London nightclub Fabric have set up a petition to bust drum’n’bass DJ Grooverider out of his prison cell in the United Arab Emirates.
A protest at the incarceration of the (former?) Radio 1 DJ on drug charges, (original report), ‘Free Grooverider a.k.a. Mr. Raymond Bingham’ resides here, at Petition Online. And we all know what a difference anonymous petitions can make.
Nevertheless, we suppose the club should be commended for their show of solidarity.
“As you may have heard, longtime FABRICLIVE resident and fabric family member Grooverider has been arrested in the United Arab Emirates because of the possession of a small amount of cannabis,” begins a message sent out to Fabric’s mailing list.
“While we’re not here to offer social or cultural commentary on another country’s values systems, we do question the procedures used in order to enforce them that has led to a jail sentence for Grooverider of four years, which in our opinions seems ridiculously excessive.
“We’d like to call on our fabricfirst members to take the time to sign this petition,” it continues, “in the hope that it might help challenge this sentence and proceed in the very least to having Grooverider deported home as soon as possible. Please feel free to pass this link on to your friends and family.”
The petition has attracted 9,684 signatures so far.
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Erm...he broke the law
Why exactly should he be let out or sent back to Britain?
He should be in jail
he knew the stupid laws in that stupid country.
Maybe people should be focused on the people who've been incarcerated for 0.001g of cannabis in their shoe tred or imbedded as fluff in their pockets.
They're the real victims of this stupid countries stupid policy on drugs. There is a difference between zero tolerance and flat out abuse of human rights
Why?
He broke a law, surely he should face up to the punishment?
nobody is saying he shouldn't be punished
it's more that the punishment should be more in proportion with the crime committed.
4 years a little harsh, no?
Well exactly
It's easy to say "fuck him, he knew the risks," but FOUR YEARS?!
That's the law
it may not be a law you agree with, it may not be a law you like, it may not even be a law you live by or live under but at the end of the day it's the law. There's not difference between someone here going this is wrong, than some terrorirst somewhere going it's wrong for us to imprison other terrorirsts, and if you say there is that my friend is just cultural imperialism. You go somewhere, you do something you're not allowed, you suffer the punishment they give; it's legal issues not moral ones we are talking about here.
Very well put
smallpox_champion, couldn't put it better myself.
Urm, i don't think so
I'm not sure how you've managed to separate legal and moral issues, as one is surely based on the other.
It's not cultural imperialism to criticise a law that you think is immoral. Do you think that it's acceptable to execute someone for being a homosexual, or to stone a woman who has been raped?
If a law is introduced into this country that i disagree with, are you suggesting that i should just accept it because 'them's the rules'?
shut cut his bloody hands off.
it starts off as a grain of cannabis on someone's shoe, we let them off and they're selling romanian hookers, stabbing grandma's for their fish suppers and not returning their library books.
LOLZ at the title
LMFAO ROFL
etcetcetcetc....
4 years for a tiny bit of
weed is fucking laughable (obviously) but i think we're all overlooking the fact that he was getting very shit, maybe the time will allow him a little reflection period.
He really was terribly shit the last time i saw him.
Really shit.
tough shit, grooverider.
people are locked up longer for a lot less. hopefully he can study something inside and quit making shit music.