sust-mar: ** FREE VAUGHN - Fredericton Activist Needs Support to Help

Date: Sat, 09 Aug 2003 13:59:54 -0400
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This Fredericton Activist could use the support of his fellow Maritimers...=
 -a
----------------------------------------------------------------------------=
------------------------
From: freevaughn@ziplip.com
Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2003

THE FREE VAUGHN CAMPAIGN IS CALLING ON ALL SUPPORTERS TO HELP APPLY=20
PRESSURE TO RELEVANT GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS FOR THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF=
 VAUGHN!

Please flood these individuals=92 EMAIL, SNAIL MAIL, and VOICE MAIL inboxes.
Please request a timely response in order to make a greater impression.
Please CC (copy) your correspondence to freevaughn@ziplip.com

Marc Bellemare
Minister of Justice and Attorney General for the Province of Quebec
=C9difice Louis-Philippe-Pigeon
1200, route de l'=C9glise
9e =E9tage
Sainte-Foy (Qu=E9bec) G1V4M1
Phone : (418) 643-4210 / (514) 873-3317 / (418) 644-3099
Fax : (418) 646-0027 / (514) 873-7174 / (418) 644-3118
Email: ministre@justice.gouv.qc.ca

Wayne Easter (Canada's Solicitor General)
House of Commons
318 Justice Building
Ottawa  K1A 0A6
Telephone:  (613) 992-2406 / (902) 964-2428 / 1-800-442-4050
Fax:  (613) 995-7408 / (902) 964-3242
Email:  weaster@auracom.com, Easter.W@parl.gc.ca, eastew@parl.gc.ca
http://www.wayneeaster.com/

Andy Scott (Vaughn Barnett's MP and Former Solicitor General)
61 Carlton Street
Fredericton, NB
E3B 3T2
Telephone:  (506)-452-4110 / (613) 992-1067
Fax:  (506)-452-4076 / (613) 996-9955
Email:  ScottA@parl.gc.ca, Scott.A@parl.gc.ca

You can:

DEMAND* the immediate unconditional release of Vaughn Barnett.

DEMAND* the government immediately drop the charge against Vaughn Barnett.

DEMAND* that all =93Unlawful Assembly=94 charges be dropped from all=
 arrestees.

* You could use other words like: request, suggest, recommend, cajole, or=20
DEMAND.

Unlawful Assembly is an arbitrary charge that is used to target people for=
=20
being at or near a protest. The majority of people arrested on July 28th=20
were not able to =93disperse=94 when requested by the Montr=E9al Police=
 because=20
they were surrounded and unable to move past hundreds of Riot Cops.=20
Protesting is not a crime. We are alleged to have freedom of speech and=20
freedom of assembly. These freedoms were violated arbitrarily with no good=
=20
reason.

PLEASE READ THE TWO ARTICLES BELOW FOR MORE INFORMATION ON WHY VAUGHN IS=20
SITTING IN JAIL.
_______________________________________________________

What else can you do to help?

FIRST: Please write him a letter! He is lacking contact from the outside=20
community and needs to know that the people are aware of his struggle. You=
=20
could send him your thoughts on anything, the July 28th arrests, the World=
=20
Trade Organization, the justice system or your local sports team. Every=20
letter from a supporting community member will raise his spirits a mile=20
high. (Trust us!)

Vaughn Barnett
800 Gouen St. West
Montreal,
H3L 1K7

SECOND: Vaughn could use some money in his canteen account. Prisoners are=20
able to buy tooth paste, shampoo, a pencil and paper, candy, etc=85 in jail=
=20
but only with the money that is put into their account. A donation to=20
Vaughn=92s account can be given to the campaign and then forwarded to our=20
Montr=E9al contacts. If only takes a small amount to ease his time in jail.

THIRD: volunteer to have Vaughn call you collect. He could use more people=
=20
to talk with. Again you could talk about anything; the sound of a friendly=
=20
voice on the other end will make him feel amazing. You can have us limit=20
the time/cost of the phone call. Please email the =93Free Vaughn=94 campaign=
=20
for more info. This is a big request, but what Vaughn is doing to defending=
=20
all of us! He is standing up for our rights when we can=92t!

FOURTH: You can also spread the word, about Vaughn in particular, and=20
criminalization of dissent in general. A few ideas are word of mouth,=20
letters to the editor, radio phone-ins, contacting local media, posting=20
information on independent media websites and chat forums, or whatever else=
=20
you can think of...

Again, we can=92t stress enough the importance of what Vaughn is doing. The=
=20
crown has not yet shown any evidence of his guilt. They mass arrested=20
anyone around the =93green zone=94 and are now trying to force=20
non-constitutional conditions down our throats. Vaughn is not letting this=
=20
happen and refuses to sign any conditions from this bogus charge. It is=20
extremely important that we should extend a massive amount of solidarity to=
=20
Vaughn while he is locked down. PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO WRITE TO HIM AND=20
SHOW YOUR SUPPORT. IT COST LESS THEN A DOLLAR!!!

Thank-you very much for your help and for supporting Vaughn.

The Free Vaughn Campaign
freevaughn@ziplip.com
www.uberculture.org/mobglob/freevaughn.html


**MORE INFORMATION ON VAUGHN BELOW**
_______________________________________________________


http://www.rabble.ca/news_full_story.shtml?sh_itm=3De51ec9bace6e09a45414edb0=
17c15e2c&r=3D1

WTO PROTESTER REMAINS IN JAIL

=93The state definitely seems to be trying to deter us from what we have a=
=20
right to do and what we should be doing as citizens of a democratic=20
society.=94  - Vaughn Barnett

Vaughn Barnett, a soft-spoken resident of Fredericton, N.B., is one of=20
Canada's latest political prisoners. He was among 236 people arrested=20
during the World Trade Organization mini-ministerial in Montreal last week.=
=20
He remains in jail.

Charged with =93unlawful assembly,=94 Barnett refuses to sign a conditional=
=20
release that would limit his rights of free expression and assembly,=20
insisting that all charges and compromises to his constitutional freedoms=20
be dropped.

=93The state definitely seems to be trying to deter us from what we have a=
=20
right to do and what we should be doing as citizens of a democratic=20
society,=94 he told rabble during an interview from Bordeaux medium security=
=20
prison this week. =93I've decided to refuse the bail so as not to legitimize=
=20
or cooperate with this unjust, unlawful process.=94

What Barnett describes as an =93illegitimate process and subversion of=20
democracy=94 began on the morning of July 28, when an overwhelming force of=
=20
Montreal riot police surrounded, detained then arrested over 150 people=20
gathered in the =93green zone,=94 an area publicized by protest organizers=
 as a=20
safe space for theatre, art and music.

The mass arrest began well over an hour after the morning protest dispersed=
=20
and took place many blocks from the police barricades that circled the WTO=
=20
meetings. The crowd had been gathering, with prior consent, on private=20
property. Police moved the crowd from the vacant lot into the street where=
=20
the mass arrest took place.

=93All of a sudden the police moved in wearing riot gear and holding up=
 their=20
shields,=94 said Barnett, adding that he and others were pushed by police.=
=20
=93They herded us into a tight group that kept getting tighter as people=
 were=20
taken away.=94

People identified as medics, journalists and legal observers =97 as well as=
 a=20
doctor, a construction worker and several tourists =97 were among those=20
handcuffed and packed into police vans. This mass sweep netted about 75 per=
=20
cent of the total arrests during the WTO meetings.

=93The police certainly did not find us engaging in any criminal activity at=
=20
the time because we weren't even protesting let alone protesting in any=20
unlawful way,=94 Barnett said.

The Crown's disclosure of evidence obtained prior to Barnett's July 30 bail=
=20
hearing makes no reference to Barnett himself and provides no suggestion=20
that he participated in any illegal activity.

By justifying the mass arrest at the time with the charge of =93participatin=
g=20
in a riot,=94 an indictable offense, and subsequently downgrading to a=
 lesser=20
charge of =93unlawful assembly=94 once people had been detained, police=20
betrayed their true strategy, Barnett said.

=93What they're trying to do is link these lawful activities on the part of=
=20
citizens with unlawful activities by a very few people who may or may not=20
be on our side,=94 he said, making reference to a handful of people who=
 broke=20
windows during the protest. =93They are using that unlawful activity as a=20
pretext to round up hundreds of people to make it so that they will think=20
twice about exercising their basic rights next time around.=94

Barnett said he will soon be consulting Montreal lawyer, Denis Poitra, as=20
he prepares to file a Habeas Corpus application.

=93A Habeas Corpus application, essentially, is a review of the bail hearing=
=20
where the lawyer will ask superior court to quash the decision of the bail=
=20
court and grant my release on the basis that the decision was made without=
=20
proper jurisdiction,=94 Barnett said. =93It is a civil libertarian remedy so=
=20
that anyone who is imprisoned unlawfully can go before the court and ask to=
=20
be released.=94

In a similar act of defiance, Barnett remained in a Quebec prison for 42=20
days following the Summit of the Americas protest in 2001.

Back home in Fredericton, Barnett works as a legal researcher and advocate=
=20
for people who cannot afford a lawyer. His trial is set for October 21,=20
2003. He plans to represent himself in court.
_______________________________________________________

The Free Vaughn Campaign
freevaughn@ziplip.com
www.uberculture.org/mobglob/freevaughn.html

=93We=92re definitely sliding towards losing some of our fundamental rights=
 if=20
we let this happen. So, that=92s why it=92s very important right now that=
 our=20
politicians look into this operation and send a very strong message to the=
=20
police that this is not acceptable in Canada.=94 - Yves Manseau, Mouvement=
=20
Action Justice

=93Any movement that fails to support its political internees is a sham=20
movement!=94 - Political Prisoner of war (POW) Ojore Lutalo=20

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