Short ‘n’ Stubby: Dude, where are my criminal charges?

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Hidey-ho, folks, it’s another G-20 roundup for ya. And here comes Ms. Manx with all the linkies you should clicky…

First up, the Toronto Star‘s Carol Goar draws up a score sheet for what’s been done and what’s still doing. Surprise: So far, not a single person arrested has actually had criminal charges laid that stuck. One month later, and it’s Protesters 1, Cops 0. Goar’s moment of untruth: “Peaceful advocacy groups tarnished their reputation by knowingly providing cover to protestors bent on violence.” Carol, shame on you–the cops were not a peaceful advocacy group! I seem to recall at least one video where the peaceful advocacy groups were chastising the vandals. Is that what you call “knowingly providing cover”?

The Star and the Globe are both reporting that environmentalist Dave Vasey, one of the more prominent arrestees (he was singled out early on as a “leader”), has gone to court, only to find the charges against him not even on the docket. Maybe because the “five-metre rule” he was charged under was bogus? Or maybe just because the cops had nothing on him, and they knew it. Their purpose in making the arrest was not to lay charges, but strictly to intimidate Vasey and others (whom they presumed to be his “followers”, no doubt), and thus curtail protest. As always, the operative question to be asked in cases like this is Cui bono?–for whose benefit?

That question is certainly topmost in my mind when it comes to this case, of a young Muslim woman being forcibly stripped of her headscarf and sweater. Violation of modesty is a specifically intimidating move when the victim is a Muslim. Was this violation of her person done to discourage her from protesting? It sure smells that way.

And you know things have come to a bad pass when a distinguished scientist and former holocaust survivor like Ursula Franklin looks at the G-20 fiasco and draws inescapable parallels to the fascist ordeal of her youth.

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