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Photo
report below article | Many more photos on blog
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on Flickr. There
are 90 pictures in this show. | 2005: From Saskatoon to LA, people are resisting
police abuse
March for Justice
Rally extends support
to Wright report, Sabo | Sabo's
betrayal
Janet French, The StarPhoenix,
November 20, 2004
Crying "no justice, no
peace" and waving neon signs reading Shame and Justice does
not mean Just-us, more than 100 people marched from the University
of Saskatchewan and the First Nations University through downtown
Saskatoon to police headquarters Friday.
The march started as a public
show of support for Neil Stonechild inquiry commissioner Justice
David Wright and Saskatoon police chief Russell Sabo, but evolved
into a campaign about breaking down cultural barriers, organizer
Alex Munoz said.
"It's not just an isolated
incident with Stonechild," Munoz said. "An injustice
had been done and injustices are continually being done."
In 1990, the frozen body of
17-year-old Neil Stonechild was found in Saskatoon's north industrial
area. In the inquiry into Stonechild's death, Wright found Saskatoon
police officers Brad Senger and Larry Hartwig had Stonechild
in their custody the night he went missing and that marks on
his nose were likely caused by handcuffs. Sabo fired Hartwig
and Senger Nov. 12.
Lawyers for both officers filed
appeals to the police commission Friday. The appeals will force
separate public hearings for the constables, at which Sabo will
have to prove his grounds for dismissal.
U of S student Donald Morin
helped organize the march to counter a Nov. 2 event where 200
of the 365 officers in the force rallied behind Senger and Hartwig
at police headquarters.
"The officers, when they
took an oath of office they (promised) they were going to protect
the public," Morin said. "Aren't the aboriginal people
a part of the public? Aren't the marginalized a part of that
public? I think they are."
Marchers left the U of S campus
at 11 a.m. and walked down the sidewalk on College Drive to City
Park, where First Nations University students joined them. On
Second Avenue, they took to the street and a police escort arrived
to re-direct traffic.
The event is a sign the community
won't tolerate discrimination by the police force, said Lawrence
Joseph, vice-chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations.
"I think the entire community,
not only First Nations people, are tired of these demonstrations
of lack of respect for Justice Wright and the commission report
and the chief's handling of this case," Joseph said.
He said he isn't surprised
to hear the officers are appealing their expulsion from the force.
"I think what they're
doing is disrespecting authority, disrespecting their own justice
system," he said. "How in the hell do you expect the
First Nations to respect the justice system if (the two officers)
themselves don't respect that system."
When marchers gathered outside
the police station, aboriginal scholar and writer Priscilla Settee
held up defaced posters advertising Friday's march. Scrawled
on one, below Neil Stonechild's picture, was written, A dead
Indian -- Who's gonna cry? Another read, Deserved to die.
Cries of "shame, shame"
came from the crowd.
"This is the kind of racism
that us First Nations people and Metis people are forced to endure
day after day," Settee said.
"This is some mother's
dead child and really, somebody needs to be held accountable
for this murder."
Stonechild's friend Jason Roy,
who testified during the inquiry he saw Stonechild in the back
of a police cruiser the night he disappeared, came to the rally
with his son.
Roy said he was moved by the
turnout.
"It was important for
me to be here today because I want to, for one, show my children
that this fight is here and it's here to stay and to stand up
for what they believe in."
John Lavery, a teacher who
walked in the march, said he hopes Stonechild's death will be
a catalyst for bringing people from all walks of life together.
"Saskatoon is a segregated
city in which there is kind of a cultural apartheid," Lavery
said.
"I think that marching
together throughout the community will mean that eventually we
might see one community in Saskatoon rather than a fragmented
one."
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2004
-
- March for
Justice: Friday, Nov. 19
"The deficiencies
in the investigation go beyond incompetence or neglect. They
were inexcusable." Justice David H. Wright, Commissioner
from Neil Stonechild Inquiry Report
-
- To highlight the need for
EQUAL JUSTICE FOR ALL
- To increase community awareness
of injustices within marginalized and core areas
- To show support for the Stonechild
family and victims wronged by the Justice System
- To support the Final Report
released by Judge Wright of the Stonechild Inquiry
- To publicly support Chief
Sabo in his decision to hold the officers accountable for their
actions
- To highlight that "Commission
On First Nations and Metis People and Justice Reform" recommendations
be implemented
- Assemble at the U of
S bowl before 11
Leave U of S bowl
at 11:00 A.M.
Arrive at First Nations University - 11:45 to 12:00
Arrive at the Saskatoon Police Station 12:45 to 1:00
For further information
Contact:
Alex
Munoz at 966-2027
Rachel Fiddler at 652-1939
Everyone
welcome. Map
|
 Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell
Truth suppress'd, whether
by courts or crooks, will find an avenue to be told. Sheila Steele, injusticebusters.com
If you hold the mouth
of Truth, It will burst out its rib-cage. Somali proverb
Publisher : Sheila
Steele
Got something
to say about this or any other stories on this site? Go to injusticebustersblog Participate!
- injusticebusters
court advice :
- How to walk yourself through the justice system
-
- Why you should dump your preliminary hearing (written July 1998 and still valid)
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- Sermonette:
The
Naked Truth -- (You
will find links to many more sermonettes in the sidebar on this
page
Another target
of Dueck's malice: : Wilf Hathway
Our activism
contributed greatly to the good vibes which happened around the
civil trial.
Index
to the stories on this website
This is not
regularly updated so if you are looking for a particular story
and you have a name or keyword, please use the site search engine(at
the bottom of the page) which IS regularly updated
Index to Saskatoon Police stories
This is a pretty good scrapbook
for the 1998-2002 period.
Inquiry into the malicious prosecution of David
Milgaard untanling 36 years of Saskatchewan police and Crown
misconduct: : Opening day 1 | 2
| 3 | 4
| 5 | 6
| 7 |
- Stephen Williams:
Canadian writer subject to Stasi-like treatment by Canadian police
- Terry
Arnold: : Snitch a
suicide?
- RCMP
scenario stings: Brian
Hutchinson starts digging
- Gary
wells: Faulty eye-witness
testimony
- Tulia,
Texas
- Gilmer,
Texas
- Willie
Upshaw
- Wrongfully convicted in Canada
- Foster Parent false accusations
- Martensville
- Don
Smith obscenity trial: an obscene conviction
- James
Lockyer
- Hurricane
Carter
- Johnny Cochran speaks up for
Bill Sampson
- Vopnis
- Abdulai
Mohamed
- Nfld Defamation story:
- Wanda
Young
- Racism
in the Federal Civil Service
The Terrible Story behind the Atif Rafay and
Sebastian Burns convictions
Trial
set for June 15
We
know part of this disclosure is a forged statement and perjured
affidavit from a Winnipeg cop
-
-
-
-
The
Crown is still fighting Fred Poirier -- and they are losing.
Secret Commissions Case from Northern B.C.
-
-
- 2005: In
the United States the proven wrongful convictions just keep coming
at us!
-
- Brandon Morin:
- Convicted in Oregon
- of rapes which did not happen
- This website has good information
about Measure 11 -- Oregon's Mandatory Sentencing requirements
which have been in place since 1994. In this case we see how
the combination of a flawed grand jury system and prosecutors
who seek not justice but convictions is a recipe for wrongful
convictions.
-
Canadians who
have been wrongfully convicted because of improper investigations
combined with zealous Crown
A
round-up of wrongful convictions in Canada
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