MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 28 , 2003

Repression of Dissent Alive and Well in Montreal

OTTAWA, ONTARIO – The Council of Canadians strongly condemns the use of police force to shut down the expression of dissent at the WTO mini-ministerial, which is taking place at the Montreal Sheraton Hotel. Over a hundred protesters were rounded up and arrested for “unlawful assembly”.

Most of these protesters had not been engaged in the destruction of property that was witnessed around the hotel earlier that day and reports indicate that they were peacefully assembled, with permission, on private property at the time of their roundup by police.

Montreal activist Jaggi Singh has been arrested for the same charge while yards away from any group of protesters. Mr. Singh, who is consistently arrested at protests but never convicted, was giving interviews to the media at a good distance from where the regrettable incidents were taking place.

“This repression of dissent is very alarming in a democratic society”, says Jean-Yves Lefort, trade campaigner for the 100,000-member Council of Canadians. “Freedom of expression and assembly are fundamental Charter rights. The Council of Canadians' position is, and always has been, one of non-violence, but it clear that these arrests have not been made in relation to the violent actions. “Unlawful assembly” is a trumped-up charge, pure and simple. They arrested anyone in the area who seemed to be disapproving of the WTO meeting.”

See Council of Canadians Statement on Non-Violence.

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