香港立法会通过动议：调查占中背后势力
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http://www.globalresearch.ca/police...d-protesters-with-ten-year-jail-terms/5340268
Police State Canada: Harper Government Enacts Law Threatening Masked Protesters with Ten-year Jail Terms
Legislation that gives the Canadian state draconian and arbitrary powers to suppress protests became law last week after approval from the Conservative Party-dominated federal parliament.
Bill C-309—the Preventing Persons from Concealing Their Identities during Riots and Unlawful Assemblies Act—makes it a crime punishable by a ten-year prison term to incite a riot while wearing a mask or any face covering, including face paint.
Someone who merely participates in a riot or in an “unlawful” assembly with their face covered can, under the new law, be deemed to have committed an indictable criminal offense and jailed for up to five years.
These new offenses are in addition to the existing Criminal Code offenses of participating in a riot and participating in an unlawful assembly. Persons convicted of the former can be jailed for a maximum of two years, while the latter is considered to be among the lowest tier of criminal offenses known as “summary offenses,” which carry a maximum six-month jail term.
Under Canadian law, police and other authorities have very broad powers to illegalize protests by declaring them “unlawful assemblies.” The Criminal Code describes an “unlawful assembly” as a gathering that causes people “to fear on reasonable grounds” that it “will disturb the peace tumultuously” or provoke others to do so.
During last year’s six month-long Quebec student strike, police declared numerous protests “unlawful assemblies,” then violently set about dispersing the crowd with tear gas, baton-charges and mass arrests. In response to the tear gas, many demonstrators covered their faces with handkerchiefs. Had the new law been in force, they could potentially have been charged with concealing their identities and targeted for punitive jail terms of up to five years.
Critics of the new law have rightly condemned it as a flagrant attack on the right to free speech. Masks and face paint have been used for centuries to make political points, and there are many reasons, including fear of victimization by employers, that can cause protesters to choose to conceal their faces. Police, it need be added, have subjected political protests to blanket surveillance for years, systematically photographing and videotaping demonstrators.
Moreover, there is a long history of police instigating violence at demonstrations—through provocative crowd-control tactics and the use of agent provocateurs—so as to justify their suppression. In 2007, undercover Quebec Provincial Police officers were caught trying to incite people protesting at a trilateral US-Canada-Mexico heads of government meeting in Montebello, Quebec to attack the police. (See: “Canada: Police agent-provocateurs unmasked at Montebello summit protests”)
Bill C-309 began as a private member’s bill. Only rarely do such bills become law, but the Conservative government chose to make it a legislative priority. As the result of an amendment proposed by Robert Goguen, the parliamentary secretary to Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, and passed by the Conservative-dominated Justice Committee, the maximum penalty for the crime of inciting a riot while wearing some form of face-covering was increased from five to ten years.
In arguing for the legislation, the Conservatives said they wanted to give police an “additional tool” to deal with rioters.
In fact the most serious violence at political protests, to say nothing of the gravest attacks on democratic riots, have been committed by Canadian authorities. During the 2010 G-20 summit in Toronto—in a wholesale suppression of democratic rights that was abetted and supported by all three levels of government—police kicked, bludgeoned, tear-gassed, and shot rubber bullets at protesters, as well as numerous passersby. Journalists covering these unprecedented events were themselves arrested and assaulted.
In what the Ontario Ombudsman called the “most massive compromise of civil liberties in Canadian history,” 1,100 people were arrested. Those apprehended in this dragnet were hauled into primitive detention cages, strip-searched and denied legal counsel. Subsequently, charges were dropped against the vast majority, with only a small fraction ever convicted of anything.
In Canada, as around the world, a ruling elite whose wealth and incomes have soared as a result of the a class war offensive on job, wages, and public services, has responded to growing opposition by moving to criminalize dissent.
In the past two years, the Conservative government has repeatedly illegalized strikes and impending strikes by Canada Post, Air Canada and CP Rail workers. Now Quebec’s Parti Quebecois government is threatening to criminalize a week-old strike of 175,000 construction workers.
In May 2012, the then Quebec Liberal government adopted an emergency law that effectively outlawed the Quebec student strike and placed sweeping restrictions on the right to strike over any issue in the province. On taking office the following September, the PQ made a show of repealing Bill 78, but it has endorsed repressive bylaws adopted during the student strike by Montreal, Quebec City, and many other Quebec municipalities. These bylaws make it illegal to demonstrate without the police’s express authorization of the protest route. In many cases, they also make it illegal to wear a mask, face covering or face paint at a protest even if the protest is legal. Police have already used the presence of masked demonstrators at protests to declare them “unlawful assemblies,” making all those participating liable to arrest and fines.
As a result of the new federal law, Montreal Police could potentially invoke the municipal bylaw against face-covered protestors so as to declare a protest illegal, then charge those who are face-covered with participating in an unlawful assembly while concealing their identities, making them liable to punitive jail terms
The criminalization of dissent goes hand in hand with the build-up of a secret state-within-the state. Under a series of ministerial directives, whose existence let alone content has been kept unknown to Canadians, Liberal and Conservative governments have authorized the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC)—a close partner of the U.S. National Security Agency—to mine the metadata of Canadians’ telephone, computer, and other electronic communications since at least 2005.
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http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/0...-illegal-to-wear-a-mask-at-unlawful-protests/
‘Outrageous’: Critics angered by new law making it illegal to wear a mask at unlawful protests
Postmedia News | June 1, 2013 | Last Updated: Jun 1 1:51 PM ET
More from Postmedia News
New law makes it illegal to wear a mask at unlawful protests
OTTAWA – A new change to the Criminal Code that makes it illegal to wear a mask at a protest or riot is likely to be challenged in the courts as limiting freedom of expression, experts say.
The clause makes it a crime for a person to attend an unlawful protest “while wearing a mask or other disguise to conceal their identity without lawful excuse.” Supporters say it is one more tool to help the police maintain order, while civil liberties advocates say it tramples constitutional freedoms.
“It’s outrageous, there’s all kinds of legitimate reasons to mask your face in terms of a protest,” said Micheal Vonn, policy director with the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association.
The bill, which just passed the Senate and awaits royal assent, is similar to a bylaw in Montreal that restricts mask-wearing during protests. A challenge to the constitutionality of that bylaw is before Quebec’s Superior Court.
‘The police are not out there to break up peaceful demonstrations. They are there to provide law and order’
Sponsored by Alberta Tory Blake Richards, the federal bill was introduced to Parliament in the wake of the G20 protests in Toronto in 2010 and the Vancouver riots following the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2011. Police have complained that masks make it difficult to identify those breaking the law.
While the Montreal bylaw affected only protests in that city, Bill C-309 alters the Criminal Code, which applies to all Canadians, and would allow police to pre-emptively arrest protesters if they wore facial coverings.
A conviction could lead to up to 10 years in prison, under the terms of the bill.
However, critics say C-309 is likely going to end up in court.
Sen. Serge Joyal, a former lawyer who argued against the bill in the Senate, said the law restricts the constitutional right to freedom of expression.
“The courts in the past have recognized that wearing a mask is a form of expression that is protected,” he said. “Of course, if you wear a mask to commit a criminal offence, it’s already well prohibited.”
Julien Villeneuve, a philosophy professor who became “Anarchopanda” in a giant panda costume during the Quebec student protests, and is now challenging the Montreal mask law in court, said it is “terrifying” that police will have these expanded powers.
Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, said there is no reason legitimate protesters should want to hide their identity at a protest.
“There’s a well-established right to express a different opinion,” he said. “It’s respected generally, and particularly by the police.”
‘Outrageous’: Critics angered by new law making it illegal to wear a mask at unlawful protests
Postmedia News | June 1, 2013 | Last Updated: Jun 1 1:51 PM ET
More from Postmedia News
New law makes it illegal to wear a mask at unlawful protests
OTTAWA – A new change to the Criminal Code that makes it illegal to wear a mask at a protest or riot is likely to be challenged in the courts as limiting freedom of expression, experts say.
The clause makes it a crime for a person to attend an unlawful protest “while wearing a mask or other disguise to conceal their identity without lawful excuse.” Supporters say it is one more tool to help the police maintain order, while civil liberties advocates say it tramples constitutional freedoms.
“It’s outrageous, there’s all kinds of legitimate reasons to mask your face in terms of a protest,” said Micheal Vonn, policy director with the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association.
The bill, which just passed the Senate and awaits royal assent, is similar to a bylaw in Montreal that restricts mask-wearing during protests. A challenge to the constitutionality of that bylaw is before Quebec’s Superior Court.
‘The police are not out there to break up peaceful demonstrations. They are there to provide law and order’
Sponsored by Alberta Tory Blake Richards, the federal bill was introduced to Parliament in the wake of the G20 protests in Toronto in 2010 and the Vancouver riots following the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2011. Police have complained that masks make it difficult to identify those breaking the law.
While the Montreal bylaw affected only protests in that city, Bill C-309 alters the Criminal Code, which applies to all Canadians, and would allow police to pre-emptively arrest protesters if they wore facial coverings.
A conviction could lead to up to 10 years in prison, under the terms of the bill.
However, critics say C-309 is likely going to end up in court.
Sen. Serge Joyal, a former lawyer who argued against the bill in the Senate, said the law restricts the constitutional right to freedom of expression.
“The courts in the past have recognized that wearing a mask is a form of expression that is protected,” he said. “Of course, if you wear a mask to commit a criminal offence, it’s already well prohibited.”
Julien Villeneuve, a philosophy professor who became “Anarchopanda” in a giant panda costume during the Quebec student protests, and is now challenging the Montreal mask law in court, said it is “terrifying” that police will have these expanded powers.
Tom Stamatakis, president of the Canadian Police Association, said there is no reason legitimate protesters should want to hide their identity at a protest.
“There’s a well-established right to express a different opinion,” he said. “It’s respected generally, and particularly by the police.”
‘The courts in the past have recognized that wearing a mask is a form of expression that is protected’
Villeneuve disagreed. “It’s really threatening the rights of certain kinds of citizens who assemble publicly … some people might face possible sanctions from their employers if they are seen in the context of certain protests,” he said.
Joyal said that some protesters – particularly those who are protesting dictatorships, and have families abroad still living under those dictatorships – could see their relatives endangered if they were identified.
Supporters of the bill say it helps police address problems with protests, and doesn’t threaten civil liberties.
“It will give police the proactive, rather than a reactive power, to deal with riots and unlawful assemblies,” said Manitoba Sen. Don Plett, who sponsored the bill through the Senate.
“The police are not out there to break up peaceful demonstrations. They are there to provide law and order, and when it turns into a riot, they need to have tools that allow them to deal with that riot,” he said.
Sen. Vern White, former chief of the Ottawa Police Service, said the charge for wearing a mask is easily avoided: don’t attend an unlawful protest, and if you do, take off the mask so you’re not committing two crimes.
However, civil liberties advocates say that this misunderstands the dynamics of a protest, because protesters could get caught without knowing that the police have declared the protest illegal.
“There’s an incident that occurs at the tail end, you’re at the very front, the police now decide that this is going to be an unlawful protest, how are you to know?” Vonn asked.
She pointed out that the intent of the law – to make it easier to arrest people – ignores the fact that the police already have significant powers to arrest protesters who are causing problems because it’s already against the law to riot or break windows, for example.
“It doesn’t add to police powers, except to capture people who shouldn’t be arrested in the first place,” Vonn said.
Postmedia News
Villeneuve disagreed. “It’s really threatening the rights of certain kinds of citizens who assemble publicly … some people might face possible sanctions from their employers if they are seen in the context of certain protests,” he said.
Joyal said that some protesters – particularly those who are protesting dictatorships, and have families abroad still living under those dictatorships – could see their relatives endangered if they were identified.
Supporters of the bill say it helps police address problems with protests, and doesn’t threaten civil liberties.
“It will give police the proactive, rather than a reactive power, to deal with riots and unlawful assemblies,” said Manitoba Sen. Don Plett, who sponsored the bill through the Senate.
“The police are not out there to break up peaceful demonstrations. They are there to provide law and order, and when it turns into a riot, they need to have tools that allow them to deal with that riot,” he said.
Sen. Vern White, former chief of the Ottawa Police Service, said the charge for wearing a mask is easily avoided: don’t attend an unlawful protest, and if you do, take off the mask so you’re not committing two crimes.
However, civil liberties advocates say that this misunderstands the dynamics of a protest, because protesters could get caught without knowing that the police have declared the protest illegal.
“There’s an incident that occurs at the tail end, you’re at the very front, the police now decide that this is going to be an unlawful protest, how are you to know?” Vonn asked.
She pointed out that the intent of the law – to make it easier to arrest people – ignores the fact that the police already have significant powers to arrest protesters who are causing problems because it’s already against the law to riot or break windows, for example.
“It doesn’t add to police powers, except to capture people who shouldn’t be arrested in the first place,” Vonn said.
Postmedia News
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你读了么？
Events taking place on a city street / sidewalk are subject to the conditions under By-law No. 2001-260. A “special event” under this By-law includes a demonstration, parade, sports event, festival, carnival, street dance, residential block party, sidewalk sale, outdoor mass and other like events;
....
We ask that you complete pages 1 to 4 and page 9 of the application and submit it 30 days prior to your event.
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- 注册
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- 注册
- 2003-04-13
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未经批准，你领批人占街试一下就知道了。
