See posts here.
John Bowden, long time prison resister and anti-authoritarian. After a successful solidarity campaign John Bowden has now been moved. His current address is
John Bowden – 6729,
HMP Shotts
Cantrell Road
Shotts
Scotland
ML7 4LE
Info on HMP Shotts here.
Please send letters/cards expressing your support.
Since being in prision, John has been a vocal writer and critic of the system we all live under and with. Links to some of his writings/actions are below (apols if some old links dont work…). John is also published regularly in Inside Time, the ‘national newspaper for prisoners’. You can access his articles since early 2008 by using their ‘search facility‘, just type in ‘Bowden’ as the keyword. Finally, you can search for news about John, and articles by him, on UK Indymedia by using their search facility too!
Thoughts on prisoner solidarity (2010, download as pdf here Thoughts on prisoner solidarity) includes a new short piece on what John sees as the role of prisoner support groups, along with a reprint of his 2009 article ‘solidarity without prejudice’.
Solidarity Without Prejudice (2009, http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/01/417462.html)
John asks what criteria could be used when supporting prisoners
Return to Resistance (2008, on UK Indymedia)
John asks the urgent question: “Why then has the militancy that seemed to characterize the behavior of long-term prisoners, especially, towards the prison system been replaced by conformity and submission?”
When Is a Prison Reformer Not a Prison Reformer? (on Indymedia.org.uk)
“The Prisoners’ Handbook describes its editors as having ‘taken a journey from the strip cells and punishment blocks of prisons to the point today where he meets every six weeks with the Home Secretary and Director General of Prisons to discuss policy’.”
Lincoln Prison Uprising 2003 (on revolutionarycommunistgroup.com)
“On 23 October Lincoln prison exploded into an open rebellion that raged for eight hours, three hours of which saw most of the gaol in the hands of the prisoner insurgents.”
Perth Prisoners Strike (on London Class Struggle Gridlock Website)
‘I sense that thinhgs here are moving towards serious and sustained confrontation.’
UK Prisoners call for Solidarity Action with Turkish Hunger Strikers (with Mark Barsley/on ABC Gent)
‘Spread the word. Support the protest. The fightback starts here.’
Prisoner Sues for Violence at HMP Long Lartin (on Miscarriages of Justice UK)
‘He was physically assaulted by about five screws, placed in ‘locks’ and dragged to a sensory deprivation special cell where he was beaten again and left for 24 hours.’
Support Turkish Prisoners! (on Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism!)
‘It isn’t going to be easy organising an effective fightback in prison: a lot of ground has been seized by the system and it will resist with all its might any attempt to alter the balance of power.’
Her Majesty’s Profit (with Mark Barsley/on SchNews)
‘We are currently seeing the growing exploitation of prisoners’ labour by private companies and by the state… compulsory work is nothing less than slavery.’