More than two years after being brutalized by police in Ottawa,
non-status migrants and supporters are acquitted

The struggle for full regularization continues

OTTAWA, February 24, 2006 - Today, 12 protesters involved with the
Action Committee of Non-Status Algerians were acquitted of mischief in
relation to the occupation of the Immigration Minister's offices in
downtown Ottawa on May 29, 2003, more than two-and-a-half years ago.

The "not-guilty" verdict, for all 12 defendants, was greeted with loud
cheers and applause. The courtroom, crammed with more than sixty
supporters from Ottawa, Gatineau, Montreal and Toronto, broke into the
chant: "So-so-so, solidarité, avec, avec, avec les sans-statut!"

Immediately after the verdict, one non-status defendant denounced, at
the top of his voice, the police brutality and racism that was
exhibited during the original arrests of the protesters in 2003: after
spending almost ten-hours in demanding a meeting with the Minister or
a senior-level official, an Ottawa-police tactical squad invaded the
office, and used tasers (electrical guns) to shock four protesters,
while others were beaten with open fists.

The office occupation, as the verdict today makes clear, was always an
assertive and valid expression of the demands of the protesters. In
the end, it is the police that should answer for their brutality, and
still haven't been forced to do so.

[Photos from the courthouse today, as well as photos attesting to the
police brutality, and the struggle of the Action Committee of
Non-Status Algerians since 2002, are available at:
http://gallery.cmaq.net/ottawaverdict]

* * *

The defendants at trial today were Tarik Abderrahim, Noreddine Argoub,
Nourdine Belhadj, Zoheir Belaroui, Amokrane Benmeziane, Fawzi Hoceni,
Djamel Ouchfoun, Fouad Rebai, all non-status Algerians living in
Canada; as well as Sarita Ahooja and Andrea Schmidt, who were active
supporters of the Action Committee of Non-Status Algerians/Le Comité
d'action des sans-statut algériens (CASS). Many of the non-status
defendants are still fighting for status in Canada.

Two defendants – Mohamed Cherfi and Djamel Meziani –could not be
present, because they were deported before trial. Mohamed Cherfi, the
public spokesperson for the CASS, was forced to take sanctuary inside
the St-Pierre Church in Quebec City in February 2004, in order to
prevent a deportation order. However, his sanctuary was forcibly
violated by police on March 5, 2004, and he was immediately removed to
the United States. He spent more than one year in prison before being
accepted as a refugee by the United States (a status he and hundreds
of others were denied by the Canadian government).

Cherfi was informed immediately of the verdict today by cellphone in
Burlington, Vermont, where he still awaits his return to Quebec.
(After the verdict, supporters chanted: "Ramenez Cherfi, son pays est
ici! Ramenez Meziani, son pays est ici!).

The not-guilty verdict comes after a long trial. The length of the
trial was partially blamed by the trial judge – Ann Alder -- on the
senior Crown lawyer in the case. The judge underlined the delays in
disclosure by the Crown – David Elhadad -- that prolonged the trial.
However, the Judge's verdict did not deal substantively with the claim
by the demonstrators that the police used excessive and brutal force
in making the original arrests.

At trial, the defendants were represented by a legal team comprised of
Montreal lawyers Denis Barette and Pascal Lescarbeau, as well as
Ottawa lawyer Yavar Hameed.

* * *

The original protest took place on May 29, 2003, when a delegation of
non-status Algerians from Montreal, accompanied by supporters, took
their demands directly to the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration
in Ottawa. The office occupation was consistent with many previous
actions and protests organized by the CASS since early 2002.

The protesters went straight into the Minister's office, and demanded
a meeting. They spent the entire afternoon and evening waiting for a
meaningful response. Instead, the police intervened. Shortly after
10pm, about 30 members of the Ottawa Police Services tactical squad,
in coordination with the RCMP, charged the people occupying the
waiting room. After forcing them to the ground, the police beat and
tasered many of the men on their necks, backs, torsos and genitals.
One man was bashed on the head with the butt of a taser gun, leaving a
large gash on his forehead. Another man lost a tooth as a result of
being punched in the face by a police officer. Several people have
taser burns on the backs of their neck, backs and arms.

During the arrests and processing, the police made several racist and
belittling comments. The police seemed to justify their use of tasers
and elevated force, against unarmed and non-violent protesters -- who
were preparing to leave the office -- as a training operation, and
even filmed the arrests.

[A video of the brutal arrest is available at:
http://taktic.org/~john/CASS.mp4.mov
The clicking sound on the video is the use of the electrical guns on
several protesters; the later images show the solidarity demonstration
outside.]

Outside the office occupation, supporters had gathered to show their
solidarity. Three of those supporters were eventually arrested too:
Francine Dumas and her daughter Michele Marois of Gatineau, and Paul
Smith of Ottawa. All their legal matters have been settled -- Paul
Smith won a complaint against the police for their use of a taser
against him -- and all three were in court today.

The trial showed clearly that the protesters were focussed on their
demands, and did not commit "mischief" by any legal definition.
Importantly, the evidence showed that senior level officials in the
office of then-Immigration Minister Denis Coderre were well aware of
the presence of protesters in the office, and were thereby complicit
in the eventual police operation and brutality.

* * *

In the end, while finding the defendants "not guilty" of mischief, the
judge indicated she would have found the protesters guilty of the
lesser crime of "trespassing" (if that charge had been laid). The
verdict, while absolving the defendants of criminal charges, clearly
does not resolve many fundamental injustices of this affair: Why were
non-status Algerian migrants essentially tortured in order to be
arrested on a minor charge? Why were the charges even allowed to
proceed in the first place? And, why haven't the demands of the
non-status Algerians on May 29, 2003 been recognized and acted upon by
the Canadian government?

The verdict should not cloud the main demands that the Action
Committee of Non-Status Algerians and their supporters have made clear
for more than four years: the immediate regularization of all
non-status Algerians living in Canada, as well as the return of those
non-status Algerians who were removed from Canada against their will.

That struggle, for fundamental justice and dignity, still continues,
even while the defendants and their supporters enjoy this meaningful
legal victory.

-- No One Is Illegal-Montreal

noii-montreal@resist.ca - 514-859-9023