"His only crime was to defend himself"

Arthur Lee Williams II was attacked outside his apartment. In the struggle that ensued the attacker was shot. Arthur Williams later found that his attacker was a policeman (not in uniform). This was only the beginning of his experience of injustice and corruption.

His case was heard by an all white jury in Texas. Texas has a long history of racism and prejudice against blacks. Arthur Williams is black. the judge sentencing him was canvassing for police votes at the time of his trial. His lawyer was inexperienced and failed to bring critical evidence to the court's attention.

There is no way that Arthur Williams could have received a fair and unbiased trial with a white jury determining his guilt in a case that involved a policeman from his state, or with a judge who needed police votes.

He is appealing and waiting to be heard. Unfortunately, this does not come cheap in the USA. He needs £150,000 to cover legal expenses. All hope for paying for this lies in donations.

At the moment Arthur Williams is living in terrible conditions. He describes it as "Hell on Earth". Prisoners are only allowed out of their cells for 3 hours a day in the week; they are not allowed out of their cells at the weekend. Every time prisoners need to leave their cells they are stripsearched (often a female guard will be present). Prisoners on Death Row cannot receive packages from the outside world, they must buy everything from the prison commissionary. Those without friends and family have to go without as prisoners cannot earn any money. They often do not get any medical treatment as the doctors do not see any point in keeping them alive. There are no real recreational facilities. Therefore, some prisoners commit suicide and others take it out on their fellow prisoners by attacking and killing them for little or no reason. Texas has one of the worst prison systems in the USA and has a high murder rate not just from prisoners killing prisoners but from guards killing prisoners.

At the moment donations are needed to cover legal expenses, any donation would help. If you would like to help in other ways contact Arthur Lee Williams II Campaign, c/o IWW, 75 Humberstone Gate, Leicester LE1 IWB. In USA write to Deborah Williams, 4227 1st Avenue South Minneapolis MN 55409 USA. Any cheques or money orders to the Prisoners Campaign Group to above address.