2010-07-12

Delays are excruciating for parents of G20 accused

They know their sons and daughters as social activists on issues from the environment to aboriginal rights. Allegations that they’re also violent anarchists — charged with conspiracy to commit mischief over $5,000, conspiracy to assault peace officers and conspiracy to obstruct police — have left them reeling.

“I live in Toronto, she lives in Waterloo; how much could I know?” said Brian Stutz, the father of Sterling Stutz, 20, a female Wilfrid Laurier University student described on various websites as an activist with Canadian Youth Climate Coalition, Anti-War @ Laurier and the War Resisters Support Campaign.

She was released on $30,000 bail and placed under house arrest at her father’s home. She walked out of detention smiling in her jail-issued dark green sweatshirt and pants, and was told by her father to go into the women’s washroom. She emerged in a grey sweater, went out a side exit and jumped in her father’s car before photographers and cameramen could shoot her.

Stutz’s was one of two bail decisions handed down first thing Tuesday morning; the evidence — which can’t be reported due to a publication ban — was heard the week before. For the rest, various delays caused a domino effect, as when two accused arrived in court a half-day late because of hitches in their transportation from jail.

Defence lawyer Breese Davies called that incident “outrageous.” Another lawyer, Mike Leitold, blamed a lack of “institutional resources” for keeping some waiting in jail two weeks.

Most parents avoided speaking to reporters, fearful of saying anything that might make matters worse for their child, as though the law, and the power of the state, were both fickle and vengeful. But some couldn’t resist.

“It’s almost two weeks they’ve been arrested,” said one father, clearly working at controlling his anger. “Is this the way the law works? It’s wrong.

“What about the people arrested randomly and released 20 hours later?” he added, referring to many of the more than 1,000 swept up by police during the G20 summit. “I don’t think the general Canadian public would agree with that. Who’s going to answer for that?”

The accused — most seem to be from the Kitchener-Waterloo and Guelph areas — have so far shown little of their parents’ strain.

They were placed in a row of separate glass booths Tuesday when all appeared at once. Parents, supporters and journalists — 80 people in all — watched the proceedings via video link in a different room.

“There she is,” said the father of Monica Peters, spotting his daughter who, like some of the other accused, was smiling in her booth.

“They think it’s funny,” whispered Peters’ mother, incredulous. “They think it’s a game.” She wore a long, blue and white dress. Her husband, in a dark suit and tie, kept his arm around her. Now and then she would bury her head in her hands.

Peters, an activist from Guelph, was granted $30,000 bail Wednesday evening and placed under house arrest at her parents’ home in Nova Scotia.

In contrast to the well-dressed parents were supporters decorated with tattoos and piercings. One sat in the public gallery twirling his nose ring, another had green stocking seams running the length of her bare legs, a third had “F—- THE LAW” tattooed on the back of his hand.

On Tuesday they were three- or four-dozen strong. By week’s end, they had dwindled to a handful. Many looked at reporters with suspicion and made it clear they considered their presence a nuisance.

On Wednesday, when the bail hearing of three accused was moved to a small room with only four rows of public seats, supporters insisted that friends and relatives take their places first and reporters — if there was still room — later. The three reporters still covering the hearings by then paid no heed.

A radio reporter was then asked to move three times, for one reason or another. She agreed, but made her irritation clear on the third move. That sparked a confrontation during a break.

“There’s no reason for you to be so aggressive,” insisted the supporter, a young woman sporting a brush.

The reporter noted that she had been more than accommodating, then added: “If your friend doesn’t get bail, would you rather there was no one here to report it?”

“You’re here for your job,” said another supporter, practically spitting out the last word. “We’re here for our friends.”

Defence lawyer Leitold then intervened, insisting he and others were grateful for the media’s presence.

His client, Syed Hussan, was released on Thursday on $55,000 bail. A Pakistani native, he has no family in Canada. Bail conditions include residing in the homes of two York University professors acting as his sureties, an 11-p.m.-to-6-a.m. curfew, a surrendering of travel documents, a ban on attending — or planning — public protests or demonstrations, and a ban on any contact with people known to him as members of Anti-War @ Laurier or the Southern Ontario Anarchist Resistance group (SOAR).

In the run-up to the G20 summit, Hussan was described in media reports as spokesperson for the Toronto Community Mobilization Network, which helped co-ordinate various protest groups. He is also an activist with No One is Illegal, which calls for a more open immigration policy. As a condition of bail, he can continue to work at York University’s Centre for Feminist Research.

“He’s excited about being released,” Leitold said. “Mr. Hussan is eager to return to his work in the community, and he’s also eager to answer these baseless charges in a court of law.”

Yet to appear for bail hearings are Amanda Hiscocks, Leah Henderson, Alex Hundert and Peter Hopperton. They were arrested in Toronto prior to the June 26 riot, which saw black-clad protesters set fire to police cruisers and smash store windows — despite the presence of 20,000 police officers downtown.

At their court appearance on June 26, Crown Attorney Vincent Paris told the Star’s Francine Kopun the four are allegedly executives of SOAR. Paris said they were arrested as a result of an ongoing police investigation that began in April 2009. He alleged the group had a list of targets, including Metro Hall, City Hall, banks, Goldman Sachs, The Bay and the U.S., Russian and Indian consulates.

The joint investigation, carried out by the RCMP, the OPP, Toronto police and others, involved two undercover agents infiltrating groups in Guelph, Kitchener, Waterloo and Toronto.

The infiltration raises an obvious question: If undercover agents knew so much about the plans of the groups that allegedly orchestrated the violence, how come thousands of police on the streets of Toronto couldn’t prevent it?

The Toronto Police Services Board this week announced a civilian review of how police conducted summit security. But Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty — whose government secretly gave police extra powers for the summit — continues to reject calls for a provincial inquiry.

Those concerns were not foremost in the mind of Meghan Lankin’s mother. Meghan is a 20-year-old Kitchener resident whose bail hearing was delayed by transportation problems. Meghan’s brother, 23-year-old Erik Lankin, was denied bail on Tuesday.

The mother, a registered nurse, arrived at the courthouse on Thursday with a vegetarian lunch for her daughter. Defence lawyer Davies thought there was a good chance the court would allow it to be delivered, except for the cherries — problematic, apparently, because of the pits.

“Do you have children?” she asked the Star.

When the reply came back — no — she let out a sigh, lowered her shoulders and looked up as if to say, “You can’t possibly know how I feel.”

Source: http://www.thestar.com/article/834632--delays-are-excruciating-for-parents-of-g20-accused