On 21 April 2001, Surete du Quebec forces attacked, injured and arrested community radio journalist Dexter X. The Montreal-based media activist was in Quebec City covering the Summit of the Americas for a number of alternative and community radio stations.

Summit of the Americas journalist Dexter X faces trial Thursday, Jan.23, 2003 in Quebec City

On 21 April 2001, Surete du Quebec forces attacked, injured and arrested community radio journalist Dexter X. The Montreal-based media activist was in Quebec City covering the Summit of the Americas for a number of alternative and community radio stations.

Police assaulted the former CKUT program director, after he voiced concern about their indiscriminate tear-gassing of a peaceful crowd - including a mother and infant - in front of the Complexe Meduse which served as an Independent Media Centre during the Summit.

Police repeatedly slammed the journalist's face against a concrete wall, stepped on him and shouted racist remarks at him. The quiet-voiced 5'1" Sri Lankan-Canadian is charged with two counts of assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest.

Dexter's trial takes place January 23, 2003, 9am at the Quebec Court House 300 boul Jean Lesage, Quebec City. Carpools and train-rides from Montreal and Ottawa are being organized by CKUT for supporters who want to attend the trial. Call Louise (514) 398-6787 ext 4975 email: sal...@ckut.ca or e-mail Dexter directly d...@tao.ca.

-- Dexter was one of almost 500 people arrested during the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City, April 2001. A jail was emptied in anticipation of mass arrests of demonstrators against the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Over 60,000 people protested against the trade liberalization deal, during the Summit.

As their cases are brought to trial, Summit defendants like Dexter are finding the judicial process biased against them. On April 26, anti-FTAA demonstrators Dorian Locke and Aaron Koleszar were sentenced to serve 45 days in jail. Quebec Judge Couture said that while he didn't know if they were guilty of anything, the pair were dressed "like others who, in the preceding days, had thrown stones, Molotov cocktails, and taunted police officers who defended a security perimeter." Couture based his sentencing on precedents from the 1920s.

Summit defendants' testimonies are routinely disregarded by the court, even when police accounts are contradictory, lack credibility or are demonstrable fabrications. So far, many defendants have either lost their cases or been forced to accept plea bargains. Their cases have been hampered by denial of legal aid, bias, language difficulties, lack of resources and a lack of media attention.

Observers worry that the widespread use of abusive force by police like that used in Quebec City will become routine if left unchallenged. During the Summit police used excessive gas against protesters and sometimes broke the bones of demonstrators by firing tear-gas canisters at their limbs from close-range. One protester suffered a broken jaw. Police shot Eric Leferrier in the throat at close range with a plastic bullet. It was his first protest. He suffered permanent damage to his voice box and will never speak again.

Almost 7000 police from four forces used plastic bullets, armored water cannons, helicopters and nearly 5,000 canisters of tear gas. They used so much gas they ran out and had to by more form the US. Now the courts are being used as another weapon to quash dissent.

The Canadian government spent millions of dollars on security for the Summit of the Americas. In an effort to keep protesters out of sight and earshot they erected a security barrier around Quebec City. The despised fence came to symbolize the Chretien government's hypocrisy and hollow commitment to democracy. While they sold access to large corporations by accepting sponsorships for the Summit they also systematically refused entry to concerned citizens of other countries, preventing them from expressing their views on the FTAA at an international gathering about a free trade agreement that extends across 34 borders.