Non-status Algerians and supporters acquitted!

Non-status Algerians and supporters acquitted more than two years after being brutalized by police in Ottawa

Montreal, March 7, 2006 - Eleven protesters involved with the Action Committee of Non-Status Algerians were acquitted of mischief, in relation to the occupation of the Immigration Minister's offices in downtown Ottawa on May 29, 2003, more than two-and-a-half years ago.

The not-guilty verdict comes after a long trial. Judge Ann Adler partially blamed the length of the trial on the delays in disclosure by the Crown David Elhadad. However, the Judge's verdict did not deal substantively with the claim by the demonstrators that the police used excessive and brutal force in making the original arrests.

On May 29, 2003, a delegation of non-status Algerians from Montreal, accompanied by supporters, visited the Immigration offices in Ottawa to demand a meeting with then-Immigration Minister, Denis Coderre. They waited 10 hours for a meaningful response. Shortly after 10pm, about 30 members of the Ottawa Police Services tactical squad, in coordination with the RCMP, charged the people occupying the waiting room. After forcing them to the ground, the police beat and tasered many of the men on their necks, backs, torsos and genitals. One man was bashed on the head with the butt of a taser gun, leaving a large gash on his forehead. Another man lost a tooth as a result of being punched in the face by a police officer. Several people have taser burns on the backs of their neck, backs and arms.

During the arrest, one police officer stated “stun guns are more fun, less mess.” The police seemed to justify their use of tasers and elevated force, against unarmed and non-violent protesters – who were preparing to leave the office -- as a training operation, and even filmed the arrests. [A video of the brutal arrest is available at: http://taktic.org/~john/CASS.mp4.mov The clicking sound on the video is the use of the electrical guns on several protesters; the later images show the solidarity demonstration outside.]

The defendants at the trial were Tarik Abderrahim, Noreddine Argoub, Nourdine Belhadj, Zoheir Belaroui, Amokrane Benmeziane, Fawzi Hoceni, Djamel Ouchfoun, Fouad Rebai, all non-status Algerians living in Canada; as well as Sarita Ahooja and Andrea Schmidt, who were active supporters of the Action Committee of Non-Status Algerians/Le Comité d'action des sans-statut algériens (CASS). Many of the non-status defendants are still fighting for status in Canada.

Two other defendants, Mohamed Cherfi and Djamel Meziani, were deported before trial. Mohamed Cherfi, the public spokesperson for the CASS, was forced to take sanctuary inside the St-Pierre Church in Quebec City in February 2004, in order to prevent a deportation order. However, his sanctuary was forcibly violated by police on March 5, 2004, and he was immediately removed to the United States. He spent 16 months in prison before being accepted as a refugee by the United States (a status he and hundreds of others were denied by the Canadian government).

At trial, the defendants were represented by a legal team comprised of Montreal lawyers Denis Barette and Pascal Lescarbeau, as well as Ottawa lawyer Yavar Hameed.

The trial showed clearly that the protesters were focussed on their demands, and did not commit "mischief" by any legal definition. Importantly, the evidence showed that senior level officials in the office of then-Immigration Minister Denis Coderre were well aware of the presence of protesters in the office, and were thereby complicit in the eventual police operation and brutality.

The verdict, while absolving the defendants of criminal charges, clearly does not resolve many fundamental injustices of this affair: Why were non-status Algerians essentially tortured in order to be arrested on a minor charge? Why were the charges even allowed to proceed in the first place? And, why haven't the demands of the non-status Algerians on May 29, 2003 been recognized and acted upon by the Canadian government?

The Action Committee of Non-Status Algerians and their supporters reiterate the demand for the immediate regularization of all non-status Algerians acquitted, as well as the return of those non-status Algerians who were removed from Canada against their will.

[Photos from the courthouse on February 24th, as well as photos attesting to the police brutality, and the struggle of the Action Committee of Non-Status Algerians since 2002, are available at:
http://gallery.cmaq.net/ottawaverdict]

CASS website: http://cass.tao.ca