[van-discuss] Jaggi Singh, ISM Activist Abducted, Beaten; to Be Deported (fwd)

[Tony Tracy]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Huwaida [mailto:huwaidaa at yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 09, 2003 12:26 PM
Subject: Jaggi Singh, ISM Activist Abducted, Beaten; to Be Deported

INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT (ISM)
For Immediate Release
January 9, 2003

Contacts:
Janice  972 52 360 241
Shamai Leibovitch   972 64 414 505   or 972 3 670 4170


ISM ACTIVIST ABDUCTED AND BEATEN
TO BE DEPORTED TO CANADA AT 12:40 AM


Flight info:
             Air Canada flight 887
             Departs Ben Gurion at 12:40 AM, January 10th
             Arrives in Toronto at 6:10 AM, January 10th

[Jerusalem] - On January 8, 2003, at 6 PM, Jaggi Singh, Canadian citizen
and ISM activist, went to visit a friend in West Jerusalem.  When he
arrived at the doorstep, he was ambushed, forced into an unmarked vehicle,
and taken to the Russian Compound in Jerusalem by three plainclothes
Israeli secret service agents.

Jaggi Singh reports having been beaten by the Israelis as they were
transporting him to the Russian Compound.  An officer by the name of Aaron
slapped his face several times and pulled his hair in an attempt to
interrogate him.  Jaggi Singh's lawyer, Shamai Leibovitch, was not allowed
to talk with or visit him at Russian Compound. On January 9, 2003, Jaggi
Singh was transferred to Maasiyahu Prison in Ramle.

Jaggi was to be deported to Canada for visa violations.  The Canadian
Consulate visited him in prison and provided laisse pass=E9 documents for
his return to Canada.  Jaggi is now at Ben Gurion airport waiting for his
12:40 AM flight to Canada.

Jaggi arrived at Ben Gurion Airport on December 14th and was initially
refused entry by Israeli officials for `security reasons'. His attorney
took his case to court and Jaggi was eventually given a one week visa with
the condition that he not enter the occupied territories.

Jaggi is from Montreal, Canada and traveled to the occupied territories to
write about the realities of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Jaggi is
well known in Canada and abroad for speaking out against injustice in the
many forms it takes.