The British government has announced it will expunge all convictions linked to the state scandal of Post Office workers wrongly accused of embezzlement. This exoneration makes the victims of another state scandal, that of contaminated blood, very bitter, who are also hoping for a gesture from the executive.
2 mins
With our correspondent in London, Émeline Vin
In the case Postal Service employees, nearly 700 people were wrongly convicted between 1999 and 2015. It was a television series broadcast at New Year’s Eve that pushed the government to act, after more than twenty years of campaigning. With the tainted blood scandal, people were infected with HIV and hepatitis C after transfusions in the 1970s and 1980s. These people are also hoping for action from the executive.
Carrier of a blood disease, Jason Evans’ father died in 1993, after being infected with HIV and hepatitis C. Jason Evans, now in his thirties, is still waiting for justice to be done: “ We still have not received any compensation, we are fighting against the government. Some of us would also like to see legal proceedings, unfortunately many of the protagonists are dead. »
30,000 victims linked to the contaminated blood scandal
A public inquiry is due to conclude in March. At the Hepatite C association, Samantha May operates the telephone line. Like postal workers before the broadcast of a series, she feels forgotten: “ It’s always postponed. Many won’t even live to see March, to read the findings and hear excuses. »
The victims of contaminated blood would also like to see their story brought to television: “ Fictionalization is a strong way of informing people. But for our community, which has been waiting for 40 years to be recognized, compensated, for justice to be done, it’s really hard to see that the government can give itself the means to react very quickly! »
The current public inquiry, the largest in history, estimates the number of contamination victims in the United Kingdom at 30,000.