case that the public are being whipped up into having a lynch mod mentality by politicians who are in search of votes.

Everyone wants to know that they and their families are safe, that they can leave their homes without the fear that when they return their property has not been ransacked and their belongings stolen, I believe it would be everyone's wish to round up everyone responsible for these crimes. It "is a natural reaction to want to punish those responsible, "revenge "

But what most right thinking people don't want is when the police decide they are a law onto themselves and use any means to obtain a conviction, it then becomes much easier for them than rather to look for evidence that may lead to those responsible they rely on witnesses they can coheres or induce into fabricating evidence.

They the police can do this safe in the knowledge that if they are discovered the severest penalty will be a warning not to do the same thing again. They know that what that warning really means, is if you are fabricating evidence don't get found out.

The mistake a lot of people make is living with the belief,

"It won't ever happen to me, I don't break the law"

Unfortunately neither did a lot of us but we have been incarcerated for years and continue to fight to prove we didn't do anything either, it is a difficult struggle unless we can show people that it can happen to you, or someone close to you.

When it does you then wonder why no one will listen, you keep trying to tell anyone who will listen "I'm innocent" but no one wants to know. It then becomes a living nightmare for you, sitting watching your life pass by, your family being dragged down by the pressures of coping without you, you watch the hardship they suffer each day and you begin to believe that there will be no end to this.

Then you receive a card or a letter from someone else in the same position and with it comes the realisation that you are not alone, you know then that you can't give up, because any battle, even one fought for truth and justice, is better fought in numbers. So we all need the support of each other.

Best wishes for the coming New Year to everyone involved with fighting injustice and all those ‘Hostages’ fighting to prove their innocence,

Keep a positive attitude my friends because " We 'Will Win".

Yours in struggle,

Jake & Keith Mawhinney,

Jake Mawhinney

HMP Longlartin

Evesham

Worcs

WR11 5TZ

Keith Mawhinney

HMP Longlartin

Evesham

Worcs

WR11 5TZ

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More trouble at HMP shots - Guards hurt in jail disturbance

Three prison officers were injured in a disturbance at the Shotts maximum security jail in Lanarkshire. The incident is the second at the prison in less than a week.

The unrest broke out at about 1630 GMT on Tuesday, last week, in a special unit which houses newly arrived prisoners who are having difficulty adapting to the prison regime.

Three guards were taken to Wishaw General Hospital for treatment after being injured.

It is believed that they may have been stabbed, although their injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

The prison, which is sited near the village of Shotts, has been affected by unrest in the past. There was a stand-off in April last year between prisoners and authorities after an electrical storm cut off supplies to the facility.

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Legal update: On 28 May 2002 the ECHR delivered a Judgment in the case of Stafford that ruled that the release of mandatory life sentence prisoners should be determined by a court-like body. The Parole Board was accepted as a court-like body for these purposes. New legislation dealing with the release of mandatory life sentence prisoners is not expected to be in force until the latter part of 2003, therefore interim administrative arrangements have been introduced to deal with the changes until this time. It may be useful if I briefly set out these arrangements in answer to some of the issues you have raised in your letter.

The interim arrangements apply to mandatory life sentence prisoners who are already, or about to become tariff expired, whose next Parole Board review begins on or after 1 January 2003. It is not practically possible to provide all mandatory life sentence prisoners who are already or are about to become tariff-expired with an oral hearing in the first instance. The interim arrangements therefore provide for an initial paper review by the Parole Board in each case, following which a provisional recommendation will be made. At the paper review stage a prisoner or their legal representative can submit written representations for consideration by the Parole Board, however neither can attend this type of review. This paper review will be followed by an oral hearing only if the prisoner or the Secretary of State wishes to contest the provisional recommendation on the question if release. It will, however, be open to prisoners in this category to ask the Parole Board for an oral hearing in the first instance. It will then be for the Parole Board to consider whether or not to proceed in this way. When an oral hearing is requested in the first instance, prisoners or their legal representatives will be expected to provide reasons why their cases should be dealt with specifically this way. A prisoner is entitled to have their legal representative present at any oral hearing of their case.

You may be interested to know that the Parole Board is not asked to comment on or make recommendations about the setting of subsequent Parole Board review dates. This matter is determined by Lifer Unit caseworkers on the individual merits of each case having taken into account the time which needs to allowed for the prisoner to make progress and undertake any further offending behaviour work. In all post tariff expiry cases such reviews must be completed within two years of the Board last considering the case. This two-year period is the maximum time that can elapse and in many cases it will appropriate for the Board to consider the case sooner. It is, however, open to a prisoner to request for the advancement of their review, however Lifer Unit would need to give careful consideration to such a request.

Turning to your final point, the ECHR judgment in the case of Anderson, challenged the power of the Home Secretary to set tariffs for mandatory life sentence prisoners and found such practice incompatible with the ECHR. That decision meant that from 25 November 2002 Ministers no longer set tariffs although the current law and existing tariffs will remain in place until a new system is introduced. This means that tariffs for existing mandatory lifers remain unchanged and once the legislation is passed it will be open to lifers to have their tariffs reset under the new judicial arrangements. (this is a letter from Sentence Management Group,23/01/2002)

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Seventh International Day Against Police Brutality- -Saturday March 15th 2003

Police = Legal Terror!

Down With Police States Everywhere!

Organise the International Day Against Police Brutality!

March 15, 2003, marks the seventh year of this international day of protest and solidarity against police brutality. It first began in 1997 as an initiative of the Black Flag collective in Switzerland along with the help of 'le Collective Oppose à la Brutalité Policière' (COBP-Montreal). Since its first year, the International Day Against Police Brutality (IDAPB) has been a success. This date was chosen because on March 15th, two children, aged 11 and 12, were beaten by the Swiss police.

This day is also an opportunity to create and strengthen an indispensable international solidarity against the ever-increasing collaboration amongst global police forces. The IDAPB is one step in ending the isolation of groups and individuals who, engaged in this struggle, are subjected to daily repression.

The police, the right arm of the State, abuse their power on a daily basis and exercise violence with total impunity. Within the police brotherhood, the complicity of silence eradicates the possibility of one police officer's innocence. Everywhere they continuously violate the very laws that they are supposed to uphold. The police check I.D. without reason, ticket, harass, steal, spy, beat, deport, arrest, imprison, torture and kill. Their primary targets are "the undesirables of society": the poor, the homeless, Indigenous peoples, people of colour, immigrants and persons with irregular status ("illegal immigrants" and people working under-the-table), sex workers, activists and student activists, the marginalised, organised workers, queer, gender-based and feminist activists and people who question and don't accept the legitimacy of the authorities.

In response to the breadth and depth of anti-capitalist globalization demonstrations opposing the fortress of capitalism, the widening gap between the rich and the poor, the deepening of poverty, the generalised misery and deterioration of living conditions, governments invest in their police forces, in order to maintain, at whatever cost, law and order for 'social peace'.

The reactionary security craze following the September 11 events in the U.S. gave free reign to world governments to create new fascist anti-terrorist and racist anti-immigration laws. Systematic surveillance of all means of communication, tougher border controls (if not their closure) and total discretionary powers to all police forces directly affect all "undesirables" (the 'dangerous' class).

Facing a global police state, we have the responsibility to act and support all victims of State force. We urgently invite you to participate in the International Day Against Police Brutality (IDAPB). Until now, this event has taken place in several forms: street theatre, murals, publications, demonstrations, conferences, postering, workshops, exhibitions, radio and television shows and other cultural events. Some groups have organised more than one activity while others have formed coalitions. All collectives or individuals decide on what type of action, depending on the political climate of their country, the energy and willingness of people to organise an event, the resources available, etc. The key thing is the imagination and the creativity of the people involved.