Tag Archives: Covid-19
Police fine BLM activists fighting for justice for Mohamud Hassan
Black Lives Matter (BLM) activist Bianca Ali has been fined £1,000 for being part of protests against the death of Mohamud Hassan, who died after detention by South Wales Police. Daily protests have taken place since the alleged beating of Mohamud by police last Friday (8 January).
He was released on Saturday morning (a week ago) and died later at home. He was covered in wounds and bruises family and friends say after he was beaten by police. His death has been met by spontaneous protests to demand justice.
The police who claim no excessive force was used against Mohamud in the police station, have refused to release any video footage from inside the station. The CCTV and body cam footage his reported to have been released to the IOPC investigators.
Bianca is not taking the state repression lying down: “They will never keep me quiet, I will always speak out against injustice.”
A gofundme page has been set up for Bianca to pay the fine. The response has been magnificent – £1,590 has been raised already.
At the time of writing £48,862 for the Justice4Mohamud campaign and all monies for Bianca’s fine above the £1,000 required will be sent to the campaign to get justice for Mohamud.
Please join BLMM in donating to the campaign – donate here
The protests outside the Butetown police station were not organised by BLM Cardiff, despite what the police claim.
BLM Cardiff said: “The police took two riot vans to Bianca’s house and were banging repeatedly on her door. Please tell us why, other than disgusting intimidation tactics, that was needed?”
“As we said before, we did not organise these protests – if anyone organised these protests, it’s the South Wales Police [because of their brutal racist violence]. “What did they expect people to do?”.
“The movement cannot be stopped.”
The Justice4Mohamud campaign is going from strength to strength. A solidarity protest was held in London which was also met with police repression and arrests.
I supposedly independent investigation is being conducted by the Independent Office Of Police Conduct, with south wales police describing Mahmoud’s death as “a tragedy”.
But South Wales police have a long history of racist policing which stretches back to the infamous Cardiff Three – in which three black men were framed for the murder of Lynette White, one of the most blatant miscarriages of justice ever seen in Wales – and beyond.
Sign the petition to demand justice for Mohamud:
Covid victim George Ziwa needs your support for African funeral
My name is Stephen Smith and sadly we lost our best friend Mr George Ziwa who was found totally decomposed in his flat in March.
Because of the Covid restrictions his body has only just been released by the coroner in High Wycombe, so we have only just set up his GoFundMe page so that his family in Uganda can give him the traditional African burial they have requested.
George Ziwa was a well known member of the Buckingham and Aylesbury community, he lived on the streets from 2012 until January 2019 when he moved into his flat.
Although George was responsible for the renovation of the local Red Cross Centre’s garden during 2017-2018 his lifestyle led to serious health complications.
George died on the 1 March 2020 and he was found at his home some weeks later.
I am appealing to everybody to help send George’s body home so his 80 year old mother can put him to rest under traditional African ceremony.
Please donate generously to the repatriation fund. Thank you:
More about George
George Ziwa was born on 28th June 1973 in Kampala, Uganda to Mrs Emma Namuli and the late George William Ziwa. He enjoyed a very close and dear relationship with his mother especially as he was her last born child. George went to school in Uganda and Kenya. He studied from S1 to S6 at Namilyango College, Uganda and he was a very active member of the Ngonian and the Namilyango College Old Boys Association (NACOBA). He later went to England where he studied Nursing at Luton and Dunstable Hospital with a specialisation in mental health. Upon qualifying, George worked at the Whiteleaf Mental Health Centre in Aylesbury as a State Registered Nurse. George lived in Buckinghamshire, England until his death.
George was a loving, caring and generous person and he was always eager to help. Whenever he went to Uganda on vacation, he often met the young homeless street-children to whom he bought food and drinks. George always carried his pink Bible which his sister Linda had offered to him and he fondly referred to himself as a soldier of Christ. He was part of the congregation at Buckingham Evangelical Church. In his youth, George had joined the Boys Scouts and he took great joy in all their activities while also treasuring the strong friendships that he built with his fellow scouts.
George passed away suddenly at the beginning of March 2020. He is survived by his two children, his mother and his siblings and he will be sadly missed by his family and numerous friends.
May his soul rest in peace.