MediaWatch about institutional racism in Polish media spreading race prejudices
MediaWatch Polska | 23.01.2007 16:18 | Anti-racism | World
Any reaction welcomed to solve this controversial problem! Please react, we are too weak to do anything alone!
MediaWatch Polska would like to observe, that in case of Simon Moleke Njie from Cameroon, who was publicly accused of deliberately spreading the AIDS disease among woman having an intercourse with him, all known media ethic rules were broken. The whole story was used in a racist way, as the verdict was given both by the authorities and the media before any trial was conducted. MediaWatch has to declare the existence of institutional racism in Polish media sector. The whole issue was presented in a way that led the media audience to believe that the African black person deliberately spread the disease. Media had no doubt of whom to blame for the disease.
The whole matter is a highly controversial one. There exist however traces showing that the accused person, a poet from Kenya, showed quite humanitarian to other human beings, and even obtained a yearly prize in 2003 for fighting against fascism.
Given the racial hostility in Poland, it is highly probable, that the person, who was accused of deliberate spread of this disease, could have been a victim of institutional racism. Even the person currently accused by Polish media, Simon Moleke Njie, was a victim of institutional racism earlier in his life in Poland. In 2001 he and another black foreigner were attacked on the bus-stop in Warsaw. They had to escape, and took a cab to get to the nearby police station. The policemen standing in front of the station laughed seeing wounds on the head of Cameroonian person, demanded a passport and refused to take any action against the offenders located not more that 200 hundred meters from their office.
In our point of view the whole issue seem to be based on racial prejudices. We doubt that a person who was member of British Pen Club and was earlier honored by the “Nigdy Więcej” Society for her high moral standards, could have been able to commit deliberately such an offence. We have not however analysed the literary works of the accused person, but given her occupation (a poet) we have serious doubts whether a person having such an occupation could have been able to perform such acts.
As our organization is unable to exercise any power in Polish media market due to the fact that the freedom of voice there is only theoretical and our we ask You to perform steps to explain this issue and research whether there exists a case of institutional racism in Polish media market.
Yours faithfully,
Ras Fufu, MediaWatch Polska cooperator
more on this case in Polish media:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=pl&q=Simon+Moleke+Njie&btnG=Szukaj
The whole matter is a highly controversial one. There exist however traces showing that the accused person, a poet from Kenya, showed quite humanitarian to other human beings, and even obtained a yearly prize in 2003 for fighting against fascism.
Given the racial hostility in Poland, it is highly probable, that the person, who was accused of deliberate spread of this disease, could have been a victim of institutional racism. Even the person currently accused by Polish media, Simon Moleke Njie, was a victim of institutional racism earlier in his life in Poland. In 2001 he and another black foreigner were attacked on the bus-stop in Warsaw. They had to escape, and took a cab to get to the nearby police station. The policemen standing in front of the station laughed seeing wounds on the head of Cameroonian person, demanded a passport and refused to take any action against the offenders located not more that 200 hundred meters from their office.
In our point of view the whole issue seem to be based on racial prejudices. We doubt that a person who was member of British Pen Club and was earlier honored by the “Nigdy Więcej” Society for her high moral standards, could have been able to commit deliberately such an offence. We have not however analysed the literary works of the accused person, but given her occupation (a poet) we have serious doubts whether a person having such an occupation could have been able to perform such acts.
As our organization is unable to exercise any power in Polish media market due to the fact that the freedom of voice there is only theoretical and our we ask You to perform steps to explain this issue and research whether there exists a case of institutional racism in Polish media market.
Yours faithfully,
Ras Fufu, MediaWatch Polska cooperator
more on this case in Polish media:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=pl&q=Simon+Moleke+Njie&btnG=Szukaj
MediaWatch Polska
Comments
Hide the following 3 comments
some
23.01.2007 16:55
..
Whitehouse
24.01.2007 12:47
dp
trial by internet
24.01.2007 13:06
He is a good poet though.
BOGINI POLSKA
The grief of a goddess, once
trailed a falling Star...
Two tear drops
travelled miles across snow–white cheeks,
through apple–red lips, to merge with the
time she whispered a promise.
The story of Africa, was
told in her diamond –black eyes...
travelling with her through space, like
the falling Star.
Then – when the moon made way for her beauty
to light the night,
the pilgrimage of two tear drops from her left eye, buried all
the ills, and healed
the wounds inflicted on me, and others like me... by her kind.
The whispers, secrets, and conspiracies
tumbled before
the rising sun, sporting flakes, rain and hail, calling Bogini! as
these wrestled
through scintillating white blinds, like
the wind, to set aflame thousands of golden –diamond strands of hair.
They took turns to catch a glimpse of her vivifying presence, as she lay
teasingly there... coiled like a cat, and setting ablaze my looooong... forgotten passions.
This Dream, O! Bogini Polska... should have last forever!
Still being a good poet doesn't make you a good person and if he really did infect women with HIV then he has a case to answer. Wikipedia seems quite damning of him:
Simon Mol (November 6, 1973 in Buea, Cameroon) is pen name of Simon Moleke Njie, an Cameroonian journalist, writer and political activist.
Njie was born in English speaking family and started his career as a journalist in the weekly newspaper "The Sketch", targeted on the English speaking minority in Cameroon. He also collaborated with other magazines and local radio station. In 1996 Mol was arrested for short time because of his plan to publish information about a government corruption scandal. Later he fled the country and attempted to obtain asylum in several African countries. In 1997 he was granted asylum in Ghana where he worked as a journalist. Because of his political activism Mol was arrested in Accra in September 1998, spent almost two months in detention and was forbidden to work as a journalist. In June 1999 he arrived into Poland as a member of Ghanaian PEN Club delegation on a PENs annual congress in Warsaw. Immediatelly, Mol applied for the asylum which was granted in September 2000.
In Poland Mol briefly worked at the Polish ministry of Foreign Affairs and for most of the time as a freelance journalist for an English written magazine. He also wrote poems, founded a small theater Migrator Theatre [1] and engaged in political activism for the rights of the refugees, anti-racism, anti-fascism and ecological activism.
On January 5, 2006 Njie was taken into custody by the Polish police and charged with consciously infecting women with HIV. According to newspaper Rzeczpospolita he was identified with HIV back in 1999 while living in a refugee shelter but the Polish law was unable to force a HIV holder to reveal the disease to his partners or to order a treatment. When living in Poland Mol allegedly persuaded women to have unprotected sex with him by arguing that using a condom with a black man is a sign of racism and racist fears; that it is politically incorrect.
As of early January 2007 four women were positively identified with the HIV virus, 18 are waiting for the results of the tests. Several women had informed Mol prior that they have contracted HIV from him but he ignored it. Before Christmas 2006 rumors of Mol's infection had started to spread over the internet, he explicitly refused it in a public letter. After the arrest Mol had denied any knowledge of being HIV holder and accused the police of racism.
dp