2010-06-30
G20 arrests: Darius Mirshahi charged with conspiracy
By Jane Sims
One of the two London activists charged with posting G20 Summit protest invitations on city mailboxes is behind bars in Toronto.
Darius Mirshahi, 25, is one of the hundreds rounded up over the weekend during the meeting of world leaders. He has been charged with conspiracy and made a court appearance in Toronto Tuesday.
He was supposed to make a court appearance in London on seven mischief charges with his co-accused, Andrew Cadotte, 19.
Mirshahi and Cadotte were arrested June 15 near the Western Fair grounds with a jug of wheat paste and a stack of posters inviting protesters to go to Toronto during the meeting of international leaders.
The pair were held in London police custody overnight — a detainment some considered an infringement of their right to expression. They were released after a brief court appearance, with a condition “to obey the laws of Canada as contained in the Criminal Code.”
Mirshahi is a founding member of the Fanshawe social justice club.
Cadotte was on hand in London to make his brief court appearance. His lawyer, Gordon Cudmore, pledged the mailboxes would be cleaned before the next court appearance July 6.
A half-dozen of Cadotte’s supporters were outside the courthouse Tuesday morning with placards and flags.
Alex Balch of Common Cause — Cadotte’s organization — said the small group wanted to offer support to their London colleague.
“We want to come here and show our solidarity with our comrades who were arrested,” he said referring to both the London and Toronto arrests.
Balch called Cadotte’s charges “baseless” and “politically motivated.
“A side benefit will be to . . . explain this attack on ongoing attack on freedom of expression and political dissent in this country.”
Balch was in Toronto to protest the summit, but escaped incarceration. He said he has “survivor’s guilt at this point, because so many of my friends were arrested for doing nothing wrong.”
“I’m very, very angry at the Toronto police and the whole integrated security unit right now,” he said for their tactics.