THIS SITE HAS BEEN ARCHIVED AND CLOSED.

London nightclub Fabric have set up a petition to bust drum’n’bass DJ Grooverider out of his prison cell in the United Arab Emirates.

A protest at the incarceration of the (former?) Radio 1 DJ on drug charges, (original report), ‘Free Grooverider a.k.a. Mr. Raymond Bingham’ resides here, at Petition Online. And we all know what a difference anonymous petitions can make.

Nevertheless, we suppose the club should be commended for their show of solidarity.

“As you may have heard, longtime FABRICLIVE resident and fabric family member Grooverider has been arrested in the United Arab Emirates because of the possession of a small amount of cannabis,” begins a message sent out to Fabric’s mailing list.

“While we’re not here to offer social or cultural commentary on another country’s values systems, we do question the procedures used in order to enforce them that has led to a jail sentence for Grooverider of four years, which in our opinions seems ridiculously excessive.

“We’d like to call on our fabricfirst members to take the time to sign this petition,” it continues, “in the hope that it might help challenge this sentence and proceed in the very least to having Grooverider deported home as soon as possible. Please feel free to pass this link on to your friends and family.”

The petition has attracted 9,684 signatures so far.