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Alex Hundert Declines Bail, Refuses Conditions against Expressing Political Views

"Despite incarceration, my commitment to these struggles is only strengthened, as are our movements."

by Dawn Paley

Image by Herman Wallace from 2011 Certain Days Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar http://www.certaindays.org/
Image by Herman Wallace from 2011 Certain Days Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar http://www.certaindays.org/

Also posted by dawn:

Almost a month after having been thrown back in jail for giving a talk at Ryerson University, Alex Hundert declined bail yesterday because of the conditions that he would face were he to be released.

According to a release by his allies, if he were to have accepted bail yesterday, Hundert would have been faced with "additional conditions of non association with Harsha Walia, Dan Kellar, AW@L, SOAR, NOII, no planning/participating/planning public meetings or marches, and no expressing political views including in the media, amongst others."

But regardless of his ongoing incarceration, Hundert insists that his supporters need to continue organizing, and not focus on his plight.

"Too much attention has been paid to a small number of cases of repression, particularly my own, when people need to be focused on and fighting back against broader patterns of oppression that flow from the racist capitalist system propagated by the G20 states, their corporations, their militaries, and their police," he told an ally in a phone call from jail on October 11.

The additional conditions Hundert would have faced upon release would have been on top of the already restrictive conditions Hundert faced after his last release, which essentially amounted to house arrest.

Hundert was arrested at gunpoint on June 26, when an anti-gang police unit stormed into his home. In the following days, over 1,000 people were arrested as they spoke out and demonstrated against the G-20 in the city of Toronto. Hundreds have had their charges dropped, but Hundert together with 19 others organizers from the Ontario and Quebec region faces conspiracy charges. He was released on bail on July 16th, and re-arrested on September 17th after participating in a panel discussion at Ryerson University.

According to the Toronto Community Mobilization Network, the Ontario Provincial Police claimed the panel discussion counted as a 'public demonstration', and was a violation of Hundert's 'no public demonstration' bail condition.

"He was speaking at a panel discussion in a university classroom alongside professors, which is clearly not a public demonstration," said Mohan Mishra, an organizer with No One Is Illegal Toronto in a statement. "This is yet another attempt to silence Alex, and is a strong indication of the police's intent to criminalize ideas, dissent, and effective community organizing.”

Cross Canada demonstrations in solidarity with Alex Hundert were planned for yesterday and today. And though he remains behind bars, his courageous voice will continue to resonate.

"The most important thing that I can say today, is that the issues which motivated people to organize against the G20 – poverty, migrant justice, indigenous sovereignty, the environment, queer liberation, ableism, patriarchy, and violence against women – all continue to have tremendous impacts on people’s daily lives," Hundert told an ally in a phone call from jail on October 11. "Despite incarceration, my commitment to these struggles is only strengthened, as are our movements."

Click here for information on sending a letter to Alex. Click here to take a sneak peek at the Certain Days 2011 Calendar.

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Commentaires

Police state amplifies

The Kanadian police state amplifies.

This is nothing new, with the glaring exception of the conditions of bail. That part of this amplified police state has me in some shock and disbelief.

How can Kanadians accept this insanity? Are we that out of touch with reality?

COME ON PEEPS!

Damned pigs

Muzzling political activists like Hundert only serves as a reminder of the reasons that we all demonstrate. Fuck the pigs, and fuck the courts. I look forward to reading about Alex's release from jail.

Your position makes our

Your position makes our resistance stronger Alex. Thank you for being so solid and refusing to accept the shackles being forced on you. While prisons still exists, 'outside' remains a minimum security joint.

Alex's refusal to accept bail an inspiration of uncontrollability. It's an act of determining his own conditions, even while inside the cage of the State. The cops, politicians and judges can't just offer us a collar and expect us to wear it.

For total freedom!
 

outrageous!

fucking outrageous.

could it be more clear that Alex is a political prisoner?

no.

this shit needs to stop.

let's talk to these cops and lawyers and judges!

fucking outragious.

Alex is right

By being in the streets, the univsersities and everywhere else possible making noise, we assert our right to do so.

We must find a way to balance our support for Alex and the other political prisoners, with a continued resistance to teh 'broader patterns' that Alex talks about.

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