On 12 April 2023, prisoner Joe Outlaw staged a one-man protest on the roof of Strangeways prison in Manchester.
Joe is serving a sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP), imposed in 2011 for robbery. The IPP is a draconian indeterminate sentence with a short custodial minimum period followed by indefinite detention unless the Parole Board directs that someone is safe to be released. Many IPPs face the prospect of never being released, or of getting out only to be recalled for the smallest of misdemeanours. Joe wrote ‘FREE IPPZ’ on the prison roof and shouted down to those below that he was protesting against the unjust sentence.
The roof of Manchester prison is, of course, no stranger to protests. In April 1990 hundreds of prisoners took to the roof to protest at the inhumane conditions and staff brutality they were subject to, some of them remaining on the roof for 25 days.
In retribution for his protest, Joe was moved to high security Frankland prison in Durham. His spirit unbroken, he wrote to FRFI: ‘They want to make an example out of me to suppress the true, independent thinker, fighting the injustices of the country we live in today. So much suffering, so much pain, but while there is breath in my lungs I will try my best to stand for what is right. The IPP sentence is modern slavery.’
On 21 June, Joe renewed his protest on the roof of Frankland. He was then put in segregation and has now been moved to Belmarsh prison, from where he wrote:
‘I’m now being kept in total isolation in a special unit that seems to have been opened just for me so I’m totally alone here. All they are doing is trying to silence my activism by suppressing me. My daily regime is totally oppressive; the only footwear I’m allowed to wear is flip flops, I’m double handcuffed every time I leave my cell, which is only for a brief exercise period in a small yard where I’m watched and observed by at least four screws and a guard dog. I remain handcuffed whilst in the exercise yard. They’ve also stopped all my visits which I intend to legally challenge.’
Support Joe’s fight for justice. Write to:
Joe Outlaw
A1236AY, HMP Belmarsh,
Western Way, Thamesmead,
London SE28 0EB.
FIGHT RACISM! FIGHT IMPERIALISM! 295 August/September 2023
