Dont't forget: Oury Jalloh was burned in a Police Jail Cell!

Oury Jalloh: Murder in a Police Jail Cell

Can a person burn himself to death while tied at his hands and feet?
How is it possible that a person in a so-called security area of a jail cell burns alive and the causes as to his death remain unclear for over a year?

Why did the responsible police officer turn off the acoustic surveillance?

Why did Oury Jalloh supposedly have a lighter in his pocket, when according to the police officers who carried out the body search it would have been impossible not to have found a lighter? Why did the lighter first appear in the inventory of items found in the cell only days later?

Is it really possible that the death screams of a person engulfed in flames CANNOT be heard and the smoke emanating from the cell IS NOT noticeable? Especially in a police station, where absolute control is the norm?

On the 7th of January, 2005, Oury Jalloh was murdered in a police cell: Over one year later and there are still no court proceedings!


IT WAS NOT SUICIDE

Oury Jalloh, a 21 year-old refugee from Sierra Leone died on the 7th of January, 2005, in a police station in Dessau, tied with handcuffs to a fire-proof mattress at his hands and feet. Cause of death: heat shock. The official version: The victim set fire to the mattress with a lighter, caused the mattress to burn thus burning himself. Suicide? Over one year ago this version provoked a lot of doubts. Since then they have only increased and become more serious.

According to the investigators, the fire broke out in the cell around midday. The fire alarm went off on two occasions. Noises and cries of help coming from the acoustically controlled cell were registered but ignored.

Supposedly, the supervising police officer turned off the sound of the acoustic system shortly before twelve because he could not understand a telephone conversation. Only when the air-control alarm went off did he go down into the basement where the cell was located. Too late. Oury Jalloh was lying on a burning mattress, his body practically charcoaled. The remains of a lighter were only found in later “investigations.”

WHEREAS THE INVESTIGATIONS ARE SOLELY FOCUSING ON THE POSSIBILITY OF SUICIDE, THE EVENTS REMAIN UNCLEAN AND THE SUSPECTS REMAIN FREE TO THIS DAY AND CONTINUE WITH THEIR WORK

13 months following the death of Oury Jalloh there is still no clarity neither as to the circumstances of his death nor who is responsible for it. In spite of massive and publicly known irregularities and contradictions no legal proceedings seem likely. The responsible police and doctor continue their work. In spite of the fact that the State Prosecutor of Dessau has made formal accusations of negligent homicide and bodily harm with fatal consequences, new excuses are nevertheless found to close the case—to the point of absurdity. Now it is said that the formal complaints lodged by the lawyers in the name of the family are invalid due to the fact that there is not enough evidence to prove whether or not the family of Oury Jalloh is truly his family.

Although the press, on several occasions, reported on the racist background in relation to the unclear circumstances of the death of Oury Jalloh and a few initiatives have demanded a complete clarification of the contradictions, the court is until today blocking legal proceedings.

It is common to speak about the racism of nazis on the streets, yet as usual there is silence regarding the racism within state institutions.

Taken from the protocol of a conversation between one of the police officers and the medical doctor involved in the death of Oury Jalloh:

Police Officer: Can you prick a black African?
Doctor: Oh, Shit. I never find any veins by those dark-skinned people.
Police Office: [laughing] Well, just bring along a special needle!
From a second protocol between two police officers:
Police Officer 1: Did he hang himself or what?
Police Officer 2: No, it’s burning down there.
Police Officer 1: How’s that?
Police Officer 2: I have no idea. They went down and it was full of black smoke.
Police Officer 1: Yeah, I almost said good. O.K. Have a good weekend. Ciao, ciao.

Now, Mouctar Bah, the person who has most engaged himself for truth and justice in the case of the murder of Oury Jalloh, is being criminalized and persecuted. On the 7th of February, the local authorities closed Mouctar’s Telecafé—out of “public interest.” The accusation: Mouctar allows people who sell drugs into his store. The Telecafé was the basis of Mouctar’s financial existence and the meeting place for the Initiative in Memory of Oury Jalloh.

We are of the opinion that hidden behind these measures are state attempts to create fear and punish those who fight for the truth and call this what it was—murder.

Throughout Europe, the reality of refugees and migrants is becoming more and more dramatic each day. Increased persecution and criminalization characterized the daily experience of non-Europeans in the form of more violence, more police controls, more deportations. In this way, the already existing hate and exclusion of the host countries is strengthened.

There is a serious need to create sufficient pressure NOW so that there will at least be a hearing.

STOP THE IMPUNITY OF THOSE RESPONSIBLE AND THE CRIMINALIZATION OF INNOCENT PEOPLE!

WE DEMAND:

• TRUTH, JUSTICE, COMPENSATION!!!
  
• AGAINST RACISM AND STATE VIOENCE
  
• The grass cannot hide all the truths
  
• STOP POLICE TERROR AGAINST REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS!
  
• BREAK THE SILENCE!