ZGram - 1/19/2004 - "Update on the Zundel Case"

[zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org]

Zgram - Where Truth is Destiny:  Now more than ever!

January 19, 2004

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

Today is our anniversary, and my husband of four years is in a 
solitary cell in a prison that does not allow him a calendar. I doubt 
that he will remember the date since his days blur into each other. 
Bizarro Times, as Raimondo has pointed out.

Ernst sits on a huge stack of transcripts (no chair allowed either - 
in years past, a Houdini-like prisoner allegedly strangled himself 
with a chair! - and sketches tender scenes from memory with Chinese 
children's crayons. These sketches, so far, have largely financed the 
struggle for freedom since they have now become collectors' items - 
and the struggle itself is taking on the trappings of a cult. 
("Cult" here in a positive sense, as in "Š the cult around John 
Wayne")

I was searching for a metaphor to impress upon people the blatant 
freedom power grab by our enemies, and lo and behold - there it is:

[START]

Headline:  Monumental struggle for Liberty over terrorism
By Marcus Warren in New York

Leading New Yorkers have begun a campaign to reopen the Statue of 
Liberty, the forgotten victim of the September 11 attacks.

"Lady Liberty" is currently closed to visitors because the narrow 
spiral staircase formerly used by visitors to reach the top of the 
118-year-old monument ***is considered a security risk.*** (Emphasis 
added)

[End]

Ernst Zundel in the company of Lady Liberty, both off limits to 
caring people, both considered a "security risk". 

Paul Fromm, National Director of the Canadian Association for Free 
Expression, reports on the latest two legal attempts - which once 
again show crassly that, when it comes to Zundel, legal precedent is 
held irrelevant:

[START]

Subject: BLAIS DISMISSES MOTION FOR NAMES OF CSIS AGENTS IN ZUNDEL CASE

Dear Free Speech Supporter:

	Another setback in the Zundel case. On January 6, Mr. Justice 
Pierre Blais dismissed a motion by Mr. Zundel for the names of 
Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS) officers or RCMP 
officers who interviewed him or others in preparing the case against 
him. The reason for this is simple: Mr. Zundel's lawyer Peter Lindsay 
wants to subpoena some or all of these people and probe and explore 
their biases and methodology. After all, they've concluded that this 
pacifist publisher, who's been under serious police surveillance in 
Canada for 40 years and who has never been charged with, much less 
convicted of an act of violence, is, in fact, a terrorist!

	"No specific question has been asked, and divulging the 
information requested would, in my view, be injurious to national 
safety without necessarily providing relevant evidence to the 
respondent," Mr. Justice Blais responds. Peter Lindsay, who now heads 
Mr. Zundel's defence team, indicates that Blais ignored previous 
national security cases where the defendant was permitted to know the 
identity of CSIS personnel and to cross-examine them.

	Being denied this information makes it very difficult for Mr. 
Zundel to challenge or probe the evidence against him. As a seemingly 
loyal ex-boss of CSIS and pal of Canada's out-of-control political 
police, Blais says Mr. Zundel can't have this information. Mum's the 
word. "National security," you know.

	On Mr. Zundel's instructions, Mr. Lindsay has filed an appeal 
against this ruling.

Paul Fromm


[END]

The second case, also reported by Paul Fromm, is similar - why, when 
it comes to Zundel, law and  precedent be damned!

[START]

CANADIAN ASSOCIATION FOR FREE EXPRESSION

Dear Free Speech Supporter:

	It's no secret that there's considerable tension between some 
elements -- the ultra Zionists -- in the Jewish community and Ernst 
Zundel. A Jewish judge ruling on an aspect of the Zundel case must be 
able to set aside personal feelings and bias. If he can't or, if it 
appears there may be a conflict, he must recuse himself.

	I'll leave the reader to decide how well the cause of 
impartial justice was served this past Thursday (January 15) in the 
Ontario Court of Appeals in Toronto.

	Chi-Kun Shi is partner and wife of Mr. Zundel's chief defence 
lawyer Peter Lindsay. Mr. Lindsay has filed an appeal against the 
decision in Ontario Superior Court denying Mr. Zundel's motion of 
habeas corpus. Mr. Lindsay is in the process of completing his factum 
-- a legal document outlining the plaintiff's arguments. Under the 
arcane rules of the Ontario Court of Appeals a factum cannot exceed 
30 pages.

	"This is not a normal appeal. This is a complex case with 
Charter and constitutional arguments," Mr. Lindsay told me. "We were 
applying for an extension of a few more pages."

	On Thursday, Chi-Kun Shi appeared before Mr. Justice Michael 
Moldaver who is Jewish. It was immediately obvious that Ernst Zundel 
was, as we've been told so often by legal authorities, "a special 
case." And that's not meant to be a compliment.

The judge called the docket: "Regina versus Smith." Speaking to the 
defence lawyer, he'd query: "Are you here representing Mr. Smith?"

	And so it went through several cases. Moldaver was taking 
care of small procedural and housekeeping matters.

	The defence lawyer in the case before Ernst Zundel's sought a 
relaxing of the page limit for the factum. His case involved the 
right to an interpreter -- surely, a simpler and less serious matter 
than Ernst Zundel's involved Charter challenge to the Immigration and 
Refugee Protection  Act -- secret hearings and no right of appeal. 
This lawyer was granted a seven page extension.

	An observer noted a change in the judge's behaviour when he 
called the Zundel case. He never mentioned Ernst Zundel's name: 
"Crown versus the applicant," he called.

	Chi-Kun Shi refused to be intimidated. "I'm here for Mr. 
Zundel," she announced, insisting that Zundel's name be acknowledged 
as the parties in the other cases had.

	Crown lawyer Donald MacIntosh opposed any extension of the limit.

	Mr. Justice Moldaver agreed. No extra pages for Ernst Zundel.

	You be the judge!

[END]

=====


There has been some confusion about where to send financial support - 
to Paul Fromm in Canada, or to me in the US. 

It all goes in the same "war chest"!

In order to cut down on conversion fees, however, I would suggest 
that if you live in Canada and donate Canadian money, you should mail 
your donation to:

CAFE,
Box 332, Rexdale, ON.,
M9W 5L3,
Canada

You may pay with VISA.  Email your number and expiry date. On your 
cheque or an accompanying piece of paper, note: "For Zundel Defence 
Fund."  This has an additional advantage in that you can write off 
your donation as tax exempt.

If you live in the US, consider sending your donation to me.  Since I 
don't have a foundation, you must make out your check to either 
"Ernst Zundel" or "Ingrid Zundel", since my bank, so rumor has it, is 
Jewish-owned and treats me often with disdain regarding checks marked 
as "Defense Fund".

I am computer-enhancing Ernst's sketches, which will soon appear on 
the Zundelsite.  Any donor contributing $20 or more will receive a 
copy of a sketch.