Summary of some video footage from April 21-22, Solidarity Actions outside Orsainville Prison

News from the Outside:
What is happening at the prison?

April 23, 12:noon. One protester from the solidarity group outside of Orsainville Prison was documented being arrested after lying in front of a bus leaving the prison. Ten protesters were on board, on their way to be dropped off in different places around the city.

2:16pm One Vancouver-based support worker described some of the efforts to assist the released protesters. He was making efforts to track where the busses were letting them off, so that they could be transported to where they needed to go. The prison guards would tell them 'they were going to Charlesburg" so they would yell through the window for the solidarity protesters, with the idea that the support staff would follow them. The bus would then go somewhere else, presumably to confuse support efforts. One report is of busses leaving every hour or two during the night, placing considerable pressure on a support group with little transportation and communication of their own.

One report describes an arrest in a peaceful sit-in of 500 Saturday. Tear gas was launched, the protester(s) who did not disperse was/were arrested. There was a time of 34 hours between arrest and being allowed to speak to a lawyer, and by interview time the legal collective was not sure whether he was released or not.

2:30pm Walk-in interview:
Newest reports suggest that the atmosphere outside of the prison is calm. Prisoners are greeted by solidarity support, including the Rainbow Family, an organization built around basic support (food, rest area, friendship, emotional support, documentation) of those being released. (Since prisoners are released with none of the support that they walked in with - a quarter for the phone, friends that they were with, transportation to make the 10km trek back to the city or maps to do it with, the protesters could be traumatized as much by the release as the arrest.)

Reported by: Glenn Kukkee
from the CMAQ headquarters, Quebec City