BY EVA CHENG
Eight protesters who took part in the April 20-22 protests in Quebec City against the US-led plan for a Free Trade Area of the Americas have been sentenced to up to nine months imprisonment.
Stephane Paquet, based in Quebec City, was arrested a week after the protests and sentenced on May 15 to nine months in jail for "mischief of over [C]$5000" (smashing windows including a bus stop shelter) and "participating in a riot".
Paquet was further sentenced to a three-year probationary period. Should he be arrested for participating in any "unlawful" demonstrations, he will be subjected to mandatory imprisonment of two years.
According to the Independent Media Centre, the police even visited Paquet's brother and made him sign a declaration denouncing him.
The cops seemed to be particularly annoyed by the fact that Paquet, who had served in the Canadian Armed Forces, was wearing combat uniform during the protests. The judge even called him a "savage".
Paquet's case came not long after Jean-Pierre Belanger's, a fellow protester and also a Quebec City resident, who was sentenced to six months imprisonment. Belanger was arrested as soon as he stepped out of a Quebec City hospital where he had been treated for an injury inflicted by a rubber-coated bullet which had exposed the bone at his ankle. He was charged with issuing a "death threat to a police officer".
Vaughn Barnett, from Fredericton in New Brunswick province, is still in custody following his arrest on April 22. He was charged with "obstructing police work" after having peacefully scaled the "Wall of Shame" security fence. But Barnett, a student in law, asserted he had a moral and constitutional right to take those steps because "the fence was unlawful and was preventing people from having a say in another process [the FTAA] that was undemocratic and unlawful in both substance and process".
Barnett was granted bail of C$200 but refused to pay it, claiming he hadn't committed any crime.
Five other anti-FTAA activists who were arrested on April 17-18 are still in detention for "conspiracy to commit mischief that could represent a real danger to the lives of people", "possession of explosives with dangerous intent" and "theft and concealment of military equipment of a value less than $5000".
To support these jailed activists, please write to them at Centre de detention de Quebec, 500 rue de la Faune, C.P. 7130, Charlesbourg, Quebec, G1G 5E4 Canada. Their birth dates must be included after their names: Stephane Paquet (February 15, 1980), Mario Bertoncini (February 4, 1978), Alex Boissonneault (April 14, 1979), Roman Pokorski (November 9, 1978), Victor Quentin (February 23, 1980) and Serge Vallee (August 3, 1979). Barnett and Belanger's birth dates are not yet available. Include pre-stamped envelopes for reply.