10 Asian men defending themselves cleared in court

The case against 10 Asian men in Rotherham who, if found guilty could have easily faced 10 years in prison for violent conduct, is like one of those profoundly racist stories from Alabama, USA in the 1960’s, not the UK in 2016.

On Sept 2015 the men joined an anti-fascist march to protest against the racist murder of an elderly Muslim man. They were also protesting against yet another Far Right  facist Groups demonstration that was planned in town on the same day.

What occurred during that day beggar’s belief;  the police and the Crown Prosecution Service  arrested, brought charges and sought to prosecute the men for defending themselves against rabid racists.

In court the prosecution accepted that the Asian men did not start the fight between the two groups- CCTV evidence made that fact indisputable-, and yet the police stated that the response to both ‘vile racist abuse’ and being attacked could not described as ‘self defence’.

Thankfully a jury of their peers did not agree and the men were acquitted of all charges.

Michael Mansfield QC, defending two of the men, Asif Zaman and Arshad Khan, told the court the town had been besieged by toxic fascist groups and the air was filled with fear. “The fear was not a fantasy – it was a reality,” he said.

“But there comes a point when people have to say to themselves, are we going to be humiliated to the extent that we won’t leave our homes? And is it time to show our respect and solidarity for this elderly man who was stamped to death?”

Reading a statement on behalf of the defendants outside court, Suresh Grover, director of the Monitoring Group, an anti-racism charity, said that apart from the actions of the far-right groups, their anger was reserved for South Yorkshire police and the Crown Prosecution Service:

“The prosecution evidence clearly acknowledged that far-right groups were intent on sowing community division...Instead of protecting the real victims in this case, the police and the CPS turned against them. “Public confidence in South Yorkshire police is at an all time low. It can only be gained if there is a rigorous independent inquiry into their conduct and behaviour and they begin to respect local communities.”

If the Government needed any more evidence about racism within the Criminal Justice System this case,this, along with  David Lammy’s review of into the CJS  just last week, should be another wake-up call that too many aspects of the CJS is institutionally racist and as such is demonishing and criminalisng many within BME communities.

Simon Woolley