on november 14, 2011, Julian Ichim published a blog post about his experience as the target of an undercover cop in the lead up to the G20 Summit in Toronto in 2010.  you can read the post here.  the following day the crown decided to press charges against him, and he was arrested by Waterloo Regional Police at his house one week later.  the charges/  three counts of Disobey Court Order - one for each time he used the cop's alias Khalid Mohamed.  the reason?  at the preliminary inquiry into the case against the G20 Main Conspiracy Group the judge had ordered a publication ban on the real and fake names of both undercover cops. and for this alleged violation of that order, the crown would like to see Julian sentenced to at least two years in jail.  all this despite the fact that the undercover cop in question testified in open court at the prelim for 14 days between september 13 and october 14 under his real name Bindo Showan, and that the publication ban was dropped on november 22, within days of Julian's arrest.  the names and aliases of both undercovers were published that same day by the CBC and the Globe and Mail.

so we'll file this one under Ridiculous and Vindictive Prosecutions, shall we?  it can go right beside the similar "case" against Dan Keller.

Dan was a target of the same OPP undercover operation as Julian.  on august 28, 2011, he published a blog post after heading that Showan had been seen in Toronto.  three days later he was arrested by the Ontario Provincial Police and charged with Criminal Defamation, Counsel Assault, Criminal Harassment (since dropped) and Intimidation (added later).  unfortunately as a condition of his release on bail Dan had to agree to take the post down so you can't judge the bullshitness of these charges for yourself, however it appears that the Counsel Assault charge related to the rather poetic suggestion that should Showan be seen again, people "spit in his footsteps and scoff at his existence."  The crown alleges that the post made Showan and the other undercover (Brenda Carey, aka Brenda Doherty) unsafe, and has said he's looking for a jail sentence of six months to two years.

these ongoing persecutions - oh, sorry, i meant to say prosecutions- are nothing more than political harassment of activists by a crown attorney's office that has been unable to secure the long G20-related sentences they so badly wanted.  it's blatant state censorship under the guise of security - after all if the cops were so concerned about the safety of their spies why would they have Showan, directly linked to his alias, testify in open court?  why would his name, rank and unit have been given to all of the oh-so-scary alleged conspirators in our disclosure?

everyone's talking about Pussy Riot these days.  let's also show our support for free speech a little closer to home.  Julian's preliminary inquiry is on september 18 at Old City Hall in Toronto, courtroom A.  for more information, updates, or if you'd like to offer your support (financial or otherwise) check out his blog.  Dan's trial is the first two weeks of december, also at Old City Hall in Toronto.  keep an eye out for information, updates and ways you can support him here.

(first published on Mandy's blog)