next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects
Your message didn't get posted on sust-mar? Probably it contained html coding. Use your "Format" pull-down menu to switch to plain text format. ____________________________________________________________________________ --=======37481A2B======= Content-Type: text/plain; x-avg-checked=avg-ok-123F33EA; charset=iso-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable 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 --=======37481A2B=======-- ____________________________________________________________________________ Did a friend forward this to you? Join sust-mar yourself! Just send 'subscribe sust-mar' to mailto:majordomo@chebucto.ca
next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects