Sunday, October 10, 2010
CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT TORONTO:
SPEAKING IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE ?:
The following call for solidarity with an Ontario activist is from the Toronto Community Solidarity Network.
TOTOTOTOTO
Subject:
Subject:
For Immediate Release: G20 defendant Alex Hundert found to have breached ‘no demonstration’ cond
http://www.facebook.com/l/3e8b0K5jQ1YORLPTCh6-rBa8OWQ;g20.torontomobilize.org/node/549
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OCTOBER 08, 2010
G20 defendant Alex Hundert found to have breached ‘no demonstration’ condition for speaking at a university panel event
October 8, 2010 – Toronto, Mississauga New Credit – G20 defendant and alleged ‘ringleader’ Alex Hundert was found to be in breach of his ‘no-demonstration’ bail condition today for speaking as an invited panellist at two recent university events. A new bail hearing is now underway at the Scarborough Courthouse at 1911 Eglinton Avenue East in courtroom 405. This hearing is now expected to drag into next week and continue on Tuesday October 12, and Wednesday, October 13.
According to Yogi Acharya “We are outraged at this ruling. He was speaking at a panel discussion in a university classroom alongside professors, which is clearly not a public demonstration. This is yet another attempt to silence Alex, and is a strong indication of the police's intent to criminalize ideas, dissent, and effective community organizing.”
In a previous media statement, Hundert has stated “They are targeting me and because I am part of communities that are effectively organizing across movements. Whether it is the criminalization of anarchists and community organizers like me, or the daily demonization of Indigenous peoples, poor people and migrant communities, we are living in the midst of an increasingly aggressive and openly racist Harper regime that serves only to protect property and profit, not people. We have to show them that our resolve and our solidarity can be stronger than their intimidation and repression.”
Several other G20 defendants remain behind bars, including Indigenous sovereignty activist Ryan Rainville of the Sackimay Nation, punished by the criminal justice system for being poor and unable to afford exorbitant bail, while others face the possibility of deportation as a means of stifling their dissent.
Hundert is currently facing politically-motivated conspiracy and counselling charges in relation to the Toronto G8/G20 protests. He was arrested pre-emptively at gunpoint in a violent house raid on the morning of June 26th, before the protests began, and is being targeted as a member of the community group AW@L and Southern Ontario Anarchist Resistance.
This latest attempt is not the first time the Crown has attempted to send Hundert back to jail. On July 28, 2010 the Ontario Provincial Police warned Hundert that media interviews him and his co-accused Leah Henderson did with CBC radio, Toronto Sun, Vancouver Media Co-op, and Rabble were a violation of the no demonstration bail condition and threatened to re-jail them. A day later at a press conference, Hundert and his supporters decried this media ban as a blatant violation of his right to free speech and of freedom of the press. On August 20, the Crown had appealed Hundert and Henderson’s release from jail in the Ontario Superior Court and was seeking pre-trial incarceration. However Federal Court judge Todd Ducharme dismissed the Crown’s appeal.
-30-
For more information and interview requests:
Yogi Acharya 647-764-0488, Rachel Avery 519 616 5549
http://www.facebook.com/l/3e8b0K5jQ1YORLPTCh6-rBa8OWQ;g20.torontomobilize.org/node/549
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OCTOBER 08, 2010
G20 defendant Alex Hundert found to have breached ‘no demonstration’ condition for speaking at a university panel event
October 8, 2010 – Toronto, Mississauga New Credit – G20 defendant and alleged ‘ringleader’ Alex Hundert was found to be in breach of his ‘no-demonstration’ bail condition today for speaking as an invited panellist at two recent university events. A new bail hearing is now underway at the Scarborough Courthouse at 1911 Eglinton Avenue East in courtroom 405. This hearing is now expected to drag into next week and continue on Tuesday October 12, and Wednesday, October 13.
According to Yogi Acharya “We are outraged at this ruling. He was speaking at a panel discussion in a university classroom alongside professors, which is clearly not a public demonstration. This is yet another attempt to silence Alex, and is a strong indication of the police's intent to criminalize ideas, dissent, and effective community organizing.”
In a previous media statement, Hundert has stated “They are targeting me and because I am part of communities that are effectively organizing across movements. Whether it is the criminalization of anarchists and community organizers like me, or the daily demonization of Indigenous peoples, poor people and migrant communities, we are living in the midst of an increasingly aggressive and openly racist Harper regime that serves only to protect property and profit, not people. We have to show them that our resolve and our solidarity can be stronger than their intimidation and repression.”
Several other G20 defendants remain behind bars, including Indigenous sovereignty activist Ryan Rainville of the Sackimay Nation, punished by the criminal justice system for being poor and unable to afford exorbitant bail, while others face the possibility of deportation as a means of stifling their dissent.
Hundert is currently facing politically-motivated conspiracy and counselling charges in relation to the Toronto G8/G20 protests. He was arrested pre-emptively at gunpoint in a violent house raid on the morning of June 26th, before the protests began, and is being targeted as a member of the community group AW@L and Southern Ontario Anarchist Resistance.
This latest attempt is not the first time the Crown has attempted to send Hundert back to jail. On July 28, 2010 the Ontario Provincial Police warned Hundert that media interviews him and his co-accused Leah Henderson did with CBC radio, Toronto Sun, Vancouver Media Co-op, and Rabble were a violation of the no demonstration bail condition and threatened to re-jail them. A day later at a press conference, Hundert and his supporters decried this media ban as a blatant violation of his right to free speech and of freedom of the press. On August 20, the Crown had appealed Hundert and Henderson’s release from jail in the Ontario Superior Court and was seeking pre-trial incarceration. However Federal Court judge Todd Ducharme dismissed the Crown’s appeal.
-30-
For more information and interview requests:
Yogi Acharya 647-764-0488, Rachel Avery 519 616 5549
Labels: anarchism, canadian anarchist movement, community solidarity network, free speech, G20, G20 demonstrations, Ontario, political prisoners, repression, Toronto
Friday, September 17, 2010
AMERICAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT MINNEAPOLIS:
'LAST SUPPER' WITH THE RNC 8:
Two years ago the Republican party of the USA held their national convention in Minneapolis MN ("just across the border" from beautiful Winnipeg). The usual protests, the usual police agents/provocateurs and the usual arrests happened, and now two years later at least a portion (4 ??) of an original 8 charged with conspiracy are finally coming to trial. It would not be surprising, given the way this sort of thing usually develops, that id there were any "guilty" parties that they would not be amongst those charged. Here from the Defend the RNC 8 group is the promo.>>>
@@@@@@@@@@
Free "Last Supper" with the RNC 8
Time Tuesday, September 28 · 6:30pm - 8:00pm
------------------------
Location Walker Church
3104 16th Ave S.
Minneapolis, MN
-----------------------
Created By Defend the RNC 8!
----------------------
More Info Free "Last Supper" at Walker Church, Tuesday, September 28
Join the RNC 8 and Defense Committee for a free meal at Walker Church on Tuesday, September 28. This will be the "Last Supper" at Walker before trial. Come to connect, talk about the recent developments in the case and get plugged in to organizing around the trial. Oh, and for free food!
Tuesday, September 28
6:30-8pm
3104 16th Ave. S., Minneapolis
This won't be the last meal with the 8, however. Watch for information on our upcoming Friday night trial event series and free meals for supporters during trial. Stay tuned to RNC8.org and follow us on Indymedia, Facebook and Twitter to be the first to know.
Defend the RNC 8, Free the 4!
Free "Last Supper" with the RNC 8
Time Tuesday, September 28 · 6:30pm - 8:00pm
------------------------
Location Walker Church
3104 16th Ave S.
Minneapolis, MN
-----------------------
Created By Defend the RNC 8!
----------------------
More Info Free "Last Supper" at Walker Church, Tuesday, September 28
Join the RNC 8 and Defense Committee for a free meal at Walker Church on Tuesday, September 28. This will be the "Last Supper" at Walker before trial. Come to connect, talk about the recent developments in the case and get plugged in to organizing around the trial. Oh, and for free food!
Tuesday, September 28
6:30-8pm
3104 16th Ave. S., Minneapolis
This won't be the last meal with the 8, however. Watch for information on our upcoming Friday night trial event series and free meals for supporters during trial. Stay tuned to RNC8.org and follow us on Indymedia, Facebook and Twitter to be the first to know.
Defend the RNC 8, Free the 4!
Labels: American anarchist movement, anarchism, demonstrations, political prisoners, RNC, trials
Thursday, August 26, 2010
CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:
PARTY FOR THE G20 ARRESTEES:
The following notice for an event in Toronto in support of those arrested in connection with the G20 Summit in Toronto comes from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP).
G20G20G20G20
TOMORROW:
TOMORROW:
Freedom Assembly - Party for G20 and Special Diet Demo Arrestees
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please Forward
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Freedom Assembly - Party for G20 and Special Diet Demo Arrestees
Time
Tomorrow at 9:00pm - Saturday at 2:00am
Location
Blue Moon Bar
725 Queen St E.
Toronto, ON
Freedom Assembly
Party for those arrested at the G20 and Special Diet Demonstrations
DJ No Capitalista
...El Machetero
DJ eLman
DJ NoLoVes
all funds will go to legal expenses for those arrested and to fight the criminalizing of protests Friday Aug 27th
9PM
$10
Blue Moon Pub
725 Queen St. E. (at Broadview)
organized by the member organizations of the May 1st Movement
For more info or endorsements: may1st.toronto@gmail.com
For more info on the legal defense for the G20 arrestees check out the Movement Defence Committee (http://movementdefence.org/ ) and the Toronto Community Mobilization Network (http://g20.torontomobilize.org/support )
Labels: current events, G20, G20 Toronto Mobilize, OCAP, party., political prisoners, repression, solidarity., Toronto
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS GAMBIA:
FREE GAMBIAN JOURNALIST EBRIMA MANNEH:
The following call for solidarity comes from the Care2 Petition site. The "African media foundation" referred to below is undoubtedly the Media Foundation for West Africa who have been protesting his imprisonment for some time. Some time means four years as Manneh was originally disappeared in 2006. You read all about Mannah's case and also numerous other struggles for freedom in West Africa at the Media Foundation's website. Molly found the site to be quite interesting and worth recommending.
EMEMEMEMEM
Free Gambian Journalist Ebrima B. Manneh
The exact reason for journalist Ebrima B. Manneh's arrest is uncertain, and the Gambian government denies knowledge of his whereabouts, but it's widely believed he is detained by the government as a prisoner of conscience.
Manneh's arrest was supposedly by the Gambian government, though they deny any involvement. Reports of the arrest cite several possible reasons for his imprisonment. It's unclear which reason is correct, but all of them point to the fact that Manneh is detained for exercising his right to freedom of expression.
An African media foundation has petitioned the Gambian government to answer questions about Manneh's disappearance, but so far they have remained silent.
Don't let the Gambian government cover up Ebrima B. Manneh's whereabouts after his murky arrest for a practicing a universal right. Tell the Gambian President Dr. A.J.J. Yahya Jammeh to release Manneh immediately.
EMEMEMEMEM
THE LETTER:
Please go to this link to send the following letter the President of Gambia.
EMEMEMEMEM
letterTarget: Dr A.J.J. Yahya Jammeh, President of Gambia
Sponsored by: Care2.com
The exact reason for journalist Ebrima B. Manneh's arrest is uncertain, and the Gambian government denies knowledge of his whereabouts, but it's widely believed he is detained by the government as a prisoner of conscience.
Manneh's arrest was supposedly by the Gambian government, though they deny any involvement. Reports of the arrest cite several possible reasons for his imprisonment. It's unclear which reason is correct, but all of them point to the fact that Manneh is detained for exercising his right to freedom of expression.
An African media foundation has petitioned the Gambian government to answer questions about Manneh's disappearance, but so far they have remained silent.
Don't let the Gambian government cover up Ebrima B. Manneh's whereabouts after his murky arrest for a practicing a universal right. Tell the Gambian President Dr. A.J.J. Yahya Jammeh to release Manneh immediately.
Dear Dr. A.J.J. Yahya Jammeh,
The exact reason for journalist Ebrima B. Manneh's arrest is uncertain, but evidence suggest he is imprisoned by your government for an act exercising his right to freedom of expression.
Multiple parties, including Manneh's father, fellow journalists, the Media Foundations for West Africa, and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have asked your government to answer questions about Manneh's disappearance, including his current whereabouts. The government issued a statement saying they were not involved in the arrest and didn't know Manneh's location, despite reports that he was escorted into a hospital by police. Now, after ECOWAS issued a statement saying that Manneh's right to liberty and fair trial were violated, and asking the government to release him, restore his human rights, and repay his damages, the government is silent.
The story behind Manneh's arrest may be unclear, but one thing is certain: no one should be imprisoned for exercising the universal right to freedom of expression. I urge you to release Ebrima B. Manneh immediately.
Sincerely,
[Your name here]
Labels: Africa, Care2, Ebrima Manneh, Gambia, human rights, international human rights, Media Foundation for West Africa, political prisoners, repression, solidarity.
Friday, August 20, 2010
CANADIAN POLITICS TORONTO:
DROP THE CHARGES RALLY:
The inevitably long and intimidating legal odyssey has begun for those arrested at the recent G20 summit in Toronto. This coming Monday there will be a rally in front of Toronto Police Headquarters demanding that all charges be dropped. Here's the details. >>>
TOTOTOTOTO
DROP THE CHARGES!
END CRIMINALIZATION OF DISSENT!
DROP THE CHARGES! END CRIMINALIZATION OF DISSENT!
Time
Monday · 6:00pm - 9:00pm
------------------------
Location outside Toronto Police Headquarters
40 College St
Toronto, ON
------------------------
Created By Toronto Community Mobilization Network
-----------------------
More Info
DROP THE CHARGES!
END CRIMINALIZATION OF DISSENT!
Rally in solidarity with G20 Defendants
Speakers: TBA
...
Most of our bruises have faded, but we haven’t. It was two months ago when many were beaten on the streets of Toronto and in their homes, with rubber bullets and tear gas fired into crowds of people of all ages, from toddlers to seniors. Two months ago, the police conducted the largest mass arrest in Canadian history with 1100 people arrested. Two months ago, the police force conducted their vicious snatch squads to kidnap (and sometimes arrest) our community organizers and others simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Two months have passed since these visible assaults on our very basic right to dissent, and they have continued to try to use every tool in their arsenal to discourage people from dissenting. On Monday, August 23rd hundreds of people will be converging in Toronto again, this time to appear to face outstanding charges from the G20 weekend. The crown is pursuing charges for over 300 individuals, causing huge burdens on the individuals and their families. They have given absurd bail conditions generally reserved for charges such as murder. Some remain imprisoned without bail. The police have also intimidated and harassed people to ensure bail compliance, disproportionately targeting their check-ins on ‘priority neighbourhoods’. Over the last 2 months the police have tried to divide, isolate, and dehumanize us, but we must show them their actions only make us stronger, more motivated, and more resilient.
On August 23rd, let’s get out our friends, families, and communities to make our message clear:
We are united with the people brutalized at the G20 protests, and demand the Attorney General's Office DROP their charges immediately!
We will unite with the communities brutalized by the police every day, and demand the assault on aboriginal and other racialized communities, on queer communities, on street people end immediately.
We will continue to dissent and take to the streets against the polices of the G20, including the proposed austerity measures.
We will continue to build our movements in the struggle for a better world - this decade will not be marked by their austerity, but rather by OUR resistance.
They Few. We Still Many.
Labels: Canadian politics, current events, demonstrations, events, G20 demonstrations, police brutality., political prisoners, prisoners, rallies, repression, Toronto, Toronto Community Mobilization Network
Monday, August 16, 2010
CANADIAN POLITICS TORONTO:
DROP THE CHARGES AGAINST G20 DETAINEES:
The following notice of a public meeting to demand that charges against those arrested at the G20 summit in Toronto be dropped comes originally from the G20 Toronto Mobilize group. It came Molly's way via the Ontario Coalition against Poverty (OCAP).
G20G20G20G20
Drop G20 Charges!
Resisting the Criminalization of Dissent
Date: August 17th
Time: 6pm - 7:30pm
Location: Room 116, Wallberg building, 200 College Street, Toronto, ON
Speakers include Lesley Wood, Syed Hussan and organizers from OCAP. Full list of speakers and video statements to be announced!
For ten days at the end of June, the Police led a coordinated armed assault against Toronto's civilian population. Community organizers were in particular targeted. Mobilizations for justice, for dignity and for self-determination were infiltrated, harassed and intimidated. A Canada wide response is at hand... as people fight to have the criminal charges dropped and to continue the struggle against the G20's anti-people and anti-environment policies. (Support the Legal Defence Fund! http://g20.torontomobilize.org/support )
To understand why people mobilized against the G20 and how organizers were targeted; to hear accounts of police brutality and repression; and to understand the political nature of the bail conditions, the criminalization of dissent and ways to support the people facing charges, join us for an informative panel and discussion.
This event is focused towards activists, grassroots organizers and people who are interested in knowing more and acting in solidarity with local struggles and defendants.
Endorsers: Ontario Coalition Against Poverty No One Is Illegal - Toronto Rainforest Action Network - Toronto Common Cause - Toronto Branch Sponsored by: Hussan Freedom Committee, Ontario Public Interest Research Group - Toronto
===
LESLEY WOOD is a Professor of Sociology at York University and a member of the Toronto Community Mobilization Network and the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty. Lesley will be speaking about G20 policies, police violence during the summit and the role of global justice movements and community struggles. Read her latest movement article at: http://bit.ly/bT5LdB
SYED HUSSAN is a member of the Toronto Community Mobilization Network and No One Is Illegal-Toronto. He was arrested on the morning of June 26, 2010 and held for 12 days. Hussan will speak about his arrest, bail conditions, and the need for solidarity and ongoing organizing. Read statements from No One Is Illegal at http://bit.ly/9xt45c and http://bit.ly/dkQ8hG
ONTARIO COALITION AGAINST POVERTY is a grassroots anti-poverty organization that faced increasing police repression following mass demonstrations in 2001. Organizers will be speak about the targeting of various community groups in 2001 and during the G20 and the need to struggle against the G8/G20 policies in the coming years. Read more at http://bit.ly/bKZfyu and http://ocap.ca/node/904
Labels: Canadian politics, current events, events, G20, G20 demonstrations, political prisoners, public meetings, Toronto
Saturday, July 10, 2010
CANADIAN POLITICS:
FREE THE G20 DETAINEES:
The mainstream media is wandering further and further away from the events in Toronto where the G20 summit was the occasion for the largest show of illegal police behavior ever seen in Canada. Still, 20 people remain incarcerated in connection with what happened none of them charged with participation in the 'mini-riot' that was the excuse for the subsequent 'police riot'. These people are political prisoners, imprisoned simply for exercising their freedom of speech. Here's an update from the Vancouver Media Co-op about what is happening with these people.
CPCPCPCPCP
Free Our Friends! Community Update on G20 Detainees
by Direct Support Committees of G20 detainees
While G20 leaders met behind a steel cage and a 1-billion dollar Fortress Toronto operation, we witnessed an unprecedented coordinated police operation in the city of Toronto. Police brutality against protest participants, journalists, legal observers, medics, and random passersby came in the form of indiscriminate arrests, beatings, pepper spray, rubber bullets, police horse charges, illegal searches and seizures, and extended arbitrary detentions. While in custody, people were forced into steel cage cells with up to 40 people per cell; made to sleep on concrete floors with open bathrooms; denied food, water, toilet paper, and sanitary products; subjected to sexual harassment, threats, humiliation, and intimidation; and refused access to medical attention, phone calls, and legal counsel.
Many were beaten and brutalized, leading to serious injuries and hospitalization. According to an article authored by resident physicians of the Toronto Street Medics, “All of the serious injuries we treated were inflicted by the police. While violence against property received a great deal of coverage, violence against people -- broken bones, cracked heads and eyes filled with pepper spray - has yet to feature prominently in any mainstream media. Our teams of medics witnessed and treated people who had been struck in the head by police batons, had lacerations from police shields and had been trampled by police horses.”
Over the weekend, there were 1090 arrests, of whom 113 were released without charges on the street, 714 were held for breach of the peace and released within 72 hours, and 263 released with pending charges.
Around 20 people still remain in custody. While the exact numbers and charges of some of those still being held in detention are unclear at this time, we know that 17 people are facing a variety of trumped up and politically-motivated allegations including conspiracy.
*At the time of writing (July 9), four have been released with stringent bail conditions including house arrest; one was denied bail; and others are awaiting bail hearings over the next 1-2 weeks.*
These seventeen people are our friends. They come from towns and cities across Ontario and Quebec and are respected and committed activists for a multitude of causes such as environmental justice, women’s rights, economic justice, antiwar, Indigenous rights, queer and trans liberation, and migrant justice. They envision and embody worlds rooted in love, justice, freedom, and self-determination. They are also known in their communities as legal workers, students, animal lovers, childcare providers, and academic researchers. Many were targeted and arrested, including at gunpoint, in pre-emptive raids before the protests even began.
We remain steadfast in standing by our friends. Targeting organizers is intended to weaken our thriving social and environmental justice movement, to isolate effective and vocal community activists, and to criminalize dissent against the violent policies of the G20 that perpetuate environmental degradation, militarization, labour exploitation, theft of Indigenous land and resources, and misery for the world’s majority. This escalating attack on certain individuals and groups is intended to intimidate and silence us all in our various movements and communities across Canada. Make no mistake, if these politically motivated charges against organizers are not defeated, police will seek to use them against organizers in all sectors of our movement.
A recent Toronto open letter against police state tactics with prominent signatories calls for a full campaign to defend the civil rights of those facing excessive charges. The Asian Canadian Labour Alliance – Ontario Chapter is demanding the immediate release of all detainees still being held, and an end to the persecution and daily criminalization of Indigenous, migrants, and marginalized communities.
We encourage our allies to build on this growing solidarity within our diverse social movements to free our friends and demand that charges be dropped against all G8/G20 arrestees, and to keep organizing for liberation for all people, especially those who daily bear the brunt of police, state, and corporate oppression.
They cannot jail our hearts.
- Direct Support Committees of G20 detainees still being held at Maplehurst Men’s Detention Centre and Vanier Women’s Prison in Ontario.
To donate to the legal defence fund in Ontario: http://g20.torontomobilize.org/
To donate to the legal defence fund in Quebec: claclegal2010@gmail.com
Free Our Friends! Community Update on G20 Detainees
by Direct Support Committees of G20 detainees
While G20 leaders met behind a steel cage and a 1-billion dollar Fortress Toronto operation, we witnessed an unprecedented coordinated police operation in the city of Toronto. Police brutality against protest participants, journalists, legal observers, medics, and random passersby came in the form of indiscriminate arrests, beatings, pepper spray, rubber bullets, police horse charges, illegal searches and seizures, and extended arbitrary detentions. While in custody, people were forced into steel cage cells with up to 40 people per cell; made to sleep on concrete floors with open bathrooms; denied food, water, toilet paper, and sanitary products; subjected to sexual harassment, threats, humiliation, and intimidation; and refused access to medical attention, phone calls, and legal counsel.
Many were beaten and brutalized, leading to serious injuries and hospitalization. According to an article authored by resident physicians of the Toronto Street Medics, “All of the serious injuries we treated were inflicted by the police. While violence against property received a great deal of coverage, violence against people -- broken bones, cracked heads and eyes filled with pepper spray - has yet to feature prominently in any mainstream media. Our teams of medics witnessed and treated people who had been struck in the head by police batons, had lacerations from police shields and had been trampled by police horses.”
Over the weekend, there were 1090 arrests, of whom 113 were released without charges on the street, 714 were held for breach of the peace and released within 72 hours, and 263 released with pending charges.
Around 20 people still remain in custody. While the exact numbers and charges of some of those still being held in detention are unclear at this time, we know that 17 people are facing a variety of trumped up and politically-motivated allegations including conspiracy.
*At the time of writing (July 9), four have been released with stringent bail conditions including house arrest; one was denied bail; and others are awaiting bail hearings over the next 1-2 weeks.*
These seventeen people are our friends. They come from towns and cities across Ontario and Quebec and are respected and committed activists for a multitude of causes such as environmental justice, women’s rights, economic justice, antiwar, Indigenous rights, queer and trans liberation, and migrant justice. They envision and embody worlds rooted in love, justice, freedom, and self-determination. They are also known in their communities as legal workers, students, animal lovers, childcare providers, and academic researchers. Many were targeted and arrested, including at gunpoint, in pre-emptive raids before the protests even began.
We remain steadfast in standing by our friends. Targeting organizers is intended to weaken our thriving social and environmental justice movement, to isolate effective and vocal community activists, and to criminalize dissent against the violent policies of the G20 that perpetuate environmental degradation, militarization, labour exploitation, theft of Indigenous land and resources, and misery for the world’s majority. This escalating attack on certain individuals and groups is intended to intimidate and silence us all in our various movements and communities across Canada. Make no mistake, if these politically motivated charges against organizers are not defeated, police will seek to use them against organizers in all sectors of our movement.
A recent Toronto open letter against police state tactics with prominent signatories calls for a full campaign to defend the civil rights of those facing excessive charges. The Asian Canadian Labour Alliance – Ontario Chapter is demanding the immediate release of all detainees still being held, and an end to the persecution and daily criminalization of Indigenous, migrants, and marginalized communities.
We encourage our allies to build on this growing solidarity within our diverse social movements to free our friends and demand that charges be dropped against all G8/G20 arrestees, and to keep organizing for liberation for all people, especially those who daily bear the brunt of police, state, and corporate oppression.
They cannot jail our hearts.
- Direct Support Committees of G20 detainees still being held at Maplehurst Men’s Detention Centre and Vanier Women’s Prison in Ontario.
To donate to the legal defence fund in Ontario: http://g20.torontomobilize.org/
To donate to the legal defence fund in Quebec: claclegal2010@gmail.com
Labels: Canadian politics, G20, G20 demonstrations, police brutality., political prisoners, prisoners, Toronto, Vancouver Media Co-op
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
CANADIAN POLITICS:
JAGGI SINGH NOW IN PRISON:
Jaggi Singh is a Canadian activist with one of the more colourful careers in the country. The graphic, of course, is from his role at a previous protest where he constructed a catapult that was used to launch teddy bears at the police. This is somehow some sort of "horrible weapon". The charges were eventually dropped. Even courts can recognize absurdity given enough time.
There has been a warrant out for Singh's arrest for involvement with the recent G20 protests in Toronto though it is a certain fact that he had no part of the tiny group of rioters that the police used an an excuse for their subsequent reign of terror. Earlier today Singh turned himself in for arrest to the Toronto Police, but before he did so he gave this interview to the Media Coop.
Jaggi would like anyone sympathetic to his cause to write him while he is prison. He can be reached at:
Jaggi Singh
c/o Maplehurst Correctional Complex
Box 10
661 Martin St.
Milton, ON
L9T 2Y3
PPPPPPPPPP
G20 arrests: "We're still at a raw moment"
Jaggi Singh speaks out before turning himself in
by Tim McSorley
Early this morning, Montreal community organiser and activist Jaggi Singh turned himself in to the Toronto Police Service. The TPS had issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of "criminal conspiracy, including alleged conspiracies to commit mischief to property, assault police, and obstruct justice," according to a release by No One is Illegal. He is the last of 16 people that police are co-accusing in conspiracy around the G20 summit held last weekend in Toronto.
Singh has become well-known over the years as an outspoken organiser and activist who has faced multiple charges in relation to international summits, including the 1997 APEC summit, the FTAA summit in Quebec City in 2001, and the WTO meetings in Montreal in 2003.
Last night, just hours before he turned himself in, the Media Co-op had a chance to speak on the phone with Singh, who was in Toronto. He spoke about his decision, what he sees as growing state repression, and how activists and organisers can work together to achieve justice.
On his decision to turn himself in and the legal challenges he and others face:
I've never shied away from legal challenges. Over the last decade there has been a long list of charges and trials, but I've come out successful. So I've decided to meet those challenges head on. From what I understand, I'm being co-accused on conspiracy charges with other organisers based in southern Ontario, Toronto and Montreal.
I don't know the content of the charges yet, but based on previous experiences I've observed, around these summit protests, it takes years for all the facts to emerge properly. [During that time] the Crown and corporate media control the spin. That's why I'm taking the time to speak out before I go in. A lot of people [who are co-accused] didn't have that chance. Many were arrested in the middle of the night... By luck I wasn't plucked out that way.
I really take inspiration from the support and solidarity of large segments of our community. In the long haul,it's not about guilt or innocence, but how we struggle together. In short haul, it's to get all organisers in prisons back into their communities where they are needed and do important work. And I use that term [organiser] deliberately. We are not just protesters. We are people who are rooted in day-to-day organizing, we have accountability to that day-to-day organizing.
In Montreal, for me, that's migrant justice, anti-police brutality, QPIRG-Concordia, and this can be applied to everyone else. We are all deeply committed to organizing. The short-term challenge, as so many have spoken about and written about, is to get everybody back into their communities. We need to plan our next steps to meet these legal challenges, but for me the most important thing is [to do so] through maintaining our organizing.
On police and state tactics:
I think in the aftermath of the G20 police state we saw in the streets of Toronto for at least a week, and particularly during a concentrated 48hr period, police and the Crown are looking for scapegoats to pin the blame on. It seems to me the people in prison up until this point are the scapegoats. None of this is terribly surprising.
Talking about the repression in general, whether it's unjust detention or humiliation, unjust searches, whether it's being charged, it's all meant to scare people away from participation in active social justice movements. Or to funnel people into [kinds of] dissension the state finds palatable. And this is not about the debate over tactics, but that people who reject the G20 are being scared off of protest.
The word unprecedented has been used a lot. It's true. The $1 billion budget is unprecedented. So are the 1,000 arrests, in Canadian history.
There's a reason it's unprecedented. It's that in 2010, with the Olympics and G20 in Canada, it's an excuse for the Harper government to build up the security apparatus. That's why CSIS is paying so many visits to organisers, why sound cannons are being bought, why [the Toronto Film Studios] are being turned into cages-you can't even call it a jail, it's cages. That's why we're seeing an escalation of the charges. What even a decade ago would have been seen as organising, discussing openly about ways to protest, is now being seen as a conspiracy.
If you provide them with resources, they will find a way to spend these resources. It's the equivalent of sound canons, it's the equivalent of pepper spray, the equivalent of searches in the streets.
I'm someone who participates actively in these debates, and police were doing their jobs. People [last weekend] saw what [the police's] job is, and it's what marginalised communities see everyday.
We need an acknowledgment of the daily repression of marginalised communities by police, and and remember this in fighting the things we saw.
On mutual aid and working with a new generation of organisers:
I help give Activism 101 workshops at QPIRG once a month throughout the school year. We go over the four categories the police use - opportunists, realists, idealists and the radicals. Most of us by default are idealists. Whether left or right, we want the world to be a better place, from Bono to Harper. But what separates radicals from realists is the need to identify the roots of the systems of power in place ... and to confront it.
The state doesn't want idealists to become radicals, and a main part of doing that is through ignorance and distraction. But when radicals are active, when they are on the streets, the other way is the baton blow to the face. Labeling them as terrorists. That's the other way to keep people from becoming radicals.
I've seen this before. In Montreal from 1996 to 2003/04, the police had a system of mass arrests. They'd do it over nothing really: graffiti, a minor confrontation with a police officer. The the WTO protests in 2003, Commando Bouffe in 1997, the G20 protest in Montreal in 2000. I was arrested at that with other young folks. I saw the fear and their questions about is this worth it. For some, I saw in their faces that it was about the strength of the struggle. But it's about community, about working together, about realizing those debates are making us strong.
At the G20 in Montreal, there were several, several dozen arrested. The police used horses, pepper spray, batons. Lots of young people were arrested. And it was just last year that Quebec Court of Appeal cleared everyone. One of the women who was young at the time took the microphone at the [Forum Against Police brutality, held in Montreal this past spring]and told the crowd, "I'm still here, still part of this movement, because there is this basis of support and solidarity."
If we can mutually support each other, document what has happened, and keep coming up with mechanisms to strive for real justice, we'll find out ways to get through this.
We need to be a multi-generational movement where that kind of information is shared. I was so inspired and motivated by working with a group called RAGE, a group of young people, university and college students. To have multiple generations working together, that's a strength. I hope I can get back to that tangibly. We can all offer support in different ways.
On guilt or innocence:
This is less about whether people are guilty or innocent. That's simply a verdict. What's important is how we struggle together to meet the challenges. There are plenty of times when people have been found guilty but have helped build a movement, and plenty of times people have been found not-guilty and not helped at all.Victory is not about guilt, but justice, dignity, the things we struggle for everyday. That feeling should be brought into the legal support for the people who are facing these challenges.
We're still at a very raw moment though. It's been a week, but a week is nothing. It's in the months to come that we'll see how we can come out of this stronger and more ready to face oppression.
G20 arrests: "We're still at a raw moment"
Jaggi Singh speaks out before turning himself in
by Tim McSorley
Early this morning, Montreal community organiser and activist Jaggi Singh turned himself in to the Toronto Police Service. The TPS had issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of "criminal conspiracy, including alleged conspiracies to commit mischief to property, assault police, and obstruct justice," according to a release by No One is Illegal. He is the last of 16 people that police are co-accusing in conspiracy around the G20 summit held last weekend in Toronto.
Singh has become well-known over the years as an outspoken organiser and activist who has faced multiple charges in relation to international summits, including the 1997 APEC summit, the FTAA summit in Quebec City in 2001, and the WTO meetings in Montreal in 2003.
Last night, just hours before he turned himself in, the Media Co-op had a chance to speak on the phone with Singh, who was in Toronto. He spoke about his decision, what he sees as growing state repression, and how activists and organisers can work together to achieve justice.
On his decision to turn himself in and the legal challenges he and others face:
I've never shied away from legal challenges. Over the last decade there has been a long list of charges and trials, but I've come out successful. So I've decided to meet those challenges head on. From what I understand, I'm being co-accused on conspiracy charges with other organisers based in southern Ontario, Toronto and Montreal.
I don't know the content of the charges yet, but based on previous experiences I've observed, around these summit protests, it takes years for all the facts to emerge properly. [During that time] the Crown and corporate media control the spin. That's why I'm taking the time to speak out before I go in. A lot of people [who are co-accused] didn't have that chance. Many were arrested in the middle of the night... By luck I wasn't plucked out that way.
I really take inspiration from the support and solidarity of large segments of our community. In the long haul,it's not about guilt or innocence, but how we struggle together. In short haul, it's to get all organisers in prisons back into their communities where they are needed and do important work. And I use that term [organiser] deliberately. We are not just protesters. We are people who are rooted in day-to-day organizing, we have accountability to that day-to-day organizing.
In Montreal, for me, that's migrant justice, anti-police brutality, QPIRG-Concordia, and this can be applied to everyone else. We are all deeply committed to organizing. The short-term challenge, as so many have spoken about and written about, is to get everybody back into their communities. We need to plan our next steps to meet these legal challenges, but for me the most important thing is [to do so] through maintaining our organizing.
On police and state tactics:
I think in the aftermath of the G20 police state we saw in the streets of Toronto for at least a week, and particularly during a concentrated 48hr period, police and the Crown are looking for scapegoats to pin the blame on. It seems to me the people in prison up until this point are the scapegoats. None of this is terribly surprising.
Talking about the repression in general, whether it's unjust detention or humiliation, unjust searches, whether it's being charged, it's all meant to scare people away from participation in active social justice movements. Or to funnel people into [kinds of] dissension the state finds palatable. And this is not about the debate over tactics, but that people who reject the G20 are being scared off of protest.
The word unprecedented has been used a lot. It's true. The $1 billion budget is unprecedented. So are the 1,000 arrests, in Canadian history.
There's a reason it's unprecedented. It's that in 2010, with the Olympics and G20 in Canada, it's an excuse for the Harper government to build up the security apparatus. That's why CSIS is paying so many visits to organisers, why sound cannons are being bought, why [the Toronto Film Studios] are being turned into cages-you can't even call it a jail, it's cages. That's why we're seeing an escalation of the charges. What even a decade ago would have been seen as organising, discussing openly about ways to protest, is now being seen as a conspiracy.
If you provide them with resources, they will find a way to spend these resources. It's the equivalent of sound canons, it's the equivalent of pepper spray, the equivalent of searches in the streets.
I'm someone who participates actively in these debates, and police were doing their jobs. People [last weekend] saw what [the police's] job is, and it's what marginalised communities see everyday.
We need an acknowledgment of the daily repression of marginalised communities by police, and and remember this in fighting the things we saw.
On mutual aid and working with a new generation of organisers:
I help give Activism 101 workshops at QPIRG once a month throughout the school year. We go over the four categories the police use - opportunists, realists, idealists and the radicals. Most of us by default are idealists. Whether left or right, we want the world to be a better place, from Bono to Harper. But what separates radicals from realists is the need to identify the roots of the systems of power in place ... and to confront it.
The state doesn't want idealists to become radicals, and a main part of doing that is through ignorance and distraction. But when radicals are active, when they are on the streets, the other way is the baton blow to the face. Labeling them as terrorists. That's the other way to keep people from becoming radicals.
I've seen this before. In Montreal from 1996 to 2003/04, the police had a system of mass arrests. They'd do it over nothing really: graffiti, a minor confrontation with a police officer. The the WTO protests in 2003, Commando Bouffe in 1997, the G20 protest in Montreal in 2000. I was arrested at that with other young folks. I saw the fear and their questions about is this worth it. For some, I saw in their faces that it was about the strength of the struggle. But it's about community, about working together, about realizing those debates are making us strong.
At the G20 in Montreal, there were several, several dozen arrested. The police used horses, pepper spray, batons. Lots of young people were arrested. And it was just last year that Quebec Court of Appeal cleared everyone. One of the women who was young at the time took the microphone at the [Forum Against Police brutality, held in Montreal this past spring]and told the crowd, "I'm still here, still part of this movement, because there is this basis of support and solidarity."
If we can mutually support each other, document what has happened, and keep coming up with mechanisms to strive for real justice, we'll find out ways to get through this.
We need to be a multi-generational movement where that kind of information is shared. I was so inspired and motivated by working with a group called RAGE, a group of young people, university and college students. To have multiple generations working together, that's a strength. I hope I can get back to that tangibly. We can all offer support in different ways.
On guilt or innocence:
This is less about whether people are guilty or innocent. That's simply a verdict. What's important is how we struggle together to meet the challenges. There are plenty of times when people have been found guilty but have helped build a movement, and plenty of times people have been found not-guilty and not helped at all.Victory is not about guilt, but justice, dignity, the things we struggle for everyday. That feeling should be brought into the legal support for the people who are facing these challenges.
We're still at a very raw moment though. It's been a week, but a week is nothing. It's in the months to come that we'll see how we can come out of this stronger and more ready to face oppression.
Labels: Canadian politics, G20, G20 demonstrations, Jaggi Singh, political prisoners, prisoners, repression, The Media Coop
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
CANADIAN POLITICS:
SOLIDARITY RALLIES WITH G20 DETAINEES:
As those arrested at the G20 protests are gradually being released or charged solidarity for their situation is growing across Canada. It may be that the federal Conservative government has made a grievous miscalculation in their plans, both in holding the summit in downtown Toronto which a majority of Canadians disapproved of, especially considering the cost, and then in authorizing the mass arrests that seemed targeted at everyone but the small group of rioters. Given the fact that the Canadian population was quite divided about the protests to begin with and the fact that few if any arrests were made of actual rioters while numerous ordinary citizens unconnected with the protests were scooped up and held in cages it is likely that the consequences for the show of force may rebound on the heads of the Harperites. Questions about police tactics during the initial riots are revolving around whether it was deliberate or not that police cars and a section of downtown Toronto were left for the rioters to play with.
Meanwhile solidarity rallies for those arrested are being held in many cities across eastern Canada. Here's a rundown from the Ontario platformist group Common Cause.
PPPPPPPPPP
The fight back is on!
The fight back is on!
Solidarity with the Toronto 900 rallies organized across the country
All out against police brutality and in solidarity with the Toronto 900!
All out against police brutality and in solidarity with the Toronto 900!
A protest outside police headquarters in every city!
June 30, 2010 in Hamilton
5:00pm at Hamilton Police Headquarters
155 King William Street
June 30, 2010 in London
6:00 pm at London Police Headquarters
601 Dundas St (Dundas and Adelaide)
June 30, 2010 in Windsor
6:00pm at Windsor Police Headquarters
150 Goyeau Street
June 30, 2010 in Ottawa
7pm at 474 Elgin Street (Ottawa Police Station)
July 1, 2010 in Montreal
1pm carré Phillips,
St. Catherine
The events of the past week in Toronto have been unprecedented in Canadian history. Over 900 people were arrested, the biggest mass arrests ever in Canada, for daring to protest against the destructive policies of the G20.
Protesters and local residents were subjected to violent baton attacks, snatch squads, tear gas and rubber bullets. Sleeping people have been pulled from their homes at gunpoint in the middle of the night. Many have been beaten. People who have been arrested have been strip-searched and held in cages, facing long delays in obtaining legal support. We have heard numerous accounts of sexual abuse by police from women who were arrested. Journalists have been punched, arrested and had their equipment broken.
On the streets of Toronto, the mask of “liberal democracy” has slipped off and the police reminded us of the State's willingness to use blatant violence against its own population in the face of popular dissent. And thanks to citizen journalists, the alternative media and even some in the corporate media, the truth of what happened in Toronto is slowly emerging.
In order to make sure that the actions of the police state are fully exposed, we must keep up the pressure on the police and the government.
We must also publicly demonstrate our solidarity with all those arrested so that they are released as quickly as possible and charges are dropped against all those caught up in the net of the police state.
In Toronto, solidarity rallies outside detention centres and police stations are already taking place. But just as police forces from across the province converged on Toronto for the G20, so our resistance must spread out from the epicentre of oppression to every corner of the province.
Common Cause thus calls on all those concerned to take the fight back across the province and across the country.
Starting this Wednesday, June 30, we are calling for solidarity rallies outside police headquarters in as many cities as possible.
Our message will be clear:
Free the Toronto 900!
Fight back against the police state! We are putting you under surveillance!
Build the resistance against the G20! Build the resistance against austerity!
Build the general strike!
Common Cause
http://www.linchpin.ca/
To add your rally to the list or to send pictures from rallies, please email us at commoncauseontario@gmail.com Media may also use the same email address to contact us. Check our website for regular updates on rallies in your city.
June 30, 2010 in Hamilton
5:00pm at Hamilton Police Headquarters
155 King William Street
June 30, 2010 in London
6:00 pm at London Police Headquarters
601 Dundas St (Dundas and Adelaide)
June 30, 2010 in Windsor
6:00pm at Windsor Police Headquarters
150 Goyeau Street
June 30, 2010 in Ottawa
7pm at 474 Elgin Street (Ottawa Police Station)
July 1, 2010 in Montreal
1pm carré Phillips,
St. Catherine
The events of the past week in Toronto have been unprecedented in Canadian history. Over 900 people were arrested, the biggest mass arrests ever in Canada, for daring to protest against the destructive policies of the G20.
Protesters and local residents were subjected to violent baton attacks, snatch squads, tear gas and rubber bullets. Sleeping people have been pulled from their homes at gunpoint in the middle of the night. Many have been beaten. People who have been arrested have been strip-searched and held in cages, facing long delays in obtaining legal support. We have heard numerous accounts of sexual abuse by police from women who were arrested. Journalists have been punched, arrested and had their equipment broken.
On the streets of Toronto, the mask of “liberal democracy” has slipped off and the police reminded us of the State's willingness to use blatant violence against its own population in the face of popular dissent. And thanks to citizen journalists, the alternative media and even some in the corporate media, the truth of what happened in Toronto is slowly emerging.
In order to make sure that the actions of the police state are fully exposed, we must keep up the pressure on the police and the government.
We must also publicly demonstrate our solidarity with all those arrested so that they are released as quickly as possible and charges are dropped against all those caught up in the net of the police state.
In Toronto, solidarity rallies outside detention centres and police stations are already taking place. But just as police forces from across the province converged on Toronto for the G20, so our resistance must spread out from the epicentre of oppression to every corner of the province.
Common Cause thus calls on all those concerned to take the fight back across the province and across the country.
Starting this Wednesday, June 30, we are calling for solidarity rallies outside police headquarters in as many cities as possible.
Our message will be clear:
Free the Toronto 900!
Fight back against the police state! We are putting you under surveillance!
Build the resistance against the G20! Build the resistance against austerity!
Build the general strike!
Common Cause
http://www.linchpin.ca/
To add your rally to the list or to send pictures from rallies, please email us at commoncauseontario@gmail.com Media may also use the same email address to contact us. Check our website for regular updates on rallies in your city.
Labels: Canadian politics, Common Cause, G20 demonstrations, Ontario, police brutality., political prisoners, protests, Quebec
Sunday, September 13, 2009
INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-SERBIA:
SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN WITH ARRESTED SERBIAN ANARCHOSYNDICALISTS:
Since Molly lasted blogged on this matter, with material from the Greek ASI Solidarity site, there have been several solidarity demonstrations with the six Serbian comrades who are in a one month detention awaiting trial. The Polish Union of Syndicalists (ZSP)has undertaken further solidarity work, and there is a protest letter to the Serbian authorities that you can sign at their solidarity site. The last time that Molly looked there were 2,841 signatories. Here is the call for Solidarity from the ZSP.
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Political Arrests in Belgrade:
On Saturday, Sept. 4, five* political activists were arrested in Belgrade on trumped up charges. The five, Tadej Kurep, Ivan Vulović, Sanja Dojkić, Ratibor Trivunac and Nikola Mitrovic, are activists in or associates of the Anarcho-Syndicalist Initiative, the Serbian section of the International Workers’ Association (IWA). (* The sixth person sought by police, Ivan Savic, was also arrested some days later.)
On Saturday, Sept. 4, five* political activists were arrested in Belgrade on trumped up charges. The five, Tadej Kurep, Ivan Vulović, Sanja Dojkić, Ratibor Trivunac and Nikola Mitrovic, are activists in or associates of the Anarcho-Syndicalist Initiative, the Serbian section of the International Workers’ Association (IWA). (* The sixth person sought by police, Ivan Savic, was also arrested some days later.)
The arrests are allegedly related to a direct action which took place at the Greek Embassy on Aug. 25. Negligible damage was done; a crack in one window, a tiny burn mark on the facade and a circled A graffiti on the embassy as a act of symbolic solidarity with Thodoros Iliopoulos. The prosecutor however imagines this as an act of “international terrorism” and would like to charge our comrades with such. If the state allows such charges to be pressed, they could be facing 3-15 years in prison.
As it is, the five were arrested, harassed and are to be held in custody for at least one month while the case is organized.
Although one of the accused, General Secretary of the IWA Ratibor Trivunac clearly and publicly declared that he knew nothing of the action, he was arrested. It is not the first time that authorities have come after him or his comrades for no other reason than the fact that they are radical critics of the state.
We are calling on people around the world to take action now!
If you can organize a protest at a Serbian Embassy, Consulate or other Diplomatic Mission, please do so ASAP. Rather than one day of action, we think actions can be spread out over a few days, but we think it’s best not to wait! Try to make an action by Sept. 15-16.
Also, send faxes and protest letters! We are including a list of addresses on this page. If you like, you can also send a letter to the government through this page. You can write your own text or use out sample text. Our page can keep a log of signatories so we may pass them on to the comrades in Serbia so they know which organizations and people have sent protests.
Please send us information about your demos, protests or articles on the case!
FREE THE FIVE NOW!
ADDRESSES OF DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA:
http://www.mfa.gov.rs/Worldframe.htm
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THE LETTER:
Please go to the Solidarity Site of the ZSP to send the following letter to the Serbian government.
@@@@@@@@@
We are writing to demand the immediate release of Tadej Kurep, Ivan Vulović, Sanja Dojkić, Ratibor Trivunac and Nikola Mitrović, arrested Sept. 4 in Belgrade on absurd grounds. The prosecutor's assertions are clearly ridiculous. It seems perfectly clear that this case has been politicized and a show case is being made out of a minor incident.
In the meanwhile, the state continues to deflect attention away from the institutionalized violence inflicted daily through war, policing and exploitation, which is the real terror of daily life for millions around the globe.
We will not stand by idly as people who fight for social justice are repressed based on their history of political activism. We will campaign for the release of these activists and for the end of state repression.
Labels: anarchism, Anarcho-Syndicalist Initiative, arrests, international anarchist movement, political prisoners, repression, Serbia, solidarity., ZSP
Saturday, May 23, 2009
INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-SERBIA:
IWA GENERAL SECRETARY JAILED FOR TEN DAYS:
The following is a notice from the A-Infos website. It seems that the General Secretary of the International Workers' Association/Asociación has been sentenced to 10 days in jail for his actions during a demonstration ie burning a US flag. The mind boggles at this. I wonder if Serbia is the only country in the world to have statutes that ban the burning of other nations' flags. Or is it just the US flag in particular ? In the latter case it is even more bizarre. The history of the past few decades is one in which Serbia and the US have hardly been the best of friends, to put it lightly. I have no doubt that Serbia would like to suck up to the US as much as is possible while, at the same time keeping its Russian trump card, but still.... Maybe this is under the heading od insults to foreign "dignitaries" (cough, cough, cough, hack, hack- oops there's another hairball). In such a case one wonders about the mindset of Serbian judiciary in presuming that the burning a a US flag in a small demonstration would actually ever reach the eyes of the US Vice President, let alone that he would be insulted. The Serbian authorities give far too much credence, undoubtedly more than the demonstartors did, to the power of the demonstartion. It's bet taking time here. Has Biden become aware, or will he become aware in the future, of the 100,000,000th burning of a US flag on this particular occasion ? I give 100 to 1 odds. To say the least I am being conservative and hoarding my money on this one. The actual odds are much higher, more like winning the lottery jackpot. Any takers ? You have 1 year to produce the evidence. Anyways, on to the story.
@@@@@@@@@@
Serbia, 10 days of prison for the IWA General Secretary
Ratibor Trivunac, member of the Union Confederation "Anarcho-syndicalist Initiative"( the website of the Serbian Anarcho Syndicalist Initiative is http://inicijativa.org/ -Molly) and General Secretary of the International Workers Association, was convicted yesterday evening to ten days of prison for the burning of the US flag in the center of Belgrade. A group of anarchists organized an illegal protest yesterday as a reaction to the visit of the US Vice President Joseph Biden to Belgrade. During the protest Trivunac burned the US flag and read a statement condemning the role of the USA in reproduction of capitalist relations, wars, exploitation and discrimination in the world.
---- Belgrade district judge Goran Milutinović sentenced Ratibor and ordered him to be immediately sent to prison without giving him a chance for appeal! Other comrades that have been arrested were released without charges. Our lawyer will try to appeal the sentence today.
Burning of the flag is a symbolic act of protest and we find the actions of judge Milutinović to be scandalous. We refuse to obey orders, we refuse to keep quiet! We will always burn the symbols of exploitation and oppression!
We would like to call for international actions of solidarity if Ratibor is not released by Saturday morning. We will keep informing you of developments. The IWA Secretariat can be contacted, as usual, by telephone number +381-63-263-775 or email (we would prefer by telephone as we may not check the email regularly during the following days).
Freedom for Ratibor!
Long live the IWA!
On behalf of the IWA Secretariat,
Nikola Pavlović
--
Secretariat of the International Workers Association
Secretariado de la Asociación International de los Trabajadores
secretariado@iwa-ait.org
http://iwa-ait.org/
Labels: AIT, anarchism, international anarchist movement, political prisoners, Ratibor Trivunac, Serbia
Thursday, May 14, 2009
INTERNATIONAL LABOUR-IRAN:
FREE THE MAYDAY DETAINEES:
Recent may day gatherings in the Islamic Republic of Iran were marred by state repression and over 150 arrests. Over 100 of these people are still being detained. Here, via the online labour solidarity site Labour Start, is a call from the International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran. (IASWI) for support of those still in prison.
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Iran: A Call for the International Campaign to Free May Day Detainees:
Workers and labour organizations in Iran and all over the world!
On May First, the International Workers’ Day, many workers and their families assembled in Laleh Park of Tehran in response to the May Day Organizing Committee (consisting of independent labour organizations in Iran). People gathered to present their demands and to commemorate the May Day; however, they as well as other visitors of the park were violently attacked by the security-intelligence forces and plain-clothes agents. These forces used all kinds of tools and equipments to assault people, as the result of which many got severely injured and more than 150 people while being beaten were taken to custody. At this time, about 100 of the above are still incarcerated.
Iran: A Call for the International Campaign to Free May Day Detainees:
Workers and labour organizations in Iran and all over the world!
On May First, the International Workers’ Day, many workers and their families assembled in Laleh Park of Tehran in response to the May Day Organizing Committee (consisting of independent labour organizations in Iran). People gathered to present their demands and to commemorate the May Day; however, they as well as other visitors of the park were violently attacked by the security-intelligence forces and plain-clothes agents. These forces used all kinds of tools and equipments to assault people, as the result of which many got severely injured and more than 150 people while being beaten were taken to custody. At this time, about 100 of the above are still incarcerated.
The people who were so brutally beaten and arrested had not committed any crime. They were repressed because they wanted to commemorate their international day, along with billions of other workers around the world, and put forward the demands of million of working people of Iran. They are being oppressed because of their efforts to form independent organizations. Many of them just like thousand other workers in Iran have not been paid for months. They are now in such unbearable situation only because they raised their protest voice together.
Everyday, the families of the May Day detainees have been gathering outside courts and judicial offices but they have been badly treated and never received a clear answer from the judicial authorities. We, millions of workers and toilers and egalitarians, are responsible towards our imprisoned colleagues and their families and must not leave them on their own. We have to engage in united and immense efforts for the freedom of all prisoners.
We therefore launch a campaign for the freedom of May Day detainees and call on all workers’ and human rights’ organizations in Iran and internationally to denounce these arrests, demand unconditional freedom of all detainees and support the legitimate demands of workers in Iran, which was stipulated in their 2009 (1388) May Day resolution. All concerned organizations and individuals are urgently requested to take any necessary and possible measures, depending on their capacity, in support of the May Day detainees.
LONG LIVE CLASS SOLIDARITY OF WORKERS OF THE WORLD
Please send the report of your actions, statements and solidarity messages to campain1may@gmail.com .
May 9th, 2009 (Ordibehest 19, 1388
The May Day Organizing Committee:
• The Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Vahed Bus Company
• The Syndicate of Workers of Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company
• The Free Union of Workers in Iran
• The Founding Committee of the Syndicate of Building 's Painters and Decoration's Workers
• The Collaborative Council of Labour Organizations and Activists
- The Coordinating Committee to Help Form Workers’ Organizations
- The Committee to Pursue the Establishment of Free Workers’ Organizations
- A Group of Worker Activists
- The Women’s Council
• The Center for Workers’ Rights in Iran
Supported by:
The Electrical & Metal Workers' Trade Association in Kermanshah, The Association in Support of the Sacked Workers of Saqhez, The Committee in Defence of Haft Tapeh Workers, Workers of The Parris textile Factory in Sanandaj, Workers of the Shin Baft Spinning and Textile Factory in Sanandaj, Workers of Shahoo, Sanandaj Textile, Gharb Baft, Ajor Shil, Shir Paak Araa, Gunnny Baafi (Gunny Making) Sama, Fajr Flour and Nirou Rakhsh factories, Service workers of Sanandaj’s Tohid Hospital, A group of Retired Workers of Sanandaj, Workers of Farsh Gharb Company in Kermanshah, Dena Laastic (Rubber), A group of workers of Ghaa-en Cement, A group of Workers of Aslavieh …
(more names to be added)
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A sample letter:
Here is the sample letter that the IASWI has presented for the use of supporters earlier this May. It can still be used, modified as the most recent facts, to send to Iranian authorities at this later date.
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Sample protest letter: Protest against repression of May Day Events in Iran:
Send your protest letters to:
To: info@leader.ir ; dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir ; info@judiciary.ir ; iran@un.int ; ijpr@iranjudiciary.org ; info@dadiran.ir ; office@justice.ir; matbuat@mfa.gov.ir; info@police.ir
Cc: info@workers-iran.org;
According to the May Day Organizing Committee in Tehran, the May Day rally and celebration in Tehran, which was organized by independent Iranian labour organizations in Laleh Park, on May 1st, 2009, was violently attacked by security and intelligence forces and many were beaten and over 150 people arrested. The intelligence forces brutally attacked the event’s participants including women and children, by baton and tear gas etc., and forced hundreds of people out of the park. May Day rallies in City of Sanandaj, amongst others, were also attacked by security forces and plain clothes officers and many were beaten and arrested.
Send your protest letters to:
To: info@leader.ir ; dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir ; info@judiciary.ir ; iran@un.int ; ijpr@iranjudiciary.org ; info@dadiran.ir ; office@justice.ir; matbuat@mfa.gov.ir; info@police.ir
Cc: info@workers-iran.org;
According to the May Day Organizing Committee in Tehran, the May Day rally and celebration in Tehran, which was organized by independent Iranian labour organizations in Laleh Park, on May 1st, 2009, was violently attacked by security and intelligence forces and many were beaten and over 150 people arrested. The intelligence forces brutally attacked the event’s participants including women and children, by baton and tear gas etc., and forced hundreds of people out of the park. May Day rallies in City of Sanandaj, amongst others, were also attacked by security forces and plain clothes officers and many were beaten and arrested.
Five days after the May Day police crackdown, about 130 women and men are still incarcerated. They are detained in unacceptable conditions in section 204 of Tehran’s Evin Prison.
We condemn these attacks on workers’ rights to organize and celebrate May Day events. We are asking for the immediate and unconditional freedom of all May Day detainees. We also demand that the government to respect workers’ rights to organize, assemble and strike, put an end to persecution of labour activists, free all jailed workers and not to interfere in the affairs of independent workers’ organizations.
Please mail your protest letter to (optional):
Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
The Presidency,
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: + 98 21 649 58 80
**
Leader of the Islamic Republic:
Ayatollah Sayed *Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street
Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: 011 98 251 7774 2228
**
Head of the Judiciary:
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice,
Ministry of Justice Building
Panzdah-Khordad Square
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: 011 98 21 3390 4986 (may be difficult to reach)
**
Ambassador,
Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations Institutions in Geneva, Chemin du Petit-Saconnex 28, 1209
Geneva, Switzerland,
Fax: +41 22 733 02 03,
E-mail: mission.iran@ties.itu.int
**
CC: International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran (info@workers-iran.org).
You can also send your protest letters to the Iranian Embassy in your country: click: http://www.worldembassyinformation.com/iran-embassy/index.html
**
CC: International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran (info@workers-iran.org).
You can also send your protest letters to the Iranian Embassy in your country: click: http://www.worldembassyinformation.com/iran-embassy/index.html
Labels: International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, international labour, Iran, labour, Labour Start, May Day, political prisoners, prisoners, repression, solidarity
Saturday, May 09, 2009
INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-MEXICO:
PROTEST REPRESSION IN CHIAPAS:
The following appeal is taken from the Anarkismo website. For further addesses and links see the end of this item. Also see the Chiapas Indymedia site for continued coverage of the situation in Chiapas.
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Raise your voices against repressions by the state of Chiapas, Mexico:
To members of the other campaign both national and international
To the alternative national and international media Sisters and brothers in national and international resistance movements
Cordial greetings!
We are writing you today to ask for your strong and committed support in action and solidarity in the search for justice for 8 activists unjustly and illegally imprisoned, tortured, badly treated, stigmatized by the media, and now awaiting possible incarceration for false accusations.
Presently these activists, Jerónimo Gómez Saragos, Antonio Gómez Saragos, Miguel Demeza Jiménez, Sebastián Demeza Deara, Pedro Demeza Deara and Jerónimo Moreno Deara, members of the Other Campaign and residents of Ejido San Sebastián Bachajón, in the municipality of Chilón, detained on April 13th, 2009; as well as Alfredo Gómez Moreno and Miguel Vázquez Moreno, who is a a member of the Zapatistas, and was detained on the 17the and 18th of April in the prison “El Amate” CERESS 14 in Cintalapa, Chiapas, Mexico.
In the course of the next 4 days, ending on Friday, May 8th, the state will decide whether these activists are innocent and free from the crimes which they are falsely accused or whether they will be incorporated in the corruption of this government and imprisoned. These activists, members of the Other Campaign and the Zapatistas, among the most active of those working for social change, are part of the first dignified voices to proclaim themselves against the new highway project that will connect the cities of Ocosingo and Palenque.
These projects will initiate the basic infrastructure for a series of massive projects proposed by the government and multinational corporations. These projects engage in the theft of the abundant natural resources in the region and the implementation of a large scale tourism business that will destroy the surrounding environment.
If we allow this process to continue in silence, we, the national and international community will leave open the possibility for this government to continue their crimes; allowing repressions to continue against social activists; giving permission to torture, intimidate, and detain anyone that defends their legitimate right to live without fear and demand their basic human rights; we will allow them to continue to develop massive projects that will lead to the destruction of a dignified life for any human being.
Now is an important and urgent moment to act in every way possible to achieve liberty for these activists. In the next few days any type of political act in your city or country that will call attention to the unjust detention of these activists and support this struggle for basic human rights will help. We need to pressure the state government and administration of Juan Sabines Guerrero to liberate these political prisoners. Any act is useful whether it be in group or individual; marches, letters to the government of Chiapas and the federal government of Mexico, signed petitions, calls and letters to the press…will all bring attention to these injustices.
Sincerely,
Adherents to the sixth declaration of the Lacandon jungle, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, México.
Addresses for sending letters:
Lic. Juan José Sabines Guerrero
Gobernador Constitucional del Estado de Chiapas
Gobernatura del Estado de Chiapas
Palacio de Gobierno del Estado de Chiapas
Av. Central y Primera Oriente, Colonia Centro, C.P. 29009
Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, México
Correo-electrónico: secparticular@chiapas.gob.mx
Fax: +52 (961) 61 88088 +52 (961) 6188056
..........
Dr. Noé Castañòn León
Secretario General de Gobierno del Estado de Chiapas
Secretaría General de Gobierno
Palacio de Gobierno, 2o. piso,
Colonia Centro
Tuxtla, Gutiérrez, Chiapas, México
C.P. 29000 Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas.
Fax: +52 (961) 61 20663
Conmutador: + 5..., 61 8-74-60
..........
Lic. Juan Gabriel Coutiño Gómez
Tribunal Superior de Justicia
Magistrado Presidente Juan Gabriel Coutiño Gómez
Palacio de Justicia
Libramiento Norte Oriente No.2100
Fraccionamiento El BosqueC.P. 20047
Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas
Tel-Fax : (52+)(961) 6178700(52+)
(96...Contacto: administrator@mail.scjn.gob.mx
..........
Lic. Carlos Alberto Bello Avendaño
Juez Segundo de Penal del Distrito Judicial de Tuxtla Gutiérrez
Carretera Tuxtla Gutiérrez ?Cintalapa
Tel- Fax: (52+) (968) 36 46 8452+)(961) 6178700
Contacto: cbelloa@poderjudicialchiapas.gob.mx
..........
RPTE. DE LA OFICINA DEL ALTO COMISIONADO PARA LOS DERECHOS HUMANOS EN MEXICO
Dirección : Alejandro Dumas #165
Col. Polanco Delegación Miguel Hidalgo
C.P 11560 México D.F
Tel: + 52 (01 55) 5061-6350
Fax: 5061-6358
e-mail: oacnudh@ohchr.org
Please send a copy to:
Centro de Derechos Humanos
Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas,
A.C.Calle Brasil 14,
Barrio Méxicanos, 29240
San Cristóbal de Las Casas,
Chiapas, México
Tel: 967 6787395, 967 6787396,
Fax: 967 6783548
Correo: accionurgente@frayba.org.mx
For more information about this case:Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Bulletins:
http://www.frayba.org.mx/index.php
CIEPACVideos and Bulletins:
http://www.ciepac.org/documento.php?id=237
Enlace Zapatista
Denouncements:
http://enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx/denuncias/1615
http://enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx/denuncias/1598
Labels: anarchism, anarkismo.net, Chiapas, Chiapas Indymedia, international anarchist movement, Mexico, political prisoners, prisoners, repression, solidarity
Friday, January 02, 2009
ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS:
SOLIDARITY WITH BENJAMIN NOTTAWAY-A CANADIAN POLITICAL PRISONER:
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Does Canada have political prisoners ? From one point of view- no; not since the October crisis of 1970 have people been jailed in Canada solely for holding certain political opinions. In another sense- very much yes; many people have been jailed in this country for peaceful civil disobedience, and it's likely that this will continue. The following is the story of one such person, Chief Benjamin Nottaway of the Barriere Lake Algonquin nation. He has been put in prison for 45 days for a highway protest, and the following announces not just solidarity rallies in support of him and his cause but also asks you to drop him a note of support.
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Action Alert
NATIVE RIGHTS UNDER LOCK & KEY:
Rallies to support the Algonquins of Barriere Lake and jailed Customary Chief Benjamin Nottaway
OTTAWA
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
WEDNESDAY,
January 7th, 2009, NOON
WHERE: Indian and Northern Affairs Canada
Corner of Wellington and Montcalm in GATINEAU
MARCH to the Gatineau Detention Centre, 75 Rue St. Francois
Click HERE FOR A MAP
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MONTREAL
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THURSDAY,
January 8, 2009, NOON
In front of Jean Charest's office
corner of McGill College & Sherbrooke
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
* Bring banners, signs, placards, noise-makers...
**Hot chocolate and snacks will be served at both rallies.
For more information, click here
Posted by Barriere Lake Solidarity at 1:06 AM
Sunday, December 21, 2008
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And don't forget the man himself. Here's the instructions for sending him a letter.
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Send a letter to Acting Chief Benjamin Nottaway :
Acting Chief Benjamin Nottaway is being held in jail for 45 days, not counting 2 weeks in pre-trial detention, for peacefully protesting on highway 117 in attempts to have Barriere Lake's signed agreements honoured and for the Canadian government to respect Barriere Lake's Customary Governance.
This is part of a larger and disturbing trend in Canada, where indigenous leadership are being jailed for standing up for their constitutionally-recognized Aboriginal rights. In Ontario, both KI6 and Bob Lovelace were jailed for peaceful protest for several months. A decision that was overturned in the court of appeal.
To send Benjamin a letter of support:
Benjamin Nottaway
Hull Detention Centre
P-6, D-3
75 Rue St. Francois
Hull, Quebec J9A 1B4
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THE BACKGROUND:
Wonder what this all about ? Here's a little background from the Globe and mail via the Barriere Lake Solidarity site.
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Blockade leader says he's a 'political prisoner' :
JOE FRIESEN
GLOBE AND MAIL
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081215.NATIVES15/TPStory/National
Speaking from a jail cell, deposed native leader Benjamin Nottaway says he is a political prisoner, targeted for his outspoken opposition to the governments of Canada and Quebec.
He is the latest casualty of a power struggle that has included allegations of a political coup, fire bombings and several interventions by riot police.
It reads like a tale ripped from the headlines of a war-torn dictatorship. Instead, it's the story of the Algonquins of Barriere Lake, a Quebec community of 450 people three hours north of Ottawa.
Mr. Nottaway, imprisoned for 45 days for leading a highway blockade, says that although he misses his children, he is being treated with respect in jail, where fellow inmates refer to him deferentially as the "chief." But the question of who actually is the chief of Barriere Lake is far from clear.
Mr. Nottaway alleges that he was deposed by an ambitious group of plotters led by Casey Ratt, who launched what Nottaway supporters call an "administrative coup d'état" this year and installed themselves as the band government.
He calls Mr. Ratt a "puppet" and a "government agent," propped up by officials in Ottawa and Quebec City who see him as a soft touch when it comes to defending aboriginal land title and resource rights.
Mr. Ratt laughs at these suggestions, and says there is no leadership crisis in Barriere Lake, save for the grumblings of those who have lost their grip on power and have enlisted non-native activists to push their case in the news media.
He says he came to power in January after a three-month leadership review, which he launched because he was upset that Mr. Nottaway's group had closed the band school, a move he perceived as motivated by their own political aims.
"It's no good for our kids to use them as political pawns," Mr. Ratt says."A lot of people didn't agree with those tactics."
After Mr. Ratt was declared chief, his opponents said he had hijacked the traditional selection process and tried to push him off the reserve. His house burned down in suspicious circumstances, he says, as did the band office.
"But I'm still in the community," he says. "It's a steady struggle.
"Barriere Lake does not elect leaders according to the one-member, one-vote system set out in the Indian Act, but instead uses a selection system led by a council of elders. The federal government says it has no role in adjudicating that system, but has acknowledged the election of Mr. Ratt's group and says it will conduct business with his council.
After several escalating protests against Mr. Ratt's government, the Nottaway group blockaded Highway 117 twice in recent months. In October,riot police were sent in by the provincial police force and were accused of using violent tactics to disperse the protesters. In November, Mr.Nottaway and four other prominent political opponents of Mr. Ratt were arrested by riot police for staging another highway blockade, which they called a tactic of last resort. They were asking the federal government to appoint an independent observer to oversee a new leadership selection.
"When I was in court my lawyer told me, 'The Crown wants you to suffer, they want you to feel the pain.' They asked for 12 months, but I got 45 days," Mr. Nottaway says. "I'm a political prisoner, and they know that. It's all politically motivated.
"The people of Barriere Lake have never signed a treaty with Canada, and they say they have never received a fair share, or had a say, in the resource revenue extracted from their traditional territory, which they estimate at $100-million a year. For its part, the community suffers crippling unemployment and is not connected to the power grid, so it runs on diesel generators.
Mr. Ratt says he wants to put the power struggle behind him and work toward finding both short- and long-term solutions for his community. Mr. Nottaway says he can't allow the band to be led by a chief he considers illegitimate. His goal is to see a 1991 trilateral agreement on resource management honoured by the province and the federal government.
"The government imposed a minority faction on our community," he says."That's not what we want and we're never going to accept it. Even though I'm in here, we're not going to stop fighting."
Labels: aboriginal, Barriere Lake, Barriere Lake Solidarity, Benjamin Nottaway, Canadian politics, political prisoners, Quebec
