WEDNESDAY CLUB - The Clash - Justice Tonight/Kick it over

WEDNESDAY CLUB - Banged up Abroad

They looked very menacing

 

THE CLASH - Justice Tonight/Kick it Over (1980)

There I was on my way to work in downtown Jeddah, it was the same old route, I took a short cut down a back road and had to cross a traffic light, everybody just slowed down and then crossed. There was never any traffic on this quiet area of town.

This time however I did stop, albeit for a split second as the lights turned to green. I proceeded a few hundred yards when out stepped two armed police, they looked very menacing. I was strongly manhandled from my car and placed in a van along with some other visibly shaken guys.

We headed to the outskirts of Jeddah and then into the dessert, I was beginning to get a little scared as you heard rumours of people disappearing. Eventually we reached what looked like a prison, plenty barbed wire fencing and many armed guards. Could this really be happening to me.

We were placed in a large, hot and smelly cell with another 20 or 30 confused and terrified guys. There was an adjoining room which had a hole in the middle and that was the only toilet.

Over in a corner I spotted a colleague, my squash and running partner. That was a relief, I almost hugged him (almost). We gained our confidence because of our shared company and began to relax and see the funny side of it, "Lets just enjoy it" we said. We found out eventually that we were allowed a phone call so we phoned our work and luckily our boss was at school with the Officer on duty. For approximately £20 each we would be released and he would come and collect us. Boy was that another relief.

If it was not for our boss we would have had to stay the whole week-end and not be released for almost 3 days.

Our crime was not stopping at a traffic light.

A lot of people won't get no supper tonight