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Episode 26: Conversation with Siyanda - miscarriage of justice
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In today’s episode, one of the founders of The View, Farah Damji, speaks with Siyanda, who was released from prison recently, about her experiences inside, what she learned and what kept her going. A few weeks ago we brought you an important podcast with Camilla, Siyanda's mother and the force behind the Free Siyanda campaign. Camilla believes her 22 year old daughter who was vulnerable and disabled was let down and has suffered a miscarriage of justice.
She was sent to prison for 4 years and 6 months. Her attackers walked free although Siyanda called the police and was clearly the victim of a racially motivated violent attack. We explore Siyanda's experience inside prison, what she learned, and what kept her going. Siyanda's wrongful incarceration led to the beginning of the Free Siyanda campaign, from which she got a lot of support. After two years and three months, she has faith that this was not the end for her. The unfair sentence has caused a rift between her and the administration of justice.
She says "There's a miscarriage of justice because I'm a Black woman."
As a Black woman, the judge considered Siyanda a criminal and a threat to the public even though she believes he knew she was not guilty. She felt that the judge had to make some negative comments. While in prison, she did not get any support for her disability; her mum had to send her medication to ease her pain. The situation also caused her trauma leading to Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy in prison when she finally hit rock bottom.
Siyanda hopes that with the help of the campaign, she can free herself from the wrongful conviction and help other people in the same situation she was in. Since different organisations could not help black people, especially women who find themselves in prison or in the wider justice system, Siyanda and her legal team took her case to the Court of Appeal and the judge accepted their witness statement as fresh evidence.
Amplifying the Free Siyanda campaign will help raise awareness in the community, especially for black people who are racially abused in Wales. There should be a mass movement with people who have been abused to come out and tell their stories.
Siyanda believes that the justice system should change, and women being sent to prison for the crimes of men should not be incarcerated.
"For anyone who is not white, your life is irrelevant to them," she says.
The judge said she had been through so much, after looking at her pre-sentencing report, and she had overcome so much, and there was no reason she could not overcome prison.
This is an appalling attitude for a judge to take which is literally, "It sounds like you have been abused before; let me abuse you some more."
With the justice system clearly favouring white people, Siyanda said she felt that her life was not as important as a lighter skinned or white person's life.
For #FreeSiyanda: http://freesiyanda.com/
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