Aboriginal woman dragged like ‘dead Kangaroo’ and killed in police custody

Julieka Dhu
Ms. Dhu

source: Atlanta Black Star
published: 29 August 2016

Black Lives Matter in Australia. As attention has been paid to Black women who have lost their lives while in police custody and in encounters with law enforcement in the United States — women such as Sandra Bland, Miriam Carey, Rekia Boyd and Korryn Gaines — there is another name to add to the list, halfway around the world.

This month marked the second anniversary of the death of Julieka Dhu, 22, an Indigenous Yamatji woman who was arrested on Aug. 2, 2014 for failure to pay A$3,600 (US$2,742) in fines. She is referred to as Ms. Dhu, out of cultural respect for Aboriginal people’s avoidance of referring to the name of a dead person.

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Protests follow the police custody death of teenager in Liverpool

Police line tapesource: World Socialist Website
published: 23 July 2016

Protests have taken place in Liverpool, England, following the death of 18-year-old Mzee Mohammed.

The teenager died July 13 after being detained by police. From facts that are known, police officers went to the busy Liverpool One shopping centre that evening in response to phone calls from the public.

When the police arrived, Mohammed was being detained by the shopping centre’s security staff. The police arrested him and claimed that at around 6:30 p.m. he suffered a “medical episode” in their custody. Mohammed was rushed to Liverpool University Hospital where he was pronounced dead around 90 minutes later by doctors.

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Officer lied about checking on mother before death in police cell

Sharmilla Ullah
Sharmilla Ullah

source: Express & Star
published: 10 June 2016

Sharmila Ullah was taken into police custody in July 2014 after being arrested for shoplifting. The 30-year-old, of Fourth Avenue, was admitted to Walsall Manor Hospital from Bloxwich Police Station after suffering abdominal pain and vomiting.

The mother, known as Millie, was returned to her cell the following morning where a doctor certified her as fit to be detained. But shortly after 11.50am on July 10 she was found unresponsive and pronounced dead at hospital less than an hour later.

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