MONTREAL, Thursday, April 24, 2003 -- After deliberating for more than one
day, a Montreal jury of 9 women and 2 men returned an emphatic verdict of
"not guilty" in the riot trial of activists Jonathan Aspireault-Masse,
Jaggi Singh and Christina Xydous. The charges date back to October 23,
2000, more than two-and-a-half years ago, when over 1000 people gathered
in downtown Montreal to protest a meeting of the G-20 (which includes the
heads of the IMF and World Bank). The trial lasted three weeks.

The Israeli Defence Forces killed another journalist in the West Bank, and a Reuters Photographer watched everything happen...

Hundreds of thousands gathered in Bolivar Avenue, Caracas, on April 13 to commemorate the first anniversary of the popular uprising that defeated the reactionary coup of April 11, 2002. The different events that have been taking place a year after the coup give us a clear picture of the current balance of forces between the classes in Venezuela.

Cette caricature souligne le second anniversaire du Sommet des Amériques à Québec (avril 2001).

“Our sisters and brothers workers of Brukman have suffered another attack at the hands of the justice system, the government and the bosses. In a brutal police operation, with more than 250 police, attack vehicles, fire-engines, buses and with the presence of infantry, our factory was evicted.

M. Martineau,

Sur la boucherie qui se déroule actuellement en Irak, vous venez de nous livrer une confession et nous « avouer un terrible secret » : « Je n’ai participé à aucune manifestation contre la guerre en Irak, écrivez-vous (…) parce que je ne sais foutrement pas où je me situe sur cette question ». (...)
Vous ne savez pas quoi penser, quelle position adopter, vous n’êtes convaincu ni par les pro-guerres, ni par les anti-guerres. Vous cherchez à nous faire admettre qu’entre les deux positions, il existerait une troisième, la votre, celle d’une expectative condescendante et hautaine qui vous permet de considérer les uns et les autres de haut, de leur expliquer à quel point ils sont simplistes, quand ils ne sont pas dogmatiques, dans leur compréhension d’une « situation (…) extrêmement complexe » (paragraphe 10), de leur faire savoir qu’«il faut se méfier [sans doute comme vous vous méfiez vous-même, ndlr] comme de la peste des gens qui croient posséder la vérité » (paragraphe 10), et enfin de les renvoyer dos à dos.(...)

Que doit-on en conclure ? Tout simplement que vous n’avez pas le courage de dire que vous êtes pour la guerre ou au mieux que la guerre, cette guerre précisément, ne vous dérange pas. C’est éminemment cynique.

General assembly for the people who were encircled by the riot squad on April 26 2002, or who were witness of this event.

[The trial of three Montreal social activists -- Jonathan Aspireault-Masse, Jaggi Singh, and Christina Xydous --will enter its second week on April 14. If you live in the Montreal-area, your continued support is appreciated, especially by attending the trial in person. It is essential for the jury to see a courtroom of supporters. The trial will continue on April 11, 14, 15, 16 and 17, between 9:30am-12:30pm and 2-4:30pm. The trial takes place in courtroom 3,11 at the Palais de Justice (corner of Notre-Dame and St-Laurent, near metros Champ de Mars and Place d'Armes). Jonathan, Jaggi and Christina are facing up to 2 years in prison, and need your support in court! An update of the past week is included below, as well as info about how you can help.]

Amnesty International calls on the Russian authorities to take steps to improve their record of bringing to justice people suspected of grave human rights violations in the Chechen Republic, in the course of full and fair trials...

As the UN Commission on Human Rights discusses the human rights situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), Amnesty International today expressed its concerns about continuing serious human rights violations in the country and the lack of effective action to reduce widespread malnutrition among the population...