74 lines
4.0 KiB
Plaintext
74 lines
4.0 KiB
Plaintext
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A Summer Of ARA Trials Finally Ends - In Victory
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Toronto's Anti-Racist Action spent 13 days of the summer in
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court in two trials, supporting 12 defendants arrested in
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connection with demonstrations against Toronto's neo-nazis. In the
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end, neither judge could bring himself to convict anyone on the
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flimsy evidence, and everyone got off! It wasn't that they wouldn't
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have gone along with a frame-up, but they were contrary enough to
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demand that the Crown [the prosecution - ed.] and the police at
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least do it competently.
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Five defendants were charged with mischief in connection with
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a demonstration June 11, 1993, when ARA brought the struggle right
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to the doorstep of a Heritage Front propagandist, doing
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considerable damage to his home. Outnumbered and outwitted, cops
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were forced to stand by and made no arrests at the time. But in the
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hysteria that followed, the police force made four arrests to cover
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their asses, picking people up at other anti-racist events. A fifth
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arrest was made six months later. The other group of seven was
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arrested at a November 1993 demonstration outside the bunker of
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Ernst Zundel, an internationally-known nazi propagandist/organizer
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and Holocaust-denier. (Among those charged was a member of the
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Bulldozer collective.)
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The intention of the Crown and the cops was to handle both
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cases as simple criminal matters: "You have the right to
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demonstrate but this time you broke the law." However, the
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defendants insisted on collective trials and a more political
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strategy. Beginning in May 1994, when the June 11 group went on
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trial, defense lawyers emphasized the role of police "intelligence"
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in making the arrests - a role which the Crown had minimized in the
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interests of keeping politics out of the trial. In particular, they
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exposed the collaboration between a senior intelligence officer and
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Heritage Front leaders in identifying anti-racists.
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Other significant political points were made. Both judges
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accepted that wearing disguises at an anti-fascist demonstrations
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is a reasonable precaution to take, rejecting the Crown argument
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that masking proves a defendants' criminal intentions. In the June
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11 case the judge also resisted falling into the Crown's trap of
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holding demonstration organizers responsible for the actions of
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everyone at the event, without compelling evidence tying them to
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so-called criminal acts. The Zundel demo judge went even further,
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challenging police credibility and asking why arrests had been made
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at all. Basically, people were acquitted because the collective
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strategy allowed defense lawyers to totally destroy the fabricated
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and twisted cop evidence by exposing its internal contradictions.
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The collective defense also allowed the group to bring a more
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political flavour to the trials, making straight-up criminalization
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of the accused more difficult, in the media and in the community.
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(For example, defendants were referred to as "anti-racist
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activists" rather than "hooligans".) Because the charges were
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relatively minor in comparison with the repression experienced at
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the hands of police by so many communities, ARA did not run
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high-profile defense campaigns. But the organization did make sure
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that people in Toronto knew about the cases and the courtroom was
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always full of folks ready to show their support and to face nazis
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if necessary. (None showed up.)
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Undeniably, 14 arrests over less than a year and a half of
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organizing has had its intended effect of disrupting the
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youth-based, activist group. But after a summer of trials ARA
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remains intact, a victory in itself. Hopefully, the acquittals will
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build some confidence that the community can organize street
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actions successfully and effectively, and can defend itself against
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police reprisals. Most importantly, energy directed inwards during
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the course of the trials can now be redirected outside against the
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common enemies.
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*****************************************************************
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Arm The Spirit
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P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A
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Toronto, Ont.
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M5W 1P7
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Canada E-Mail: ats@etext.org
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*****************************************************************
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