RNK
6th October 2007, 03:41
Taken from Arsenal-Express (No. 13, October 5, 2007)
RCP Demonstration in Saint-Jérôme
IT'S RIGHT TO REBEL... EVEN WITHOUT POLICE
"ACCEPTANCE"
The demonstration called by the RCP-Laurentides
that took place last Saturday (September 29th)
in Saint-Jérôme has been crowned a massive
success: the people who took part walked the
streets of the downtown core for more than an
hour, without a single attempt by the municipal
police to intervene and prevent it.
This is a stark contrast to the demonstration
held last August 11th, when the police of
Saint-Jérôme, under the supervision of an agent
of the Sûreté du Quebec, aggressively disrupted
and dispersed the first demonstration organized
by the RCP-Laurentides and proceeded to arrest
nine demonstrators, who have since been charged
with "obstruction of justice." The police also
seized all banners, flags, megaphones and sound
systems used by the demonstrators (which are all
still in police possession). The police
"justified" this brutal and completely
undemocratic intervention due to the fact that
the RCP did not ask for "permission" and that
the demonstrators had distributed "hateful
messages" to passers-by to inform them of the
objective of the demo.
After this repressive and politically-motivated
attack, the RCP-Laurentides launched a call to
"continue the demonstration" on September 29th,
convinced that it is not for the police to
decide who has the right to rally and express
themselves.
In the days immediately prior to the return, the
authorities sent contradictory signals about
their attitude towards this second
demonstration. On Wednesday 26th, the Police
Chief of Saint-Jérôme sent an email to the
RCP-Laurentides in which he expressed his
willingness to respect the demonstration, and
even expressed his wish to "welcome" the
demonstrators.
But the next day, the Crown Prosecutor pursuing
the charges against the nine accused revealed
quite blatantly that the police of Saint-Jérôme
intended to adopt the same aggressive attitude
as they had August 11th: No permit, no demo. She
even refused to set the date of the court
proceedings, claiming that the second
demonstration would doubtlessly lead to more
arrests and that it would be preferable to
charge those arrested on August 11th and those
who will be arrested on September 29th in the
same court process! Nevertheless, the
demonstrators were ready for any eventuality and
were determined to exercise their right to
demonstrate -- a right that is recognized by
bourgeois law, contrary to the police's claim.
Right on time, at 1:00 p.m., the demonstrators
began to gather at the Curé-Labelle Square.
Almost immediately it became apparent that the
police had done a complete 180 degree turn from
August 11th: there were almost no police in
sight, and when they arrived, they approached
the demonstrators and informed a representative
of the protest that this time they were going to
accept the demonstration in the streets. Was
this because they realized that this
demonstration was even larger than the last?
Because the local press was present? Because
they feared that in the case of a renewed attack
from their part, the case would arise too much
publicity? Or was it simply the fact that the
Police Chief in Saint-Jérôme received a crash
course on the actual law regarding the right to
protest by a more competent authority? Whatever
the case, this time the demonstration went
without any police intervention or
arrest-although there were still numerous cops,
and they did still photograph and videotape the
protest and even tried to identify some of the
demonstrators.
So, for more than an hour, the demonstrators
walked the downtown streets of this city located
about 30 kilometers north of Montréal, shouting
slogans against capitalist exploitation and
oppression and calling on workers to organize
themselves and fight for socialism and
revolution.
Along with activists and supporters of the RCP,
a number of individuals from various groups
joined to show their solidarity and to defend
the right to protest. Among them were the Centre
for Philippine Concerns, the Bolivarian Society
of Québec, the Revolutionary Video Club of
Saint-Jérôme, the Laurentides chapter of the
Communist Party of Québec, independent
journalists of Radio Centre-Ville and Radio
McGill, as well as anarchist supporters.
Throughout the march, distributors circulated
leaflets from the RCP-Laurentides to invite the
people to a "discussion night" that will be held
on Wednesday, October 10th at 7:30 p.m. at the
Centre de Bénévolat de Saint-Jérôme. The
leaflets also explained to the people the goal
of the demonstration:
"We definitely want to express our opinion of
the unfair arrests that took place in August,
but we also want to bring up discussion about
the possibility to organize ourselves to change
this system, to make revolution. In
Saint-Jéröme, the job market is very small, and
there is a lack of well-paying jobs,
particularly temporary employment, and
unemployment is high. The youth are most heavily
affected by this situation, and have little
going for them. So what can we do? We can start
off by proclaiming: No more! It is not enough to
simply speak up to ask for more employment. We
must change this world, we must transform it.
And to do that, we must organize ourselves, for
it is time to act!"
After the success of this "Demonstration 2.0",
the authorities will have no choice but to
withdraw the insane accusations that weigh
against the nine accused of August 11th. If they
do not, then they had better dig themselves in
and prepare for a true battle, both political
and legal, which will unfold during the course
of this trial!
-----
Arsenal-Express is an electronic newsletter
that presents the viewpoints from the
Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) of Canada.
For a free subscription: Send an e-mail at
mailto:[email protected] with
"Subscribe (English)" as subject.
To cancel your subscription: Send an e-mail at
mailto: [email protected] with
"Unsubscribe (English)" as subject.
Arsenal-Express is also available as a PDF
ready-to-print file at http://www.pcr-rcp.ca.
RCP Demonstration in Saint-Jérôme
IT'S RIGHT TO REBEL... EVEN WITHOUT POLICE
"ACCEPTANCE"
The demonstration called by the RCP-Laurentides
that took place last Saturday (September 29th)
in Saint-Jérôme has been crowned a massive
success: the people who took part walked the
streets of the downtown core for more than an
hour, without a single attempt by the municipal
police to intervene and prevent it.
This is a stark contrast to the demonstration
held last August 11th, when the police of
Saint-Jérôme, under the supervision of an agent
of the Sûreté du Quebec, aggressively disrupted
and dispersed the first demonstration organized
by the RCP-Laurentides and proceeded to arrest
nine demonstrators, who have since been charged
with "obstruction of justice." The police also
seized all banners, flags, megaphones and sound
systems used by the demonstrators (which are all
still in police possession). The police
"justified" this brutal and completely
undemocratic intervention due to the fact that
the RCP did not ask for "permission" and that
the demonstrators had distributed "hateful
messages" to passers-by to inform them of the
objective of the demo.
After this repressive and politically-motivated
attack, the RCP-Laurentides launched a call to
"continue the demonstration" on September 29th,
convinced that it is not for the police to
decide who has the right to rally and express
themselves.
In the days immediately prior to the return, the
authorities sent contradictory signals about
their attitude towards this second
demonstration. On Wednesday 26th, the Police
Chief of Saint-Jérôme sent an email to the
RCP-Laurentides in which he expressed his
willingness to respect the demonstration, and
even expressed his wish to "welcome" the
demonstrators.
But the next day, the Crown Prosecutor pursuing
the charges against the nine accused revealed
quite blatantly that the police of Saint-Jérôme
intended to adopt the same aggressive attitude
as they had August 11th: No permit, no demo. She
even refused to set the date of the court
proceedings, claiming that the second
demonstration would doubtlessly lead to more
arrests and that it would be preferable to
charge those arrested on August 11th and those
who will be arrested on September 29th in the
same court process! Nevertheless, the
demonstrators were ready for any eventuality and
were determined to exercise their right to
demonstrate -- a right that is recognized by
bourgeois law, contrary to the police's claim.
Right on time, at 1:00 p.m., the demonstrators
began to gather at the Curé-Labelle Square.
Almost immediately it became apparent that the
police had done a complete 180 degree turn from
August 11th: there were almost no police in
sight, and when they arrived, they approached
the demonstrators and informed a representative
of the protest that this time they were going to
accept the demonstration in the streets. Was
this because they realized that this
demonstration was even larger than the last?
Because the local press was present? Because
they feared that in the case of a renewed attack
from their part, the case would arise too much
publicity? Or was it simply the fact that the
Police Chief in Saint-Jérôme received a crash
course on the actual law regarding the right to
protest by a more competent authority? Whatever
the case, this time the demonstration went
without any police intervention or
arrest-although there were still numerous cops,
and they did still photograph and videotape the
protest and even tried to identify some of the
demonstrators.
So, for more than an hour, the demonstrators
walked the downtown streets of this city located
about 30 kilometers north of Montréal, shouting
slogans against capitalist exploitation and
oppression and calling on workers to organize
themselves and fight for socialism and
revolution.
Along with activists and supporters of the RCP,
a number of individuals from various groups
joined to show their solidarity and to defend
the right to protest. Among them were the Centre
for Philippine Concerns, the Bolivarian Society
of Québec, the Revolutionary Video Club of
Saint-Jérôme, the Laurentides chapter of the
Communist Party of Québec, independent
journalists of Radio Centre-Ville and Radio
McGill, as well as anarchist supporters.
Throughout the march, distributors circulated
leaflets from the RCP-Laurentides to invite the
people to a "discussion night" that will be held
on Wednesday, October 10th at 7:30 p.m. at the
Centre de Bénévolat de Saint-Jérôme. The
leaflets also explained to the people the goal
of the demonstration:
"We definitely want to express our opinion of
the unfair arrests that took place in August,
but we also want to bring up discussion about
the possibility to organize ourselves to change
this system, to make revolution. In
Saint-Jéröme, the job market is very small, and
there is a lack of well-paying jobs,
particularly temporary employment, and
unemployment is high. The youth are most heavily
affected by this situation, and have little
going for them. So what can we do? We can start
off by proclaiming: No more! It is not enough to
simply speak up to ask for more employment. We
must change this world, we must transform it.
And to do that, we must organize ourselves, for
it is time to act!"
After the success of this "Demonstration 2.0",
the authorities will have no choice but to
withdraw the insane accusations that weigh
against the nine accused of August 11th. If they
do not, then they had better dig themselves in
and prepare for a true battle, both political
and legal, which will unfold during the course
of this trial!
-----
Arsenal-Express is an electronic newsletter
that presents the viewpoints from the
Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) of Canada.
For a free subscription: Send an e-mail at
mailto:[email protected] with
"Subscribe (English)" as subject.
To cancel your subscription: Send an e-mail at
mailto: [email protected] with
"Unsubscribe (English)" as subject.
Arsenal-Express is also available as a PDF
ready-to-print file at http://www.pcr-rcp.ca.