Being a minor egomaniac, the attention you have been giving me has been very gratifying and I deeply appreciate it. However, I would hate this to overshadow the fact that I am merely one amongst thousands. Guilty of our crimes, we still struggle against a system which is fundamentally unjust and bereft of humanity - the very qualities we are accused of.
Today I received a letter from another prisoner which reminded me of the relative ease in which I live my daily life. He is in the High Security Estate, but rules prohibit my naming him. But like me, he has attempted to send out material for the web, only to have his mail stopped.
On the back of ‘intelligence’, he is then accused of bullying other prisoners. This obviously not being sufficient pressure, further ‘intelligence’ is used to make a claim that he is a man of some influence on the landings. Because of this, he has been placed in segregation indefinitely and now faces several years of those conditions.
The Prison Service loves ‘intelligence’, because we are unable to see sufficient detail to challenge it. It has none of the safeguards of formal disciplinary proceedings and no limits on the privations that can be inflicted in its name. There are essentially no barriers against its misuse, and it is regularly levelled against those who the system fears.
Don't take the spotlight off me. Broaden it and throw illumination on more people, more abuses. Remember, if you will, that I am but one of 85,000 and many others suffer more. Remember particularly this un-named prisoner and the struggles he faces for attempting to speak to the wider world.
