Solidarity Rally/Press Conference
Monday February 27, 8:00am
Outside Federal Court (330 University)

::: ABDEKADER BELAOUNI IS IN SANCTUARY INSIDE A MONTREAL CHURCH :::
::: CALL THE NEW MINISTER OF IMMIGRATION TODAY!:::

17 February 2006
"I'm not hiding from Immigration Canada, but I want to tell them clearly, I will not be presenting myself for deportation. I've been able to achieve autonomy and dignity in Montreal, and I don't want to lose that. My family are my friends here. I am here to defend myself; I am here to defend justice".
-Abdelkader Belaouni, January 3, 2005

UPDATE: A petition in support of Abdelkader Belaouni can now be signed online at www.petitiononline.com/kader/petition.html. We're aiming to get 15,000 signatures by March 1st!

On January 1 2006, Abdelkader Belaouni took sanctuary at St. Gabriel’s Church in Point St. Charles, Montreal.

How Bad Does the Taxi Industry Need to Get Before Miller Responds to Drivers’ Concerns:
“Taxi Stakeholders Meeting” Seen as Latest Insult

Appeal for funds to assist Taxi Drivers fighting racism, and police abuse in the courts.

The Toronto Coalition of Concerned Taxi Drivers is appealing for funds to help a taxi driver who faces trial for alleged assault police. If found guilty he faces not only jail time and a criminal record but also risks loosing his taxi license and, therefore, his livelihood. Abbas, an Iranian Taxi Driver who drives 12 hours a day and makes less than minimum wage, encountered police brutality while simply doing his job. Abbas, like most immigrant drivers, faces severe harassment by police on the job. This fall, Abbas was only trying to work when police stopped him solely because he dared to ask a Toronto cop a question. It is sadly evident today that Toronto cops find being a working class immigrant who asks questions grounds for criminal persecution and at the end of the day Abbas was charged with assaulting a police officer.

Dowload the OCAP Accessibility Committee's "A Short Survivor Guide - Your Rights in Ontario's Psychiatric System".

From the introduction:

Many psychiatric prisoners (involuntary psychiatric patients) and survivors in the community are not aware they have a few rights in the Ontario psychiatric system. While locked up in a psychoprison (any psychiatric facility), you have very few rights (most are conditional or restricted) such as the:

• Right to wear your own clothes
• Right to refuse psychiatric treatment like "medication" and electroshock ("ECT") (You can be forcibly treated if judged "incapable")
• Right to appeal involuntary committal
• Right to appeal doctor's judgment of "incapacity"