# Free Ian Stillman!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-ian-stillman/110488
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [May 23, 2002, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-ian-stillman/110488 "2002-05-23T15:15:50Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2002, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-ian-stillman/110488/1 "2002-05-23T15:15:50Z")
[http://www.ianstillman.fsnet.co.uk](http://www.ianstillman.fsnet.co.uk)
> [@](#):
>
> Ian Stillman has been a world-renowned aid pioneer among the deaf in India for 27 years. He himself is totally deaf, and also an amputee.
>
> Ian was jailed in North India in August 2000 after police claimed to find drugs in a public taxi in which he was a passenger. Ian absolutely denies all knowledge of the drugs.
>
> **Ian was excluded from his own trial - he was refused a deaf interpreter and even a Hindi translator.** For months he was held in cramped, insanitory conditions without medical care.
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> The local police offered no credible evidence. They insist that Ian is a criminal hunted by Interpol for 30 years. Interpol and UK Government deny this absolutely.
>
> **In Jan 02 the High Court in Himachal Pradesh decided that Ian is not deaf and so rejected his appeal. On 6 May the Supreme Court refused Ian leave to appeal.** The campaign goes on to free Ian and win legal rights for deaf people in India.
I don’t know Ian Personally, but I know his sister. It’s easy to be cynical about these sort of stories, as _anybody_ accused with these charges abroad will inevitably loudly proclaim their innocence. But I don’t believe that anything even resembling justice has been done here.
Please take some time to have a look at this poor man’s story (you may also wish to Google his name if you feel that the link above is biased).
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### Author:  [@Francesca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francesca)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2002, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-ian-stillman/110488/2 "2002-05-23T15:28:16Z")
My mum used to spend six weeks every summer working with him in India, with deaf children. He is by all accounts a good man, and his treatment has been appalling. Fully support the cause.
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### Author:  [@Francesca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francesca)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2002, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-ian-stillman/110488/3 "2002-05-23T15:32:45Z")
Forgot to say: I am sending a letter to my MP today. Thanks for the link.
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### Author:  [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2002, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-ian-stillman/110488/4 "2002-05-23T16:19:56Z")
That’s shocking - I heard about him ages ago on the radio, and didn’t realise he hadn’t yet been released. I have written him a letter and will post it first thing tomorrow.
I urge everyone else to do the same.
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2002, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-ian-stillman/110488/5 "2002-05-24T14:39:48Z")
Thanks people; everyone’s contribution has the potential to make a difference here.