London, Sep 30 (IANS) A cab driver in Britain has sewn his lips as a mark of protest after being fired from job following his conviction for assaulting a woman passenger.
Hassan Hoviat-Doust, 43, has been staging a hunger strike outside Bristol Magistrates’ Court since Monday.
Hoviat-Doust, who is unable to speak now because of the thick cotton thread binding his lips together, has written on a paper: ‘I am a taxi driver who was wrongly convicted of common assault and I have lost my job.
‘I have been on hunger strike since my protest started at 10.40 a.m. on September 26.
‘I am here because none of my evidence was considered by the court even though it was strong.’
Asked why he stitched his mouth shut, he wrote: ‘If you have no right to speak, you have no right to defence.’
Hoviat-Doust lost his taxi driver’s licence as a result of the conviction and is now unable to support his 16-month-old son and wife, who is 19 weeks pregnant.
He was also given an eight-week community order after the trial heard how he had argued with a female passenger about a daytime fare July 17 last year. The woman is said to have complained to his taxi office when he turned abusive.
