A 36-year-old Nigerian man was shot to death by a cop known to have violent, racist inclinations.
On Sunday May 23, police raided some Nigerian traders at the Stadium bazaar in the Praga district of Warsaw. One guy was apparently handcuffed and push to the ground. His 36-year-old colleague from Nigeria, Max, tried to intervene and get the police to stop brutalizing the other. Max was shot in the stomach and killed.
There immediately started to be problems with police, who tried then to chase and round up the rest of the panicked African traders, mostly from Nigeria. When more police arrived, some riot started. People were throwing stones and bricks at the police and 4 police vans were destroyed. 32 people were arrested. The police want to charge 25 of them for assault.
The police immediately sent their spokesperson to invent a good story for the media: that police were "surrounded and attacked" by a gang of agressive Africans, so they had to shoot Max. The official media version was racist and uncritical of the police.
We later heard from eye witnesses and are still getting more testimonies and evidence.
ZSP released a statement and called for an emergency action the next day. During the day, the TV interviewed Max's wife, Monika, and Akai from ZSP, finally letting another version of events into the media.
Max had been in Poland legally for many years. He was married to Monika, a Polish woman, with whom he has three children, aged 10, 4 and 2. He was selling goods at the stadium as a second job to supplement his poor income and help support his family.
In the evening, people gathered at the site of the murder. Some speeches were made and then there was a spontaneous demonstration to the police station were people are being held. The protestors took over the main street in Praga and marched to the station. There, a group of Max's friends came and told people about what happened.
25 of the 32 arrested will be charged with assaulting a police office, which faces up to 10 years in prison.
Comments
Some photos are
Some photos are here:
http://zspwawa.blogspot.com/2010/05/police-murder-riots-and-protest-against.html
Tomorrow we should have some videos (in English) uploaded.
If anybody is interested in sending a nasty fax to the police, it would be nice.
Komenda Rejonowa Policji Warszawa VII
04-007 Warszawa, ul. Grenadierów 73/75
tel.: 022 603 76 55, fax.: 022 603 75 44
We demand the immediate release of the people detained on May 23 at the Stadium during the police riot. They are guilty of nothing - the police are the agressors and murderers. We also demand that the constant harrassments of immigrants trying to make a living stop.
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Emails can be sent to
Komenda Stołeczna Policji
[email protected] .
This is the video where Max's
This is the video where Max's colleagues speak at the demo in front of the police station: (in English)
http://cia.bzzz.net/wypowiedzi_imigrantow_na_pikiecie_przeciw_policyjnemu_mordowi
Quick update: solidarity
Quick update: solidarity action has forced police to release everybody just now, however they are still being charged with assaulting the police and have to report into the police until the trial.
Video taken immediately after
Video taken immediately after the shooting.
http://cia.bzzz.net/wideo_smierci_na_stadione_video_of_death_at_the_stadium
Thanks Akai
Thanks Akai
There is a solidarity page up
There is a solidarity page up (English and Polish) and if you would like to send a small donation to Max's family, it would be appreciated.
www.solidarnizmaksem.bzzz.net
Please note, it went up rather quickly last night and the comrade forgot to put the full bank account address for foreign transfers, but this should be up today.
Still demonstrating and
Still demonstrating and fighting! A few hundred turned up today to protest against racism and police brutality. Here is an article with videos, photos and links to stuff from mainstream TV and newspaper:
http://cia.bzzz.net/demonstration_against_racism_and_police_brutality
Text of the leaflet given out:
http://cia.bzzz.net/text_of_the_leaflet_on_demo_against_racist_murder_by_police