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Newspaper Guild-CWA Condemns 'Police State' Tactics in Raid on Ottawa Reporter's Home, Office
The Newspaper Guild-CWA has strongly condemned the raids at the home and work office of an Ottawa reporter by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
In a statement, the union called on Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin and other leaders to end "this attack on press freedom and privacy" and pressed them to reconsider "the package of anti-terrorism legislation, and in particular, the Security of Information Act," which permitted this unprecedented assault.
Juliet O'Neill, a reporter for the Ottawa Citizen, had reported on the case of a Syrian-born Canadian citizen who was detained by U.S. authorities in 2002 and deported to Syria, where he says he was tortured. Maher Arar was released by Syria a year later and returned to Canada; he has denied any connection with terrorism.
In an early morning, five-hour raid on her home, and later again at her newspaper office, police took O'Neill's notebooks, address books, computer hard drive, cassette tapes and other items. TNG-CWA has demanded that all the confiscated items be returned to O'Neill and the Ottawa Citizen immediately.
The police claim to be searching for the source of the leaked information, a violation of Canada's Security of Information Act, a measure similar to the Patriot Act in the United States which gives authorities overly broad powers of search and investigation.
TNG-CWA President Linda Foley said, "TNG members across North America are outraged by this effort to intimidate freedom of the press. They fully support the actions taken by the Ottawa Citizen to fight this assault on civil liberties."
Arnold Amber, Director of TNG Canada, called on the Citizen newspaper and publisher Can West "to fight the actions of the government and RCMP as vigorously as possible." Can West has said that reporters will continue to investigate what government or police involvement there was in the deportation of a Canadian citizen.
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In a statement, the union called on Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin and other leaders to end "this attack on press freedom and privacy" and pressed them to reconsider "the package of anti-terrorism legislation, and in particular, the Security of Information Act," which permitted this unprecedented assault.
Juliet O'Neill, a reporter for the Ottawa Citizen, had reported on the case of a Syrian-born Canadian citizen who was detained by U.S. authorities in 2002 and deported to Syria, where he says he was tortured. Maher Arar was released by Syria a year later and returned to Canada; he has denied any connection with terrorism.
In an early morning, five-hour raid on her home, and later again at her newspaper office, police took O'Neill's notebooks, address books, computer hard drive, cassette tapes and other items. TNG-CWA has demanded that all the confiscated items be returned to O'Neill and the Ottawa Citizen immediately.
The police claim to be searching for the source of the leaked information, a violation of Canada's Security of Information Act, a measure similar to the Patriot Act in the United States which gives authorities overly broad powers of search and investigation.
TNG-CWA President Linda Foley said, "TNG members across North America are outraged by this effort to intimidate freedom of the press. They fully support the actions taken by the Ottawa Citizen to fight this assault on civil liberties."
Arnold Amber, Director of TNG Canada, called on the Citizen newspaper and publisher Can West "to fight the actions of the government and RCMP as vigorously as possible." Can West has said that reporters will continue to investigate what government or police involvement there was in the deportation of a Canadian citizen.
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