Terror story jumps the gun
Re: Terror in Toronto?, June 19
The Varsity’s characterization of Saad Khalid as a “tragically misguided student” clearly presumes guilt before any evidence is heard.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is attempting to use these arrests as proof that Canada’s participation in the imperialist occupation of Afghanistan is necessary to safeguard “freedom” at home, while at the same time his government chips away at democratic rights in the name of “security.” It can hardly be an accident that after these people were supposedly tracked for a couple of years, they were finally arrested just as the Supreme Court began deliberations on the legality of the government’s right to indefinitely detain people by issuing a security certificate.
It’s pretty clear that the Muslim youth swept up in this recent bust aren’t going to get anything approximating a fair trial. After a week of poisoning the jury pool with massive publicity for the prosecution, a publication blackout on the court’s proceedings was imposed before the defense even had a chance to comment on the charges. Anyone who defends basic democratic rights must oppose repressive measures such as restrictions on media coverage of court proceedings, secret trials, security certificates, and rendering suspects for torture overseas.
In future, The Varsity should not be so eager to uncritically endorse the police and government spin.
Tom Reid
Walla what, Ignatieff?
Your new trophy prof Michael Ignatieff told the graduating class of 2004 at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington: “I have taught in the university systems of Canada, the United Kingdom, and France, and from my experience, American higher education is the best in the world.” I applaud freedom of speech but I have no use for chameleons.
Linda Mills
