[NuovoLab] Nessuno parlerà di Jean Charles de Menezes...

Dovremmo ricordarci di Jean Charles de Menezes. Un ragazzo assassinato
brutalmente da agenti della polizia di Londra con sette colpi di pistola alla
testa la mattina del 22 luglio 2005. Raggiunto dagli agenti e freddato subito
dopo essere salito sulla metropolitana nella stazione di Stockwell.

Una storia lontana, non ricordata, non discussa dai media perche forse non era
un politico, non era un simbolo, non contrastava nessuno, non dimostrava il
proprio disprezzo contro nessuno. Era semplicemente un ragazzo brasiliano della
working class londinese con la pelle forse troppo scura e uno zaino troppo
pesante da portare.
Sette colpi. Gli agenti sono assolti perche "non ci sono prove sufficienti".
Liberi tutti, promossi.
Sembra di sentire storie già raccontate.

Chiaramente ritornerà poco il nome di Menezes nelle nostre tavole rotonde sul G8
ma ritengo ugualmente questa terribile storia molto vicina perche
vissuta personalmente con il cuore in gola inseguendo le notizie in rete.

Come alcuni sapranno all'epoca ero già dalla parte opposta del mondo ma sentivo
che Londra era dietro l'angolo e Genova era ancora la mia vecchia città ferita.
Inseguivo le notizie con internet, respiravo le vie di Londra dalla mia
postazione di Tokyo passando mentalmente per Genova.
Forse ho vissuto l'esecuzione di Menezes come ho vissuto il G8 genovese perche
sono solo due facce della stessa medaglia.

La famiglia di Jean Charles de Menezes chiede solo giustizia e verità (sembra di
sentire storie già raccontate) ed ora si organizzano per l'anniversario della
sua morte.

Almeno noi cerchiamo di non dimenticare...

Edoardo Magnone


______________________________________


To mark the one year anniversary of Jean's killing the Menezes family will be
visiting Stockwell station at 10am, the time he was killed, and welcome members
of the public joining them in tribute to the death of an innocent man.

In the afternoon the Jean Charles de Menezes family campaign in conjunction with
the justice for the Kalam family & justice for the Dogra family campaigns
present:

FROM STOCKWELL TO FOREST GATE -
IS JUSTICE POSSIBLE IN THE WAR ON TERROR?

On 22nd July 2005, Jean Charles de Menezes, a innocent young Brazilian man was
shot dead by police at Stockwell tube station. On 2nd June 2006 Mohammed
AbdulKahar was shot in a near fatal attack by police. His family (the Kalams)
and his neighbours (the Dhogras) were subject to brutal assaults during the
mistaken 'anti-terror' raids in Forest Gate. To mark the one year anniversary
of Jeans death - this unique platform of the three families together with
leading civil liberty figures ask: is justice possible in the war on terror?

SATURDAY 22ND JULY 2006
2.3OPM - 5.00PM
FRIENDS MEETING HOUSE, EUSTON ROAD, LONDON
(nearest tube Euston/Kings Cross)

SPEAKERS:

PARTICIA DA SILVA ARMANI & ALEX PEREIRA (Cousins of Jean Charles de Menezes)
MOHAMMED ABDULKAHAR & ABUL KOYAIR (Kalam Family - Forest Gate)
INAYAT DHOGRA (Dhogra Family - Forest Gate)
HAROLD PINTER (Nobel Laureate)
GARETH PEIRCE (leading civil liberties lawyer and lawyer for the families)
MIKE MANSFIELD QC (Bloody Sunday Inquiry)
BIANCA JAGGER (International human rights activist)
LORD STEYN (Chair of Justice) invited
Chair : ASAD REHMAN (Newham Monitoring Project)

(NOTE: The meeting will start with a minutes silence in conjunction with the
memorial service taking place in Gonzaga, Brazil at the marking the moment that
Jean was killed)

Phone:
0776 570 632

Email: justice4jean@???

Post:
Jean Charles de Menezes Family Campaign,
PO Box 273
London E7

___________________________________


What happened on the 22nd July 2005

At approximately 9.20am on the 22nd July 2005, Jean Charles de Menezes left his
flat in Tulse Hill and began his commute to work. It was a normal day of work
for him, Jean was an electrician and that day, him and his friend Gesio had a
job in North West London. It was a warm sunny summer’s day in London and Jean
left home wearing his favourite type of relaxed clothes; some lightweight
jeans, a t-shirt and a denim jacket. He did not carry a bag with him. He walked
from his flat to the bus top nearby and caught a bus towards Brixton. When he
arrived in Brixton however, he realised that the Victoria line was not working
on that day so he called his friend Gesio and explained that he was running
late and would instead travel to Stockwell and get the Northern line from
there. Jean then proceeded to get on a bus from Brixton to Stockwell. He
disembarked from the bus opposite Stockwell tube and waited at the traffic
lights to cross the road. With the lights on green, he crossed over and entered
Stockwell metro station. He paused to pick up a copy of the free newspaper, the
metro, from a stand and walked through to the ticket barriers where he used his
electronic Oyster ticket card to walk through the barriers. He then proceeded to
take the escalator down towards the platform of the Northern line.

Having walked off the escalators, Jean sees and hears a tube arrive at the
platform. Jean jogged onto the platform and entered the tube carriage. He saw
an empty seat, sat down and takes out his paper.
At this point an undercover plain clothed police officer standing in the tube
carriage identifies Jean to nearby (similarly plain clothed) officers. The
officers jump onto the tube carriage, grab Jean, drag him out of his chair.
They push him onto the ground. They hold him down. And they shoot him 7 times
in the head, killing him instantly.
Jean’s family were not informed about his killing until over 24hours after it
happened despite the officers on the scene finding Jean’s wallet with his
Brazilian driving license inside it.

The metropolitan police immediately began briefing the press with ‘off the
record’ statements saying that Jean was a terrorist, that he was ac ting
suspiciously, that he was wearing a bulky coat and that he was challenged but
refused to co-operate. All of these statements have turned out to be false.

Normally when there has been a killing at the hands of the police an immediate
investigation is began by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC)
however, one hour after Jean was killed, the head of the Metropolitan Police,
Sir Iain Blair wrote a letter to the Home Office asking for the immediate
suspension of any investigation by the IPCC. He ordered his officers to close
Stockwell tube to any investigations. As a result it was 6 days before the IPCC
could begin their investigations. The family campaign believe this to be 6 days
too late as during this time vital evidence could have been tampered with or
destroyed.

5 hours after Jean was killed Sir Iain Blair appeared on national television
stating that the ‘incident’ at Stockwell tube was related to the anti-terrorism
operations and that Jean was challenged. He claims he was not told until the
next day that Jean had been an innocent man but the family do not believe this
can be true. How can it be that an innocent man is killed in the most violent
way and the head of the police force is not told about it until the next day?
The family believe that the actions of police officers and of Sir Iain Blair
constitute an attempted ‘cover up’. The disappearance of the CCTV from
Stockwell tube, the attempt to block the IPCC for starting their investigation,
the tampering of the police records on the day, the police briefings suggesting
Jean was acting suspiciously all suggest that the police knew they had made an
error.