BY TONY HUNT AND SHELLIA KENNEDY
LONDON - "Right from the start on the night our boy was murdered, it seemed that in their minds he was only a Black boy -why bother? The evidence is clear by the action they took or didn't take." This was how Doreen Lawrence described the response of London police to the racist killing of her son in 1993. Her comments came in a statement read February 13 at the end of the inquest into his murder.

The statement and Lawrence's remarks at the inquest itself blamed the police for the fact that, four years later, the racist gang who killed her son is still walking the streets. That fact and the killing itself have provoked widespread outrage among working people. This has been exploited by the right-wing Daily Mail to deflect criticism from the police and probe an assault on the presumption of innocence and broader democratic rights.

Stephen Lawrence, an 18-year-old student, was waiting for a bus in April 1993 when he and a friend were attacked by thugs shouting, "What nigger?" They stabbed Lawrence to death.

The police began their investigation by treating the dead youth, who had no criminal record, "as a criminal belonging to a gang," said his mother.

The inquest jury returned a verdict of "unlawful killing in a completely unprovoked racist attack by five white youths." The youths in question, who refused to answer any questions at the inquest where they were summoned to appear, were originally charged with the murder in 1993. At that time, the charges were dropped. A private criminal prosecution was then launched by the Lawrence family, which led to three of the five standing trial in 1995. That trial was ended by the judge in April 1996. He ruled that identification evidence by Stephen Lawrence's friend was inadmissible. The jury acquitted the accused.

The Lawrence family are now reported to be considering legal action against the youths who were acquitted and lodging a formal complaint with the Police Complaints Authority against the officers who led the murder investigation at the time.

`Daily Mail' calls for double jeopardy
On February 14, the right-wing, Daily Mail, which had barely covered the killing before, launched a campaign entitled "Justice for Stephen Lawrence." It ran a front page banner headline "Murderers" above the pictures of the five accused. The following day the paper printed stills from a film produced by a police spy camera in one of the youth's homes. The film itself was shown on television that night. It showed three of the five engaging in racist conversation. One was shown brandishing a knife.

In a February 19 editorial the Mail, commenting on the debate triggered by its coverage, said what was at issue was "a climate of fear that permits killers to strut free while a bereaved mother is denied justice." The paper suggested that the law against "double jeopardy" - trying the same person twice for the same offense - be repealed.

The Mail's campaign has been widely applauded. British prime minister John Major gave public backing to it in the House of Commons, as did other journalists and rival newspapers. An editorial in the liberal Guardian praised the Mail, saying, "They deserve support for pursuing the other category of miscarriage of justice: people wrongly found innocent. When the Mail is ready to have a go at racists it is time to cheer."

Paul Foot, an author of books on police frame-ups and a writer for the paper Socialist Worker, said, "It is absolutely excellent: it's probably the first time that I've felt unequivocal support for the Daily Mail.... I don't normally think it's right for people to be witch- hunted in this way, but in this case the legal process had run its course, and the case against these men was overwhelming. There is sometimes a need for people in the Press to challenge prosecutions."

Linda Bellos, a Black woman and former Labour Party leader of a local council in London, said "I congratulate the Mail for taking this death seriously." Doreen Lawrence was quoted in the Daily Mail as supporting their coverage.

But The Voice, a Black weekly newspaper, said the Mail's action would lead to "a breakdown in the justice system" and could make it easier for Blacks to be framed up even if they had been acquitted in a court. "There is already a disproportionate number of Black people being charged and jailed," the paper editorialized.

Some in ruling circles and within the legal profession have opposed the Mail's campaign. This included top level judge Lord Donaldson, who said the coverage made it difficult for the five accused "to get a fair trial when you have the Daily Mail using its enormous circulation to tell a large number of people, which would certainly include future jurors, a one-sided view of the facts."

The Financial Times was also critical. This reflects a broader debate among the rulers about the bipartisan push against democratic rights currently under way. This is spearheaded by a series of "anti-crime" laws being pushed by Home Secretary Michael Howard.

In its February 15 issue The Economist ran an editorial, "Partners in Crime," attacking these measures and the Labour Party's support for them.

"The Daily Mail campaign is a deadly trap for workers," said Communist League candidate Ian Grant, an auto worker at Ford in Dagenham. Grant will contend for the Southwark and Bermondsey seat in the forthcoming general election. One of his opponents is the current Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament Simon Hughes, who has called for a change in the law to enable the youths acquitted of Lawrence's murder to be tried again.

"To try someone after they have been acquitted undermines hard fought for rights," Grant said. "It is the police involved in the investigation who should be held responsible and prosecuted. The police treated Stephen, the murder victim, as a criminal. This is standard police procedure in relation to workers' lives, especially if you're Black. The cops' actions ensured that it would be impossible to bring the racist killers to justice."

The candidate pointed to a recent survey which concluded that Blacks are twice as, likely to be stopped and searched in the streets of London as whites. "That shows you where the source of racism is," he said. "The murder of Stephen Lawrence stems from the growing social crisis of capitalism and the increasingly right-wing policies of capitalist politicians - policies promoted constantly by the The Daily Mail. They scapegoat sections of the working class to divide and weaken us. Their goal is to make us pay for their crisis and by attacking our rights undermine our ability to resist," Grant said.  
 
 
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