Posts Tagged ‘Free Byron’
The Canadian Charter: Why is Byron Sonne so important?
Byron Sonne’s case has finally come to trial. Because it is not a jury trial, concerns that the media could misrepresent the facts of the case and taint a jury no longer apply, so there is no publication ban for the proceedings, although evidence given under the preliminary hearing is still covered under the publication ban.
We are into the fourth week of Byron Sonne’s trial. Video of two of Byron’s interrogations have been released, giving Canadians a chilling look at how the law can work in Canada. Jesse Brown looks at the interview process to help us understand what is happening here. This trial will clearly go on much longer.
The first week of the trial saw Charter arguments from the defense. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is the legislation that guarantees Canadian civil rights.
1. Arrest Warrant
“Mr. Sonne, a Forest Hill security professional arrested days before the 2010 world leaders’ conference, stands charged with possessing explosive substances and counselling others to commit mischief. The Crown’s case is based on the premise that the accused was targeting the G20 summit, while supporters argue Mr. Sonne — who meticulously documented security measures and mused online about how to subvert them — was merely exploring the limits of summit surveillance.”
“The defence alleges the first Charter violations occurred when Mr. Sonne was arbitrarily detained and questioned by police in the financial district about a week before the G20, after he was seen photographing the expansive security perimeter.”
“While the accused initially refused to produce identification, “the officers threatened him with a provincial offence [jaywalking] as a ruse to compel him to identify himself,” the defence factum noted.”
— Megan O’Toole, National Post, Police violated rights of man accused of plotting G20 attack, trial hears
Possibly the single most shocking thing to me, personally, was the newspaper reportage. Regardless of political stripe, every one seemed equally concerned with the abuses to Canadian civil rights evidenced in this specific case.
Globe and Mail
“The defence also argues that he was questioned for 12 hours without having access to a lawyer.”AND
“Mr. Sonne is corralled in front of that police car,” defence lawyer Joe Di Luca told Ontario Superior Court Justice Nancy Spies.
Mr. Di Luca said his client, as was his right, refused to identify himself when the officers asked.
He said he would only do so if he was being detained under the Terrorism Act, something the Crown said would have alarmed the officers.
The police then devised a “ruse” to obtain his ID by threatening to arrest him for jaywalking, court heard, and Mr. Sonne then appeared to identify himself.
AND
Mr. Sonne’s Internet activity had attracted the attention of law enforcement,” Byrne said.
To justify the warrant that led to his arrest, police used Mr. Sonne’s Twitter and Flickr postings, along with statements made when they stopped him downtown.
Colin Perkel, Globe and Mail, G20 trial begins for man charged with possessing explosives
2. Home/Office Search Warrant
Toronto computer consultant Byron Sonne once built a “wave guide” to redirect microwave energy but confessed he was unable to even melt chocolate from a few inches.
“He posted a wry account of his failed experiment on his “Toronto Goat Blog,” in June 2009, concluding there was “no magnetron death ray.”
“But a year later, a G20 intelligence detective deliberately misled a judge when he omitted any reference to the blog in a document seeking authorization for a search warrant of Sonne’s Forest Hill home, his lawyer Joseph Di Luca argued Tuesday.”
“In written documents, the Crown argues French’s concerns were reasonable and the defence’s “microanalysis” of his every factual assertion should be rejected.”
— Peter Small, Toronto Star, Police officer misled judge in ‘G20 geek’ probe, lawyer says
3. Search Warrant Family Cottage
“His lawyers argue officers quickly developed tunnel vision after reading Sonne’s blog, posts on Flickr and tweets from a Toronto Goat Twitter account and wrongly concluded he had nefarious intentions.
Defence lawyer Joseph Di Luca told the court the flimsy evidence amassed against Sonne should be thrown out because police repeatedly violated his Charter rights and filed an affidavit filled with “falsehoods and inaccuracies” to secure search warrants for his home and Midland cottage.
At one point, police falsely claimed they’d found HTMD, an explosive substance, and a home-made detonator in Sonne’s Elderwood Ave. home so a judge would issue another warrant.”
— Michele Mandel, Toronto Sun Byron Sonne: Wacky or enemy of the state?
Although I am not a lawyer, but it certainly seems to me that the rights guaranteed to Byron Sonne, the same rights owed to every citizen under the Charter, were not honoured.
Any unarmed, ordinary, law abiding, Canadian, suddenly surrounded by three armed police officers is likely to comply with whatever they say. But Byron didn’t.
Byron refused to allow himself to be bullied.
Byron Sonne availed himself of the legal protection of Canadian Law. It seems that everything else happened as a direct consequence.
Since when does standing up for yourself warrant the kind if legal over-reaction levelled at Byron Sonne? Call me crazy, but I had this idea that law enforcement isn’t supposed to bully citizens. That’s why we have the Charter: to protect our rights.
Byron Sonne did not allow himself to be bullied. If the Crown attorney doesn’t understand the effect of that, perhaps the Crown needs to get reacquainted with the world most Canadians live in. I find the Crown’s cavalier attitude toward Canadian civil rights to be very disturbing.
If the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
doesn’t work for one of us,
it works for none of us.
Trial notes
Identi.ca !FreeByron
Twitter: #freeByron\
Open File:
The ruse that violated Byron Sonne’s rights
Lies and Videotape: Byron Sonne trial continue
The Daily Ruse
Free Byron Website
P.S.: The trial has already exceeded the time allotted for it, and will go much further. Please make a donation if you can:
You can wire funds directly to:
Valerie Sonne, In Trust
TD-Canada Trust, 1 Queen St.E & Main St., Brampton, Ontario, Canada L6W 2A7
Branch Transit: 21202
Financial Institution: 004
Account: 03116395523
What is Activism?
Activism is an incredibly broad term that can mean many things to many people.
Activism consists of intentional action to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change.
This action is in support of, or opposition to, one side of an often controversial argument. In contemporary use, “activism” tends to be a word associated with the actions and ideologies of those on the political left.
The word “activism” is used synonymously with protest or dissent, but activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing businesses, rallies, street marches, strikes, both sit-ins and hunger strikes, or even guerrilla tactics.”
Of course, you can’t always believe what you read. Just because something is in print does not necessarily mean it is true or accurate, whether in a book, a newspaper or a web page. Wikipedia is certainly in error in conflating “violent revolutionary activities” with Malcolm X, who was himself non-violent like the majority of activists. It was only after Malcolm X was assasinated that his followers turned to “violent revolutionary activities.”
I’ve never met Byron Sonne, and only heard about him recently. The publication ban means what I know about it is limited to what has already been published. Which may or may not be true. Still, there is enough there in the public record to cause me concern, which is why I’ve written a couple of blog posts about it.
One of the comments posted to my first article Silencing Online Activism: From “Officer Bubbles” to “Free Byron” states emphatically that:
Byron Sonne is in jail because he purchased TATP explosives over the internet deliberately to provoke the police into arresting him. “
—BelchSpeak commenting on Silencing Online Activism: From “Officer Bubbles” to “Free Byron.”
If Mr. BelchSpeak is correct, that would certainly qualify Mr. Sonne’s actions as being political. Which would be an act of political activism. The objective of that type of activism is to challenge laws and the legal system.
When I attempted to point that out to Mr. BelchSpeak, he didn’t seem to understand what I was saying, which is why I’ve written this post to explain it a little better.
In itself, buying explosives is not activism.
Explosives may be bought to blow up the large stump and root system that makes half your field unusable. That’s farming, not activism.
Explosives might be bought to blow the door off a safe. (An excellent Parker story springs to mind…) That’s criminal activity, not activism.
Explosives were bought to drop out of Lancaster Bombers on Nazi Germany in the second world war. That was an act of war, not activism.
Explosives might be bought to create pyrotechnic special effects in Raiders of the Lost Arc. That’s special effects, not activism.
Explosives are sometimes bought to blow up symbolic buildings as a means of attempting to intimidate governments into doing things they otherwise would not do. That’s terrorism, not activism.
Explosives are bought to create community fireworks displays in communities across Canada on Victoria Day or Canada Day. That’s community spirit, not activism.
Explosives can also be bought to set off in back yards, although they are often used inappropriately and too often one hears stories of children harming themselves, sometimes even losing body parts or causing damage when using these fireworks without adequate supervision. That’s foolishness, not activisim.
But if explosives are bought for the express purpose of provoking the police, that would in fact be activism. Explosives purchased to expose flaws in G8/G20 Summit Security arrangements, with the intent of ridiculing the authorities, in the hope of encouraging them to not hold the G8/G20 Summit here now, or any in the future, would certainly qualify as activism, because it would be “intentional action to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change”
Again, I have no way of knowing if it’s true or not, I’m simply basing this on what BelchSpeak said.
But if it is true, it would mean Byron Sonne is an unlikely flight risk. Because this type of activism is done in order to challenge, draw attention to and hopefully change societal and legal inequities.
Mr. Sonne had a well ordered and comfortable life. He owned a business, a beautiful home, had strong community ties. People aren’t often willing to jeopardize those things unless they fee very strongly about an issue. Usually that the risk is warranted if there is a chance that wrongs can be righted. The last thing that Byron Sonne would be is a flight risk, since because having a day in court would be the point.
People accused of murder are routinely released on bail. Bail is granted if they are not considered a danger to others or a flight risk. Accused people are allowed to resume their normal lives while preparing for a trial date which may be years in the future. An accusation is not a conviction, and in the eyes of the law, people accused of crimes are considered innocent until they are proven guilty. Even convicted felons are sometimes subject to serve a sentence of “House Arrest” or “Work Release.”
I do not pretend to have all the facts. I don’t know what Byron Sonne actually did. The point is that the charges brought against him could be very broadly interpreted.
The facts that I do have are that Byron Sonne has been charged, but not convicted of anything. Unless and until he is actually convicted of anything, he should not have to serve years in jail.
So if what Mr. BelchSpeak wrote is true, it would mean that Byron Sonne is neither dangerous or a flight risk, Byron Sonne’s denial of bail would itself be a serious miscarriage of justice.
Because it would mean that his bail was denied as a punishment.
Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble… G8/G20
I admit it, the bard actually wrote “Double, double, toil and trouble” in the Scottish play. But in the light of the continuing aftermath of the Canadian G8/G20 debacle, the soap opera of international celebrity “Officer Bubbles” makes the often used misquote so terribly apropos.
View this Video with this YouTube Link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGMTm3QRwEc
View this video in OGG format: http://russwurm.org/hostess/frombubblestobookings.ogv
Over and over again, the peaceful protests against the G8/G20 summit were met with over-reaction and unmerited violence by the authorities. I assume the well paid security forces were operating on the theory that the best defense is a strong offense.
If you smash opposition mercilessly beneath your jackboots, perhaps protesters can be frightened away.
I would suspect the reason a social worker Courtney was arrested was simply that she was not cowed by “Officer Bubbles.” After the officer threatened her with arrest, Courtney put the bubbles away as he instructed. But she was not cowed. Although she complied with the order, she had the temerity to tell him that she did not feel respected. On camera. If you want to keep order, arresting anyone who is not frightened into backing down can seem to be a good thing.
Officer Bubbles was very much aware he was being filmed, placing the camera over the camera. It is only that this camera catches Courtney being arrested away from the action. While Officer Bubbles stands beside the officer who is actually cuffing the young woman, scanning the crowd, you can see him stiffen as he realizes that the camera has caught the arrest.
Knowing there were cameras everywhere, Officer Bubbles interjected himself in non-confrontational conversation being held between the other officer and the protester. The protester with the camera was directly in front of him, closer than the bubble blowing protester. Of course it was captured on video. Of course it went viral.
People all over the world have seen this video. It is all over YouTube. It has spawned cartoons and comments he apparently finds defamatory. Officer Bubbles is now attempting long distance intimidation by bringing lawsuits against people who made comments on the various YouTube video postings.
View this Video with this YouTube Link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H12AI6dkVIM
View this video in OGG format: http://russwurm.org/hostess/IntervieWwithElderlyWomenAttackedatG20TorontoJune2010.ogv
While Officer Bubbles considers being impacted by a soap bubble an assault, I am more inclined to think that being physically pushed around and thrown to the ground falls into the more universally understood definition of “assault.” Although this incident is “relatively mild,” I fail to see what purpose is served in manhandling elderly ladies — or anyone — exercising their democratic right to peaceful protest.
Learning that these particular grannies emigrated here to Canada in search of democratic freedom makes it all the more poignant.
View this Video with this YouTube Link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiLt40d_AbU
View this video in OGG format: http://russwurm.org/hostess/PoliceOpenFireOnPeacefulProtestersG20toronto2010.ogv
This is Canada. For the most part Canadians are deserving of our mild mannered and law abiding reputation. This does not preclude our ability to stand up for what is right. Dissent is an important part of democracy. Without it, there can be no democracy.
We have a tradition of peaceful protest. Clearly, these protesters sought to keep the protest peaceful. The forces of “law and order” did not.
View this Video with this YouTube Link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw2TokwsmKQ
View this video in OGG format: http://russwurm.org/hostess/G20TorontoPoliceFireAtWoman+PeacefulProtesters.ogv
Our government appears interested in crushing dissent in any way possible. Is this the Canada we want?
Is this the Canada our young people have fought and died for over the years? A Canada where free speech is suppressed, grannies are manhandled, and peaceful protesters are shot with dangerous weapons?
There are many many videos on You Tube, documenting peaceful protesters being run down by horses, herded like cattle, caught between a rock and a hard place. Where mass arrests are made as a deterrent.
To silence dissent.
An Invisible Abuse of Power
Byron Sonne was arrested before the G8/G20 even began.
A middle aged husband, a computer security expert with his own business, a homeowner, a concerned citizen active in the community.
Byron Sonne posted remarks on Twitter which caught the attention of the G8/G20 security forces monitoring Twitter. They searched Byron Sonne’s home, then arrested Byron and his wife (who has since been released) on a series of charges.
Charges that can be applied extraordinarily broadly:
- Possession of explosives for an unlawful purpose.
- Possession of dangerous weapons.
- Intimidation of a justice system participant by threat.
- Intimidation of a justice system participant by watch and beset.
- Mischief.
- Attempted mischief.
Sounds pretty scary, right? I’m not a lawyer, I’m a writer, but both exist within a framework of definitions. To understand what I mean about a broad application of the laws, offenses often include a range of actions. If you look at any law, you’ll find it begins with an extensive list of definitions.
Lets look at “Possession of explosives for an unlawful purpose.” Just by looking at an explosive, you can’t tell of it will be used for a lawful or unlawful purpose. That stick of dynamite might be intended to blow out a tree stump. They may even be a permit for it. Since Byron Somme is a security expert, it is not unreasonable to assume he might have material of this type for study. Proving “for an unlawful purpose” would be the hard part.
Even “explosives” have room for interpretation. At one end of the scale you find nuclear warheads. On the other you don’t even have to go to Toys R Us to buy a child’s chemistry set to make explosives, you can find the ingredients to make explosives in pretty much anyone’s kitchen. Fireworks are explosives too. It’s a work covering many things. Not too long ago Cory Doctorow provided the recipe for a smoke bomb he created as an adolescent on his popular boingboing site: Explosives
Or “dangerous weapons.” When I was a kid, my older brother built a slingshot capable of killing small animals. (It’s O.K., he didn’t grow up to join the NRA, these days he’s a sensitive artist.)
a few years of pre-trial custody
“Now that we’re looking at a few years of pretrial custody, this is something that’s taking off quite rapidly,” said James Arlen, a security consultant in Toronto and a longtime friend of Sonne’s.
—Toronto Star: ‘Free Byron’ campaign grows for man in G20 case denied bail
Whatever happened to the idea of “innocent until proven guilty” ?
I’ve never met Byron, and I only learned about his plight the other day at an Ubuntu Release Party. The publication ban prevents release of the facts in the case, but at the same time, I find it strange that he is being held without bail when black bloc protesters who actually acted have been released.
Four months later he is still incarcerated without bail. This is a Canadian citizen who has not been convicted of anything. In a country where accused murderers routinely get bail. What is going on? It certainly looks as though Byron Sonne is a political prisoner. In Canada.
I can’t believe this is happening here.
Visit the Free Byron website if you want to help. There are links to the published articles, and advice on the different ways we can help Byron get through this ordeal. Donations to his defense fund would be appreciated, but I’ve been told that he is in need reading matter, and very much appreciates receiving letters from people.
Of course the thing Byron needs most is his freedom. Don’t we all?
I’ve also written about this in my personal blog
