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The G20's Accused Two Years Later: Mandy Hiscocks
For over two months now Amanda Hiscocks—known to most people as "Mandy"—has been in prison under maximum security. Her crime? Assisting in writing a callout for a G20 protest march in Toronto two years ago. At the time that the "Get Off the Fence" march took off on June 26, 2010, Hiscocks was already behind bars. She had been arrested earlier that morning and charged, along with 20 others, with conspiracy. Hiscocks remained in prison for a month following her arrest, before facing another nine months under house arrest.
As charges were dropped for some and others accepted plea deals, the group charged with conspiracy narrowed to 17 people. In November 2011, Hiscocks and her co-accused decided to accept a plea bargain, that would lead to charges for 11 people being dropped. Hiscocks and Alex Hundert pleaded guilty to counsel to commit mischief and to obstruct police. Leah Henderson, Erik Lankin, Peter Hopperton and Adam Lewis also pleaded to counseling mischief. Hiscocks expects to be released from her 16-month sentence in December. While in prison, Hiscocks has been maintaining a blog called "Bored But Not Broken". Since she doesn't have Internet access, she mails her entries to a friend who posts them online for her.
Hiscocks, now in her late thirties, has been engaged in activism for many years, including the mass mobilizations of the anti-globalization movement. She normally lives in Guelph, where she works at the Ontario Public Interest Research Group, a campus organization that promotes social justice and environmental struggles.
Carmelle Wolfson spoke to Hiscocks over the phone from Vanier Centre for Women, where she is serving out her sentence. She spoke with Alex Hundert in the first segment of the series.
This story was originally published on OpenFile.
Topics: Police/Prisons
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