[756] in peace2
FREE JAGGI SINGH
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Payal Parekh)
Fri May 4 18:55:45 2001
Date: Fri, 4 May 2001 18:54:42 -0400 (EDT)
From: Payal Parekh <parekh@pimms.mit.edu>
To: secular@mit.edu, aid-boston@egroups.com, peace-list@mit.edu
Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.3.95q.1010504185236.16781E-100000@pimms>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
FREE JAGGI SINGH!
Organizer Jaggi Singh was abducted by undercover police on Friday, April
20 in the midst of the FTAA protest in Quebec City. He is presently being
denied bail and is charged with participating in a riot (10,000 others
were also participating), possession of a weapon - a catapult (belonging
to someone else) used to hurl stuffed animals over the fence! and
violating bail conditions on a previous charge. Jaggi's real crime is that
he is an organizer, a hard and dedicated worker for justice, and a man of
color whom the authorities can target. Please write and call to demand
his release. If they can do it to Jaggi, they can do it to any of us!
Canadian Embassy Phone: 202-682-1740
Minister of Justice: 418-528-0271
The Right Honourable Jean Chrtien
Prime Minister of Canada
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada K1A 0A2
Telephone Number (613) 992-4211
Fax Number (613) 941-6900
Email Address pm@pm.gc.ca
Quebec Minister of Justice
Paul Begin, Cabinet Minister
Justice Ministry
1200 Route de L'Eglise, 9th Floor
Ste. Foy, PQ G1V 4M1
418 643-4210 fax 418 646-0027
Quebec Minister of Public Security
Serge Menard , Cabinet Minister
Ministry of Public Security
Tour de Laurentide
2525 Blvd. Laurier, 5th Floor
Ste. Foy, PQ G1V 2L2
418 643-2112 fax 418 646-6168
Add your name to a petition:
Please go to http://rabble.ca/petition
In addition to Jaggi, over 450 activists were arrested.In addition to
Jaggi, six others have been denied bail. They were arrested prior to the
protests and possessed explosives. The rest were released contingent on
paying bail or by agreeing to show up for a trial. A legal defense fund
has been sent up to help with bail payments and legal fees. Information on
how to donate is below. More information is available at
http://www.quebec2001.org/funds.html
For donations from the USA, cheques/deposits should be made to the Lower
East Side Fund:
The credit union is the Lower East Side People's Federal Credit Union.
The account number is 7181
The routing number is 226082598
-------------------
Below I have attached a story from the Montreal Gazette
Friday 27 April 2001
Trade-deal protester denied bail
KEVIN DOUGHERTY
The Gazette
Jaggi Singh, who was arrested on the opening day of the Summit of the
Americas last Friday and charged with possession of a medieval catapult,
was denied bail yesterday by a Quebec Court judge who might have
misunderstood testimony by Toronto writer-broadcaster Judy Rebick.
Singh will remain in Orsainville jail, north of the city, until Thursday,
when he will appear at a hearing to set the date for his preliminary
inquiry.
In rendering his decision, Judge Yvon Mercier praised Rebick as an
"excellent witness." He said he was denying Singh bail based on her
testimony, which indicated Singh encouraged demonstrators to advance
toward police lines when a peaceful march turned violent.
"This is crazy," Rebick said yesterday from Toronto. "I said just the
opposite. He was encouraging them to go back."
On Wednesday, Rebick said twice, first under questioning from Singh, and
secondly in response to crown prosecutor Georges Letendre, that Singh told
the demonstrators at the perimeter fence, where it crossed Quebec City's
Rene Levesque Blvd., to withdraw after protesters knocked down a section
of the barrier.
Rebick also testified that the catapult, used to fire teddy bears over the
3.8-kilometre fence during the Quebec summit, was in her possession and
Singh had nothing to do with it. "There is no reason to keep him in prison
without bail," she said. "I'm very upset."
Singh is the last of the 463 people arrested during anti-globalization
protests at the Quebec summit to remain behind bars. Five of the seven men
arrested before the summit are also being held in Orsainville jail.
Acting as his own attorney, with assistance from lawyer Pascal Lescarbeau,
Singh testified and examined his own witnesses using a video link from
Orsainville jail, where he and the other prisoners appeared one by one on
screen.
A woman who began to cry as the judge read his decision was expelled and
spectators raised their arms in a clenched fist salute, chanting "Un
peuple uni ne sera jamais vaincu" (a united people will never be defeated)
as armed public-security guards looked on uneasily.
William Sloan, a Montreal lawyer who is part of the defence team for
protesters arrested at the summit, walked out before the judge had
finished.
"I think we have a political prisoner in Canada today," Sloan said. "It
feels like the Third World.
"I couldn't sit there and listen to that b-------," he added. "It's an
absolute travesty of justice.
"She (Rebick) said that Mr. Singh never told anyone to go forward, rather
that she heard the opposite, that he told people to get away from the
barricades, to calm down, to go to what they call a green zone."
In addition to possession of a dangerous weapon - the catapult - Singh is
charged with breaching bail conditions imposed on him last May in
Westmount Municipal Court, requiring him to immediately leave if he is at
a peaceful demonstration that turns violent.
Singh told the judge he did so, leaving the Rene Levesque site after the
fence was pushed down.
Letendre said police have him on videotape when the fence was brought down
and the catapult deployed.
Lawyer Denis Barrette, acting for the arrested protesters, said yesterday
the legal team is looking into the possibility of asking Quebec Superior
Court to review Judge Mercier's ruling.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Payal Parekh
MIT/WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography
Program in Atmosphere, Oceans, and Climate
parekh@pimms.mit.edu
MIT WHOI
54-1515 MS #25
Cambridge, MA 02139 Woods Hole, MA 02543
617.253.7967 Fax: 508.457.2193
