----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, July 18, 2000 1:24 AM Subject: [STOPNATO] Fwd: Brian Becker of IAC and other activists stand trial 7/18 STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.COM In a message dated 17/07/00 2:48:11 PM Pacific Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: << INTERNATIONAL ACTION CENTER For Immediate Release Attention: Assignment Editor Press contact: Sarah Sloan (212) 633-6646 July 17, 2000 VICTIMS OF POLICE PREVENTIVE DETENTION ACTION STAND TRIAL IN WASHINGTON D.C. - TUESDAY, JULY 18 This Tuesday, July 18, victims of the mass arrest of 678 people on April 15 in Washington D.C. will stand trial. The defendants include Brian Becker, Co-Director of the International Action Center, George Vavatsikos, a Greek American activist and others. The defendants face 90 days in jail and fines if convicted of disorderly conduct. They were arrested last April 15 at a demonstration held in conjunction with the week of protests against meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington D.C. The April 15 protest demanded "Shut down the Prison-Industrial Complex" and "New Trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal." A class action law suit alleging a police-government conspiracy to deny the First Amendment rights of demonstrators will be filed in the coming weeks. "This trial is itself a brazen miscarriage of justice," said Brian Becker. "The police violated our constitutional rights to assemble and protest and exercise our First Amendment guarantee of free speech. All 678 arrested people were protesting against the Prison- Industrial Complex, racism and to demand a new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal. We broke no laws and yet we were illegally detained, handcuffed hand to foot and held for 24 to 36 hours in school buses, basements and remote ad-hoc detention centers in the Washington DC area," Becker asserted. For a detailed description of events, see http://www.iacenter.org/rept415.htm. "The outcome of this trial is important and must be put into the context of a new, aggressive and we believe unconstitutional policing strategy directed at denying the constitutional rights of those engaged in protest," said Larry Holmes, a leader of the IAC and one of the 678 arrested on April 15. "This is the post-Seattle backlash by the police. They want to intimidate and prevent mass protests at the Republican Convention in Philadelphia and the Democratic Convention in Los Angeles. These efforts by the state will fail. Our movement against the death penalty, against racist police brutality and the Prison-Industrial Complex is getting stronger, not weaker. We will fight in the memory of Shaka Sankofa (aka Gary Graham) and all those freedom fighters who have struggled against a system that breeds racism, repression and death." --30-- International Action Center 39 West 14th Street, Room 206 New York, NY 10011 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: www.iacenter.org CHECK OUT THE NEW SITE www.mumia2000.org phone: 212 633-6646 fax: 212 633-2889 >> ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] BEST PRICES ON THE NET AT IMANDI.COM Cheapest prices on new cars, insurance, airfare, maids, custom pc's, mortgages, moving and more! Tell us what you want. We locate it for free -- across town & across the country. http://www.bcentral.com/listbot/imandi
INTERNATIONAL ACTION CENTER For Immediate Release Attention: Assignment Editor Press contact: Sarah Sloan (212) 633-6646 July 17, 2000 VICTIMS OF POLICE PREVENTIVE DETENTION ACTION STAND TRIAL IN WASHINGTON D.C. - TUESDAY, JULY 18 This Tuesday, July 18, victims of the mass arrest of 678 people on April 15 in Washington D.C. will stand trial. The defendants include Brian Becker, Co-Director of the International Action Center, George Vavatsikos, a Greek American activist and others. The defendants face 90 days in jail and fines if convicted of disorderly conduct. They were arrested last April 15 at a demonstration held in conjunction with the week of protests against meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington D.C. The April 15 protest demanded "Shut down the Prison-Industrial Complex" and "New Trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal." A class action law suit alleging a police-government conspiracy to deny the First Amendment rights of demonstrators will be filed in the coming weeks. "This trial is itself a brazen miscarriage of justice," said Brian Becker. "The police violated our constitutional rights to assemble and protest and exercise our First Amendment guarantee of free speech. All 678 arrested people were protesting against the Prison- Industrial Complex, racism and to demand a new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal. We broke no laws and yet we were illegally detained, handcuffed hand to foot and held for 24 to 36 hours in school buses, basements and remote ad-hoc detention centers in the Washington DC area," Becker asserted. For a detailed description of events, see http://www.iacenter.org/rept415.htm. "The outcome of this trial is important and must be put into the context of a new, aggressive and we believe unconstitutional policing strategy directed at denying the constitutional rights of those engaged in protest," said Larry Holmes, a leader of the IAC and one of the 678 arrested on April 15. "This is the post-Seattle backlash by the police. They want to intimidate and prevent mass protests at the Republican Convention in Philadelphia and the Democratic Convention in Los Angeles. These efforts by the state will fail. Our movement against the death penalty, against racist police brutality and the Prison-Industrial Complex is getting stronger, not weaker. We will fight in the memory of Shaka Sankofa (aka Gary Graham) and all those freedom fighters who have struggled against a system that breeds racism, repression and death." --30-- International Action Center 39 West 14th Street, Room 206 New York, NY 10011 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: www.iacenter.org CHECK OUT THE NEW SITE www.mumia2000.org phone: 212 633-6646 fax: 212 633-2889
