John Bowden should need no introduction to regular readers of CW, his articles and news of his situation have appeared here regularly, and for many years. John received a Life sentence in 1980 and quickly developed into a prison militant, being at the forefront of the British prison struggle for more than 25 years, and regularly paying the price for his resistance through victimisation, segregation, and naked brutality from the system. In his book Tear Down The Walls! (published by Leeds ABC) he talks of his early years behind bars:

“I’d always possessed a certain degree of class consciousness, always identified with and felt part of a poor underclass. I’d always felt an instinctive hatred of the rich and powerful, and believed in a vague concept of class struggle and revolution. In prison for life, I was now able to intellectually develop and grow, and in a strange sort of way, discover a freedom of heart and mind that I’d never before known. Within two years of my imprisonment for life I had metamorphosed into a committed revolutionary dedicated to fighting the prison system, making whatever contribution I was able to the wider struggle beyond prison.”

Because of John’s spirited resistance to repression, and the way he was able to articulate opposition through his writing, he has been kept in high security conditions (and often held in segregation) throughout his quarter of a Century behind bars. Nonetheless, following a transfer to Scotland a few years ago, he was eventually moved to open conditions and was being prepared for release. As part of that process John spent two years working as a volunteer in the community, working with the mentally ill and socially vulnerable. He qualified as a literacy tutor for people with learning difficulties, and for almost a year he was allowed frequent home leaves.

Despite his looming release, pending a hearing by the parole board, John continued to challenge injustice wherever and whenever he encountered it, and continued to churn out articles condemning prison and critical of the Scottish Prison Service. Since he remains unbroken, the system had not finished with him, it would attempt to make an example of John Bowden, and to keep him locked up.

As lifers approach final parole hearings, various reports are compiled upon them. Few are more important and influential than those written by social workers. John’s original social worker was considered to be too reasonable by the administration at Castle Huntly open prison, and so they brought in a replacement. The individual hand-picked for the job was Matthew Stillman, a right-wing American with entrenched ideas about the punitive role of prisons. John takes up the story:

“During two brief interviews he attempted to interrogate me about my political views and philosophy, and focused his questions almost entirely on my contact and relationship with prisoner support groups on the outside. He seemed particularly interested in my contact with the Anarchist Black Cross movement and claimed to have researched their website and read articles of mine featured on it. In Stillman's limited right-wing imagination he associated anarchism with violence and terrorism, and despite what he had actually seen and read to the contrary on the ABC website, he decided to write the following critically damning remarks in his report on me to the parole board: 'Bowden has written for a self-proclaimed anarchist website called Brighton ABC and he says he supports many of their ideas and actions. A review of this website brings into question the nature of the group. The members of this group appear to be primarily eco-terrorists or paramilitary members involved in what they see as battles against political systems and principles.’ He then adds: 'Whilst at Edinburgh prison it was reported that Bowden had received a visit from terrorists.' This refers to two members of Brighton ABC who had visited me at Edinburgh jail, neither of whom had a criminal conviction between them.

“As Stillman was well aware, particularly as an American with firm right-wing opinions, levelling the accusation of 'terrorist' sympathies and associations against me in the current political climate would effectively terminate any possibility of the parole board agreeing to my release. And of course those who invited Stillman to write his report on me knew only too well that the opinions of an apparently unbiased and neutral professional would be given infinitely more weight by the parole board than those offered by conceivably prejudiced prison staff.”

In light of Stillman’s allegations about the ABC, and the attempts to keep John Bowden behind bars, a campaign was quickly initiated by Leeds ABC. It was vitally important to challenge the ‘terrorist’ smear, to defend John, and to prevent the attempt by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to effectively prevent contact between politicised prisoners and prisoner support organisations through a process of intimidation. The SPS responded by placing John in segregation (something he had expected at any time anyway), and by ‘ghosting’ him to Glenochil high security prison. Clearly, they thought they could bury John and withstand the campaign. They were proved wrong on both counts.

Far from being lost in the system, John began to receive cards and letters by the fistload. The news of what was happening to him spread worldwide, and the SPS, the authorities at HMP Glenochil, the Parole Board, and even Stillman himself began to receive what would eventually amount to thousands of cards, letters, e-mails, faxes, and phonecalls. Meanwhile John continued to fight back, not giving an inch to his tormentors and refusing to cooperate with them.

On May 25th a Day of International Solidarity was held in support of John and in defence of the ABC. Supporters from all over Britain travelled to Edinburgh to picket the Scottish parliament, while around the world, from Japan to the USA, supporters picketed British consulates and embassies, organised phone and fax blockades, and held info meetings and mass card signings. A large pile of ‘Hands Off John Bowden!’ cards was hand-delivered to SPS headquarters, which closed early for the day, and the volume of phonecalls to Glenochil forced them to set up a special system to deal with them.

As the momentum of the campaign began to gather pace, nothing of its like had ever been seen before or envisaged by the SPS, and this was reflected in their treatment of John at Glenochil, which became far less confrontational than it had been – Particularly as no other jail in Scotland would now take him, even Perth maximum security prison refused his transfer there! Governors and SPS officials were pulling their hair out trying to find ways to extricate themselves from the situation with some dignity intact, and it wasn’t long before Matthew Stillman’s name was mud.

On June 8th a picket of the Parole Board in London was held, while less formal support actions were happening all the time. SPS HQ continued to be flooded with hundreds of ‘Hands Off John Bowden!’ postcards.

The 13th of July saw the 2nd International Day of Solidarity, with even more actions taking place in support of John. In Scotland, supporters picketed SPS HQ, while there were banner drops in Leeds and elsewhere, as well as organised phone/fax blockades, embassy pickets, solidarity meetings, and in London another picket of the Parole Board (some reports from the day can be found at www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/07/375952.html)

Because of the campaign, and John’s constant challenge to them, Stillman’s spurious ‘terrorist’ allegations had been discredited, and it was not long before an embarrassed SPS began to backtrack, eventually refuting Stillman’s lies completely. With numerous complaints against him, the career of this right-wing stooge lies in tatters. Bizarrely, throughout all of this, while being held in high security conditions, John has remained a low security prisoner, and no proper reasons have ever been forthcoming for his removal from Castle Huntly.

As we go to press, John remains at Glenochil, but has been told he will be transferred back to open conditions soon. His parole hearing has been put back 6 months to December. Worringly, news is beginning to come in of an attempt by the SPS to ‘gag’ John, another dirty trick that will not succeed. The struggle will continue until John Bowden is free.

Unfortunately, while waging the campaign, John’s supporters have not only had to concede with dirty tricks from the State, but fight a rear-guard action against a tiny, but vocal element, calling themselves anarchists, and infesting various internet forums – most notably Libcom. Here cowards of the lowest type, hiding behind a veneer of anonymity, attempted to smear both John Bowden and the ABC, and undermine support for the campaign. These attacks on an established and long-standing prison resister, currently under attack by the State, are beneath contempt.

Final word to John: ““For having stood up to and resisted unlawful and inhuman treatment in prison, and retained some basic human integrity and humanity in the process, I probably shall now remain imprisoned far beyond what even a reactionary judge deemed an appropriate period of time all those years ago. Hell will freeze over, however, before I surrender that part of myself that had the courage and integrity to fight back and resist when resistance often seemed futile.”

To find out about John’s latest situation and what you can do to help please see the Friends of John Bowden website at www.myspace.com/friendsofjohnbowden

Leeds ABC also send out regular updates by e-mail. You can subscribe by contacting Leeds ABC at  leedsabc@riseup.com

John’s pamphlet Tear Down The Walls! is available, price £2 plus 50p UK postage from Leeds ABC, PO Box 53, Leeds, LS8 4WP.