I ddarllen yr erthygl yn y Gymraeg cliciwch yma.
On Saturday the 4th of April 2015, the Smash IPP group held their first a demonstration in Cardiff. For those of you who do not know what IPP is, it is an indeterminate sentence for public protection. This allows the court to add time onto an existing prison sentence often for minor crimes and therefore pushing back the release date indefinitely. This means that IPP prisoners live under the constant mental torture of having no release date. It was abolished in 2012, however this was not done retrospectively leaving more then 5000 people in jail for a non existing law with no release date.
At 2pm the group gathered at the Aneirin Bevan statue on Queen Street. We were joined by friends and family members prisoners under the IPP sentence. We stayed at the statue for about an hour handing out leaflets and talking to the public about IPP sentences as it is not a very well known subject. We then marched down queen street with black flags and banners. Everyone, including children who were marching with us, took turns chanting Smash IPP, Set them Free and Our Passion for Freedom, is Stronger then their Prisons.
We arrived at the prison entrance where we were joined by others who were visiting loved ones in prison. We continued to chant things like Freedom for all, Tear Down the Walls. We then we went to the top floor of the a nearby car park where there was good visibility. We could see the prison cell and the the prisoners could see us. We hung banners, chanted and communicated with people in the prison. The friends, families and demonstrators kept were still chanting, Give them a Date, Set them Free, Smash IPP!. The prisoners themselves sent us signals of their support and asked us to return.
There will be more events like this in future. This group Smash IPP is a collective of Anarchists and anti-authoritarians as well as the loved ones of IPP prisoners. We have chosen to stand against IPP because it is one of the most blatant abuses by the state of the justice system in order to punish those it deems criminals, while some of the worst crimes of all are begin committed by the cops, judges and screws.
Solidarity to all persons in prison and those who’s lives are affected by the prison system, including all those in the racist detention centers of the UK. All in all, it was a successful demonstration, there was a good atmosphere and no police presence. More stuff coming up soon, to get involved e-mail smashipp@riseup.net