An Aberystwyth protest against police racial profiling and ‘institutional racism’ is set to go ahead tomorrow as a list of speakers has been released.

The town’s branch of campaign group Stand up to Racism will gather tomorrow (13 May) at 1pm at the Aberystwyth Castle grounds.

It is being billed as ‘the biggest anti-racism rally the town has ever seen’ and was sparked after allegations of Dyfed-Powys Police racial profiling were published in the Cambrian News.

Speakers line-up

Speeches will begin from 1pm

  1. Aberystwyth mayor and town councillor, Talat Chaudhri
  2. Nimi Trivedi from Stand Up To Racism Wales and Unison
  3. Cammilla Mngaza, mother of Siyanda Mngaza who spent four years in jail and whose case is being called a miscarriage of justice
  4. Owner of Mama Fay's Caribbean restaurant Phil Powell
  5. The next president of Aberystwyth Students' Union Bayanda Vundamina - and current black, Asian and minorities officer
  6. Allison Hulmes and Trudy Aspinall from the Coalition for the Rights of Travelling Communities Cymru
  7. Nia Edwards Behi, S4C's first ever diversity and inclusion officer
  8. A live performance from Parisa Fouladi
  9. Black Lives Matter's Kawbena Devonish
  10. Helal Uddin from the Ethnic Minorities and Youth Support Team Wales
  11. PCS Union's representative Ed James
  12. Hussein Said
  13. Anne Wood from Rivals on the Pitch United Against Racism
  14. Hywel Llyr Jenkins of Stand Up To Racism Aberystwyth
  15. Ren Williams from Pride Aberystwyth
  16. A live performance from Eadyth
  17. Cllr Dylan Lewis Rowlands from Welsh Labour
  18. Cllr Kerry Ferguson Plaid Cymru
  19. Cllr Bryony Daly from the Welsh Liberal Democrats
  20. Socialist Worker representative

It is also a reaction to the alleged ‘institutional racism’ of the force and the miscarriages of justice which have taken place on its watch.

In February, the community rallied around businessman and military veteran Phil Powell who described the trauma of allegedly being ‘assaulted’ and ‘constantly’ pulled over by police in Ceredigion.

A racism row was sparked after Mr Powell, the owner of Mama Fay’s Caribbean restaurant in Aberystwyth, alleged he’d been stopped more than 40 times in 10 years.

He will be giving a speech at tomorrow's protest.

Weeks later, a doctor of south Asian origin contacted the Cambrian News claiming he had been repeatedly pulled over by police in the last 12 months.

Also in attendance at the rally will be Cammilla Mngaza, the mother of 4 foot 10 disabled black woman, Siyanda Mngaza, who campaigners say was victim of a miscarriage of justice after she was jailed on Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH) charges for four and a half years. Campaigners and her legal team assert she was defending herself against a racially aggravated assault from two much older men and another woman. They say she had marks on her face from where she was stamped on during the alleged attack.

Cammilla is leading calls for Dyfed-Powys Police to investigate her original complaint and consider new evidence that calls into question the justness of her daughter's conviction. Her appeals have so far been quashed but her legal team is preparing a fresh appeal.

Dyfed-Powys Police denies any wrong doing and says any challenge to the sentence would need to take the form of an appeal and it would not comment beyond that.

The aims of the protest have been outlined in a poster circulating on social media.

It says: “We call on Dyfed-Powys Police to stop racially profiling, stopping and searching and harassing local Aberystwyth business owner Phil Powell and other black and asian people.

“Quash the conviction of Siyanda Mngaza; a miscarriage of justice initiated by a flawed investigation and prosecution by Dyfed-Powys Police.

“Siyanda is a victim of a vicious racist attack who was jailed for four-and-a-half years for a crime she did not commit.

“We call on Dyfed-Powys Police to acknowledge and apologise for its failings to Siyanda and other people who have suffered from their institutional racism.

“No to the racist Illegal Immigration Bill which attacks and scapegoats the most vulnerable people seeking sanctuary from war, persecution, climate chaos and life-threatening poverty.

“Refugees are Welcome Here!”

There has been fierce debate about the use of the term ‘institutionally racist’ to describe the Metropolitan Police force in London after Baroness Casey’s report described it as such in March.

Although the definition is disputed, it tends to be defined as unequal treatment or discrimination based on someone’s race ‘arising from systems, structures, or expectations that have become established within an institution or organization’.

The organisers are clear that they believe Dyfed-Powys Police, and most police forces in the UK, fits into this category.