Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! no. 6, September/October 1980
The following are extracts from a statement written by Mike Duffield and Kirstin Crosbie.
MD
Kirstin and I were charged under the PTA, we were taken to the CID office upstairs. Kirstin was questioned, I was told to stand in the corner. When I tried to sit down I was assaulted by a plainclothes policeman who pushed me very hard into the corner banging me against the cabinet…
They tried to fingerprint me. I refused to co-operate. Four police tried to force me. They pushed and pulled and twisted my arms…They eventually got my prints but they had to do it twice to get a clear set. I will not co-operate or help them in any way with the PTA. The PTA is a racist and anti-working class law and must be opposed. The way it has been used to stop us selling, the way it has always been used to harass the Irish community and communists in Britain shows quite clearly the racist anti-working class nature of this law.
In Barlinnie Prison I was immediately classified as a ‘strict escapee’. This meant that I was to be semi-isolated from the other prisoners and would only be allowed to fully associate with the other ‘strict escapees’ (all of whom were either political prisoners or blacks).
As a remand — untried — prisoner and moreover, as a political prisoner, I demanded the right to wear my own clothes. This incensed the screws who immediately placed me with no clothes at all in a stinking, filthy, fly-infested punishment cell.
KC
I refused to do any prison work and encouraged other prisoners to follow suit. I informed other prisoners of their rights and within 24 hours four fellow inmates had been to the Governor to demand their own clothes!
Throughout my time on remand it was encouraging to hear news of what was happening outside. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who worked in or supported the campaign.
