By Gerry Downing

Ben Stimson: “I have human rights” which the British state have taken from him.

Ben has written to me twice and I ask you to read these letter and understand the brainwashing and ill treatment he is under. Because it is Britain and almost no one now wants to defend the Donbass in Britain, even those who initially did, Ben is thrown to the wolves. All sorts of excuses are used, he is not exactly PC on every aspect of his politics (much of the stuff is simply lying propaganda) so it is OK to treat him as less than human.

He needs a proper human rights campaign, nationally and internationally from those who understand what is happening in the Ukraine and oppose the fascist-infested Kiev regime.

And I mean contacting the prison governor, writing to MPs, letters to the press, seeking out sympathetic journalists who might at least defend his human rights in these circumstances. Remember the outrageous contempt for human rights the British state displayed in the conflict in the north of Ireland? Well Ben is of Irish Jewish parentage and now we see where all the the denial of human rights to Muslims and all that Islamophobia to deny them their human rights was going?

Now it is all being used to dub this principled anti-fascist fighter a “terrorist”

This is the latest letter to me from Ben, reproduced at the bottom of the post:

 Hi Gerry,

Thanks again for trying to get a letter or publication to me. It was stopped by HMP Manchester CTU as it could be very harmful to my rehabilitation.
He needs an national and international campaign to defend his human rights. “The security here have stopped my education, Rabbi visits, gym and visits, again these could be harmful to my rehabilitation or due to my charges as a remand prisoner.

I am on food refusal (since 4 February) as maybe food could be harmful to my rehabilitation?
I have human rights and Pro Democracy lawyer visiting me today so expect a legal challenge to your letters (being stopped, I presume – GD)

Thanks for your support

Ben

Ben from Oldham, is accused of two offences in violation of the British anti-terrorist legislation, Article 5 (1) (a) of the Anti-Terrorism Act 2006, which provides for criminal liability for participation in the preparation of terrorist acts, and Article 5 (1) (b) of the Act, which provides criminalize the promotion of a third party in the commission of terrorist acts.

He was interviewed by the BBC while he was with the Donbass militia in eastern Ukraine in October 2015, and was filmed saying he would be prepared to kill if his life was threatened, and he would see it as an act of war. Ben denied any involvement in military action, saying he had gone to the country to drive ambulances and at the time of the interview was trying to get away from the militia.

The case involves the conflict in east Ukraine where he went because he understood what was happening there and wanted to stop a fascist pogrom in east Ukraine. Of course, this is an intensely political case which requires all principles anti-imperialists to take a side.

The “legitimate government of Ukraine” was installed in a coup organised by the CIA and their allies, the NGOs funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), which is in turn funded by the US Congress to do its dirty work abroad. The coup was led by outright fascist thugs who proudly display the WWII fascist symbols of Nazi collaborators. In fact, “the legitimate government of Ukraine” is the only government in the world to honour as a national hero a Nazi collaborator, Stepan Bandera, who slaughtered thousands of Jews on his own behalf and for Hitler.

“Historian Karel Berkhoff, among others, has shown that Bandera, his deputies, and the Nazis shared a key obsession, namely the notion that the Jews in Ukraine were behind Communism and Stalinist imperialism and must be destroyed. “The Jews of the Soviet Union,” read a Banderist statement, “are the most loyal supporters of the Bolshevik Regime and the vanguard of Muscovite imperialism in the Ukraine.” When the Germans invaded the USSR in June 1941 and captured the East Galician capital of Lvov, Bandera’s lieutenants issued a declaration of independence in his name. They further promised to work closely with Hitler, then helped to launch a pogrom that killed four thousand Lvov Jews in a few days, using weapons ranging from guns to metal poles. “We will lay your heads at Hitler’s feet,” a Banderist pamphlet proclaimed to Ukrainian Jews.” [1]

The Ben Stimson campaign notified us on Facebook:

“Ben is on hunger strike from 8^th February, his visits are restricted and he is locked in his cell in solidarity confinement for 23 hours a day. Ben needs letters of support. Please do not mention anything political or ask about why he’s being held as he won’t get the letters. He is allowed books etc. but nothing political.”

I have written to him three times and he has replied twice, the prison authorities confiscated the letters and the magazines I sent, because he is not allowed any political communications whatsoever. This is an outrageous attack on his civil liberties. It is clear from his two letters that he is subjected to the most outrageous mental torture and pressure in an attempt to brainwash him and break his spirit. For instance, he says that my letter or publication to him was stopped because it could “harm my rehabilitation”. It is now a thought crime to oppose the work of the CIA abroad. Ben is of Irish Jewish parentage and, of course, the sight of Nazi and Nazi Collaborator flags waving proudly in the ranks of the “the legitimate government of Ukraine” was too much for this proud and principles anti-fascist man. The left and every principled anti-fascist should rally to his cause!

Note

[1] See History News Network, Who Was Stepan Bandera? by Norman J.W. Goda – http:// istorynewsnetwork.org/article/122778 ▲