Fredericton resident Vaughn Barnett is still in jail for activities inQuebec City -- but his case has received relatively little attention fromeither mainstream or alternative media.

Fredericton resident Vaughn Barnett is still in jail for activities in Quebec City -- but his case has received relatively little attention fromeither mainstream or alternative media.

Letter from Tasha Barnett (excerpt)

... I spoke with Vaughn last night and he is concerned about the issue stayingalive now that Jaggi has been released. Vaughn's situation seems to havesubtly changed. He has been unable to find out what his status is in termsof being released. The only way he can communicate is through memos and theyhave only responded to one of several memos that he has sent. At this pointit seems that he cannot get out even if he wanted to, because he has beenunable to communicate with anyone.

Another thing that has been different isthat he is the only one who has not been given his clothes. The otherinmates, protestors included have received their clothes and shoes. He hasparticularly asked for regular shoes because he is wearing slippers thatgive him no arch support and as a result has had terrible pains in his legsthat have kept him awake at night. He is wearing a thin sleeveless shirt andhas no jacket for when he goes outside.

He has been unable to receive hislaw books so that he can defend himself. The parcel I sent was returned. Andhe can receive no incoming calls, not even a message so that he can return acall to me. I have to wait for him to contact me every couple of days. Hisfellow inmates contend that he is in fact being treated differently from therest of the population. He has a bogus charge of assaulting an officer, andthey feel that may be causing the prison to disregard his requests. He issending me a copy of a complaint he has filed with the institution. He hopesthat it will get to me.

The longer he is in the more difficult it becomes.People must know that Jaggi is not the last protestor to be released. Thereare six remaining. Five from the Germinal group and Vaughn.

In solidarity,
Tasha

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Day 12 Behind Bars in Quebec Jail
City man says arrest illegal (excerpt)
by Chisholm Pothier
Fredericton Daily Gleaner, May 3
http://www.nbnews.com/dailygleaner/

A Fredericton man is one of only a handful of protesters from the QuebecCity summit still in jail. Vaughn Barnett was aressted along with 500 otherprotesters at the Summit of the Americas April 21 to 23. The difference ishe's still in jail -- along with possibly seven others -- while the vastmajority of other protesters have been released. Barnett has chosen to stayin jail rather than leave on bail because he believes he was arrestedillegally and was later denied due process under the legal system. Hisformer wife, Tasha Barnett, and their four children are anxiously awaitinghis return to Fredericton. ...

On Sunday, with the summit wrapping up and the protests winding down, hethought that would be a good time to cross to the other side of the fence asa symbolic gesture. He was wearing a sign that said he had no intention tovandalize or cause harm but simply wanted to protest peacefully. "I felt Ihad a moral and constitutional right to take those few steps," he saidWednesday in an interview from the Centre de detention de Quebec, a prisonin Orsainville, a suburb of Quebec City. "I felt the fence was unlawful andwas preventing people from having a say in another process that wasundemocratic and unlawful in both substance and process." He was walkingalong the security fence in downtown Quebec with Charles Emmrys, apsychologist from Sackville, when he found an opening and crossed through tothe other side. He walked a few steps before police blocked his way. Hedropped to his knees, police pulled his arms around his back and slappedhandcuffs on him and dragged him behind a building. He doesn't believe thepolice action was justified, but given that, he said the police were notviolent with him and were fairly nice, although he got a few scratches.Barnett's version of the arrest is verified by Jason Kropsky, an activistwith the Jewish Progressive Action in New York, who was in Quebec City andsaw Barnett get arrested. He saw Barnett tussle with the police before beingtaken behind the building. "His contention was 'I have the right to walkthrough this gate. This fence is a violation of my freedom of expression.'They took him around the back of a building and I lost him after that,"recalled Kropsky.Emmrys said he saw Barnett confronted by the police and refuse to stop.After he was tackled by the police, Emmrys watched to see how he was treatedbefore losing sight of him beside the building.Barnett was taken to the prison where he was charged with obstructing apolice officer. A charge of assault was added later. ...

He was told he could be released without bail if he agreed to sign arecognizance form committing him to show up for his court case. He refusedbecause he wanted to bring up the lack of due process in front of a judge ata bail hearing. ...

(At his first bail hearing) Barnett said he wanted to represent himself andneeded more time and a copy of the Criminal Code to prepare. He said he wastold to get his own and be ready for court the next day. It was actually twodays later when Barnett appeared and told the judge he wanted to raise someissues about due process -- the lack of Criminal Code, the appearances byvideotape and the abuse of process in his arrest and incarceration. Thejudge said first he wanted to deal with something else. That turned out tobe imposing $200 bail on Barnett with no evidence presented by the Crown asto why he needed to post bail and no opportunity for Barnett to argue why heshouldn't have to post bail. He tried to protest, but Barnett said the judgecut him off, said 'Next' and Barnett was escorted away.An organization offered to pay his bail but Barnett would have had to sign arecognizance, which he refused. Barnett, who has studdied law, says he wasdenied a show cause hearing on the bail and was being coerced to sign arecognizance -- where a prisoner undertakes to keep the peace and show upfor his trial -- on unlawful terms.

He's been in jail ever since, today marking his 12th day behind bars. Theonly others there are high profile activist Jaggi Singh, who was deniedbail, and a group from Montreal who were arrested before the summit whenpolice uncovered their plot to attack the wall.

Barnett said he believes his action in walking across the security perimeterwas lawful and the police actions were unlawful. He said he is staying injail to make a statement about democracy, to join the other activists insolidarity and help them with his legal training; and to monitor abuses ofthe legal process from the inside to help in any future lawsuits against thefederal government for violating the constitutional rights of citizens. ...

Tasha Barnett said she is concerned about how he's being treated and what'sgoing to happen to him. One of his four children, 11-year-old Lydia, isparticularly close to her father and regularly asks when he's coming home. ...

Emmrys, for one, is extremely impressed with Barnett's sense of principleand his bravery. ...

"Vaughn is a really typical Joe in many ways," said Emmrys. "It was veryscary to do what he did. Two ro three people tried to dissuade him,presenting all the worst-case scenarios. "Despite everything, despite beingfrightened, he did it because he held to his view."