- Target:
- The Secretary of State for Justice
- Region:
- United Kingdom
- Website:
- www.facebook.com
On 07/07/2011, York based student Francis Fernie was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment.
Francis was involved in the anti-cuts protests that took place on March 26th in London.
When police attacked the crowd outside Fortnum and Mason, Francis was hit repeatedly (including over the head) by police batons.
In a moment of 'hot headedness', Francis threw two placard sticks towards a crowd of heavily armoured police officers.
It has not been proven that he hurt anybody.
Frank is a hard working student, with no previous offences, a solid background in voluntary and community work and to everyone that knows him, he is a brother.
Frank should not be in prison.
It is easy to see that Frank's sentence is disproportionate to the crimes that he has commited and his background is one of lifelong kindness.
The full story as reported by York's Press can be found on at the following link:
http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/9128855.Talented_student_jailed_over_riot/
We, the undersigned, call on the Secretary of State for Justice to:
1) Arrange for Francis Fernie's sentence to be quashed in recognition of his previous good record, the provocation he received from the police and the judge's stated decision to punish him for the actions of the whole crowd.
2) End the use of political sentencing, especially for young people involved in political protest.
You can further help this campaign by sponsoring it
The Free Francis Fernie petition to The Secretary of State for Justice was written by Joseph and is in the category Human Rights at GoPetition.