Gary Freeman Facing Imminent Deportation!

[Logikal Ethix]

Dear No One Is Illegal Community,

We have just received confirmation from the Freeman family that Gary Freeman has withdrawn his appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada and will face extradition to Chicago's Cook County Prison at any moment. Natercia Coehlo, Gary's wife, is planning on joining Gary in Chicago to continue to fight for his freedom. We are putting a call out to all allies and friends in the Prisoners' Justice movement in Canada and the United States to please send us contacts in Chicago that may be able to support Gary Freeman's case there. Any information can be emailed to: nooneisillegal@riseup.net

The family is deciding next steps as to what they feel will be helpful from folks in Toronto and we will be keeping you up to date as soon as we have information. Please stay posted.

You can get more information on Gary Freeman by visiting his website www.freemandrum.org

The following is Gary's most recent statement posted on his website...

-----------------------------------
January 21, 2008 - Returning to Chicago

The day Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated was easily the worse day of my life. After attending my classes at Howard University, I was in the home of a classmate and close friend listening to some of her mother's jazz albums when the news burst from the television.

We both sat shocked, speechless, semi-paralyzed, and unable to do anything except watch the TV. Major cities quickly became engulfed in the flames of despair and Washington joined them. It was something I never could have imagined happening. But then, someone killing the world's foremost prophet and disciple of non-violence was also something I would never have imagined.

Later that year, when I came through Chicago, one of the first things I heard about was Dr. King's march through the area a few years earlier. He had come to focus attention on the plight of African Americans who were ravaged by poverty and inequality in housing opportunity.

The magnitude and ferocity of the hate directed at Dr. King and his fellow marchers was shocking. It moved Dr. King to remark that he had never been to such a hate-filled place.

When Dr. King was assassinated and parts of black Chicago joined in the flames of despair, the Mayor of Chicago issued instructions that suspected looters and arsonists should be shot on sight. He later rescinded the order but the mere fact the Mayor possessed the idea of suspending due process and engaging in summary executions on the streets of an American city spoke volumes about an ugly reality.

But a lot has happened in the world and America since then to move humanity in the direction of fulfilling Dr. King's dream.

Apartheid in South Africa ended not with a military victory but with the victory of the democratic process and the commitment of both sides to engage in a process of peace, truth and reconciliation.

The Troubles in Northern Ireland have ended, not with military victory but with the victory of non-violent conflict resolution and the engagement of the democratic process.

The US Congress apologized in Senate Resolution 39 for not doing anything to stop the terrible crime against humanity known as lynching. And last year, a bi-racial, bi-partisan group of American legislators put forward the End Racial Profiling Act of 2007 to put a stop to that crime against humanity.

Meanwhile, the current Mayor of Chicago and the Democratic Party establishment have endorsed an African American man to be the next president of the United States of America. Underpinning that endorsement rests a city that deeply desires to make a clean break with the past and to create the kind of society Dr. King dreamed of.

I cannot ignore what is taking place. Nor do I want to. I desire to be part of what must be acknowledged as a defining moment in history. Ultimately, I know I have a responsibility to help create one nation out of a fractured past.

My extradition fight has been first and foremost directed towards having some truth revealed about many things, perhaps most importantly an extradition process that remains a rubber stamp that denies fundamental human rights. To that extent, it has succeeded. A continuation of a legal battle in Canada would aim to get the courts to acknowledge the truth and then to act accordingly. But our efforts thus far, and those of others in a similar situation, tell us that this isn't likely to happen.

Instead, I have decided to abandon my Supreme Court challenge of the Ontario Court of Appeals decision. I will be returning to Chicago and will be incarcerated at the Cook County Jail until such time as we reach a final determination through the judicial process.

In the meantime, I look forward to what I hope will be a dialogue to achieve a resolution in my 39 year old case, one that is grounded in the spirit of peaceful conflict resolution.

Clearly it is time to make the much needed clean break with the past and look to the future with eyes on the prize while clasping the hands of those who have formerly been adversaries. If it can be done in South Africa and Northern Ireland, if Israel and the Palestinians can sit down and talk, certainly the opposing sides in this 39 year old case can engage in a dialogue of resolution if for no other reason than to allow for the healing of two families.

I have learned how much I and my family are loved and respected. Your support has been an immeasurable gift. The past four years have interrupted one of the most important parts of my family's life: community involvement. After this episode is over, I certainly intend to return to the community and engage in public works for the public good for the rest of my life.

Above all, we must remember the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., "Everybody can be great because everybody can serve".
_________________
http://www.myspace.com/logikalethix