Police Crack Down on Activists as Olympics Continue
Last Updated (Wednesday, 17 March 2010 17:19) Written by Administrator Tuesday, 16 February 2010 22:28
Police have been targeting activists by seizing property, issuing tickets and making arrests using the flimsiest of excuses.
Ed Durgen, a student at UBC and one of the organizers behinds the student anti-torch action, was taken away in cuffs from East Hastings. His belongings were searched and some possessions seized, including a working copy of his dissertation.
Local police assisted by the ISU and Canadian Border Services made a series of repressive arrests starting Friday, when a march from the Vancouver Art Gallery saw three people arrested, and one charged with assault from this completely peaceful protest. The next day, 13 were arrested during a demonstration, three held overnight, and another US citizen may face deportation. As usual, mainstream media made a big story about the "violent nature" of the protest where a few windows were smashed, and mentioned nothing of the destruction to the environment caused by the games.
Most disturbing is the sweep of arrests that have taken place in the days following the large street protests of Friday & Saturday. Activists and independent media have been harassed in the streets, some given tickets for petty offenses such as swearing in public, and one journalist volunteering with the the Vancouver Media Co-op was detained at the border and questioned by the FBI as he returned home. On Sunday two more arrests were reported, one person was released without conditions or charges, while another was held overnight and charged with assault relating to a spitting incident. On Monday ORN member Guillaume was arrested, held, and has since been released with conditions that he is not to organize protest marches. He now faces a charge of "counseling mischief", that more resembles an Orwellian thought crime, than a serious offense.
Monday marked the launch of a tentcity in the Downtown East Side located on a lot rented by the Vancouver Olympic Committee. The action organized by DTES residents calls attention to the need for more affordable housing, but city officials have stated clearly that it is completely illegal to occupy land for this reason. Anti-poverty activists and the The BC Civil Liberties Association are are concerned that peoples righs may not be respected amongst this marginalized group.