Justice Blinded Once Again by London Met Police in Shortsighted Publication of Lawrence Witness List. April "The Colour of Justice," a BBC broadcast based upon the stage play from the Tricycle Theatre Company, which, in turn, was based upon the court transcripts of the Stephen Lawrence murder inquiry shows how the truth can be stronger than fiction. Stephen Lawrence, for those of you unfamiliar with the case, was a boy who lost his life as the result of a racial attack upon him and a friend at a bus stop. Stephen was stabbed to death and the case was handled, to say the least, with ineptitude by the Metropolitan branch of the London police department. Since that time, due solely to the endless efforts of the Lawrence family, the injustice with which non-Caucasian people are repeatedly treated by the police has come under a glaring light. The report of the investigation stated that there is, unquestionably, the problem of a pernicious institutionalized racism existing within the police force. Unfortunately, the release of the document (publication of the inquiry) included an appendix of names and addresses of all the witnesses and others involved who gave information during the 7 years it took to take some action. The suspected thugs (one the son of a well-know gangster whose father, it seems, has maintained a continual contact among the police ranks with one officer involved with this case) are still at large and, naturally, many among those listed in this appendix fear for their safety and possibly their lives. The list even appeared on the internet for several days, but was quickly removed once the problem was realized. This lack of foresight and efficiency will probably result in an even greater problem as far as preventing racist attacks is concerned, inasmuch witnesses will think twice about testifying to help victims since it can obviously have dangerous consequences for their own safety. To put it succinctly: If you can't trust the police, who can you trust? "The Weekend of Terror" at the Tuschinski Theater in Amsterdam will be taking place on the nights (yes, that's right, it always begins at the witching hour) of Friday the 2nd and Saturday the 3rd of April. Among the silver screamings will be "Dentist 2" (ouch), "Pi" (how much is that in numbers?), "Virus" (oomph), and Dario Argento's new version of "Phantom of the Opera" (something in the way he smiles), not to mention the Troma-retrospective including "Bloodsucking Freaks" and "The Killer Condom" (what a pair!) Further info regarding event available @ www.wot.nl It seems that Monica ("Miss Oval") Wolinsky, the famous authoress, arrived in England on the same day that Stanley Kubrick died. Could this be called "The Lolita Complex"? Or did he just want to greet her arrival with eyes wide shut? © 1994-2006 The Green Hartnett