[mobglob-discuss] Statement by John Clarke from OCAP on dropped charges

[Tony Tracy]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 14:05:42 -0500 (EST)
From: OCAP <ocap at tao.ca>
Subject: RIOT CHARGES AGAINST OCAP ORGANIZER STAYED BY TRIAL JUDGE

** party announcement at bottom **

RIOT CHARGES AGAINST OCAP ORGANIZER STAYED BY TRIAL JUDGE
- Statement by John Clarke, OCAP Organizer -

   On Tuesday, October 28, the State's second attempt to convict me as the
supposed architect of a "planned riot' at Queen's Park on June 15, 2000
went off the rails.  As one of a series of pre trial motions that we put
before the Court, my lawyer, Peter Rosenthal, had argued that my
 constitutional rights had been violated because the matter had not been
brought to trial within a reasonable time.  The Judge in the case accepted
 this and ordered the charges against me stayed.  While we do not have any
written reasons for the decision as of yet, it is likely that a seven
month delay in providing us with disclosure of potential evidence was the
main factor involved.

   The judicial stay that has been ordered puts the charges on the shelf
and, as such, they are no longer hanging over my head.  My massively
restrictive bail conditions are null and void.  Within thirty days, the
Crown must decide whether or not to appeal but, if they do, they must take
their case to the Ontario Court of Appeal and then to the Supreme Court of
Canada.  Even if they went to such lengths, they would then have to set
the date for a third trial and go at it all over again.  With the new,
Liberal Government in power, and in the Attorney General's Office, this is
unlikely in the extreme.  Clearly, we have won a major legal and an even
bigger political victory.

   We said all along that these charges were an attack on the whole
movement.  In the first trial before a jury earlier this year, Stefan Pilipa
and Gaetan Heroux, faced two years in jail for "participating in a
riot" having been singled out as "leaders" by the Police and Crown.  I was
looking at up to five years for "counselling" people to riot and assault
police. Had they been able to convict Stefan and Gaetan, no one who joined a
demonstration that the cops turned into a confrontation would have been safe
from prosecution.  If I had gone down on the basis of having made a speech
at a demonstration, the chilling effect on the right to dissent is even more
obvious.

   After the Jury in the first case became deadlocked and a mistrial was
declared, the decision to retry me was astounding and without precedent.
Their failure to get the matter before a second jury is a vindication of a
strategy that we developed in the course of this whole long battle.  We
firmly believed that it was possible to mount a principled defense that was,
at the same time, legally effective.  My lawyer, Peter Rosenthal, was
remarkable in agreeing with this and finding the means to combine winning
legal arguments with solid political conviction.  We went before a jury and
acknowledged our militant politics and the plans we had on June 15, 2000 to
demand entry for a delegation to the Legislature.  If there was a riot on
that day, however, we laid it at the door of an intransigent Government and
a reckless and provocative police force.  We used all legitimate legal
arguments available to us but never went in for any cringing apologetics.
We emerge from this long ordeal with our heads held high.

   It would be improper to end this statement without thanking all those
who stood in solidarity with us.  In addition to the Jury trials, dozens
of others faced legal attack after June 15 and remained solid in the face
of it.  Hundreds of people came out to court to show solidarity.  Trade
unionists and community leaders wrote hundreds of letters on our behalf.
People in dozens of countries added their names to statements of support.
In the US, South Africa and Korea protests were organized in our defense
and, just as the Judges ruling brought things to a halt, solidarity
actions were being planned in Britain and Brazil.  We did not just win the
legal battle.  We come out of this stronger than when we went into it.
Now, we will take that strength into our fight against poverty and those
who inflict it on us.


CELEBRATE STAYING OF CHARGES AGAINST JOHN CLARKE IN SECOND 'QUEEN'S PARK
RIOT' JURY TRIAL

Imperial Pub (upper level)
54 Dundas Street East (at Victoria)
Sunday, November 2nd,
7pm

We invite all friends,supporters and allies to drop by and raise a glass
to John Clarke, his council Peter Rosenthal and to Victory.