[Bloquez l'empire!] Stop the extradition of Gary FREEMAN! 3 Montreal Events (January 16 and 17)

[No One is Illegal Montreal]

- Come find out who Gary Freeman is and why his extradition must be stopped.

- Take action to support the campaign to keep Gary in Canada.

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--->Panel discussion
Monday, January 16th, 7 p.m.
Concordia University, School of Community and Public Affairs (SCPA), 2149
Mackay, 1st floor (metro Guy)

Featuring Gary's wife Natercia Coelho, and Kaie Kellough of Kalmunity Vibe
Collective (speaking and performing poetry written by Gary Freeman).


--->Rally
Tuesday, January 17th, 4 p.m.-6 p.m.
  Justice Minister Irwin Cotler's riding office, 4770 Kent Ave., Suite 316
(metro Plamondon)


--->Performance by Kalmunity Vibe Collective -- live organic improv
Tuesday January 17th, 8:30 p.m.
Sablo kafe, 50 St. Zotique E, corner St. Dominique (metro Beaubien)

Natercia Coelho ( Gary's wife) will also be speaking this event
(Kalmunity's weekly show).
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Background

Douglas Gary Freeman (Joseph Pannell) is the subject of a United States 
extradition request stemming from a 1969 incident in Chicago in which a police 
officer was injured.  As has been stated in court, he is an innocent man who 
acted in self-defense.

He was arrested on July 27, 2004, outside the Toronto Reference Library, where 
he worked as a library research assistant for the previous 14 years. He has 
been in custody since that time.

The allegations relate to an incident which occurred over thirty-five years ago 
in the highly charged atmosphere of racial tension and police repression then 
present in the African American community of Chicago. After two years in 
pre-trial custody, Freeman was released on bail.  He left Chicago because he 
feared for his life.  He believed that he could not receive a fair trial.

Irwin Cotler, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, has powers 
under the Extradition Act to refuse to make a surrender order for the 
extradition of Gary Freeman to the United States. There are significant 
inconsistencies, omissions, and contradictions in the evidence offered by the 
United States in support of the request for extradition. Furthermore, serious 
questions have been raised about the fundamental justice of the Extradition Act 
in relation to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Most alarmingly, there is a real possibility of retaliatory punishment due to 
the nature of the allegations, in particular by guards at Cook County Jail 
where a recent grand jury has found severe mistreatment of detainees, or at the 
hands of the Chicago police, whose patterns of abuse, including torture, of 
suspects in custody have been documented by the respected organization Human 
Rights Watch and others.

Freeman and his wife met while they were working at Concordia's library and 
they have many family, friends and supporters in Montreal. We do not believe 
the best interests of justice would be served by uprooting him from his family 
and returning him to an uncertain fate in the United States.

Come learn about the case and how you can support Gary Freeman and his family!


Info:(514) 848-7583
noii-montreal at resist.ca

Visit www.freemandrum.org for more details on Gary's case

Endorsed by:
Alfie Roberts Institute
Black Coalition of Quebec
Books to Prisoners
Montreal Anarchist Black Cross Federation
McGill Radical Law Community
No One Is Illegal-Montreal
Solidarity Across Borders