Bowie donates $10,000 to Jena Six Legal Defense Fund

Friday, September 21, 2007

Washington (ANI): Rock star David Bowie has tendered financial support to African-American teenagers who are caught up in a legal battle in Louisiana.

He has donated 10,000 dollars to the Jena Six Legal Defense Fund, which has been created to support the Jena Six, a group of six teenagers who have been arrested and charged with crimes related to their alleged involvement in the assault of a white teenager in Jena. The cash from Bowie will help the teenagers" families foot their legal bills.

Seventeen-year-old Mychal Bell, one of the six teenagers, is to be sentenced on second-degree battery charges on Thursday. A six-member jury found him guilty of the charges against him in June, but the case was overturned because Bell was 16 at the time and was incorrectly tried as an adult."There is clearly a separate and unequal judicial process going on in the town of Jena," Contactmusic quoted Bowie as saying in a statement.

"A donation to the Jena Six Legal Defense Fund is my small gesture, indicating my belief that a wrongful charge and sentence should be prevented," he added.Hip-hop stars Twista, Killer Mike, and Hurricane Chris have also offered their support to the families of the six teenagers. They will perform at a fund raising awareness concert in Alabama on 29 September. Meanwhile, soul star Stevie Wonder has slammed the American media for ignoring the case.