Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded March 5th, 2025.
Last week, Canadian journalist, author, activist, and political arrestee Yves Engler thanked those within his country and without for springing to his defense during his five day incarceration. And Canadians for the most part are happy to see him freed; throwing people in prison for writing and speaking is widely regarded here as less than Canadian. But, while Yves is out of the clink, neither he nor the assumption of free speech in Canada is out of the woods.
The Crown v. Engler brings up some interesting, and potentially precedent-setting, questions about journalism in the digital age, and may too challenge the over-broad language and abuse of Canadian legislation now in place and that being planned.
Yves Engler on the outside in the first half.
And; Yves Engler's experience is less unique than being an incident along a continuum of harassment and police repression experienced in this Canada by environmental, indigenous, and anti-genocide activists and others. It's a going concern for the Canada Palestine Association; CPA has busied itself over the last year assisting those activists targeted to cover the costs of defending themselves in court.
Hanna Kawas chairperson of the Vancouver-based CPA. He's too a long-time radio journalist whose program, Voice of Palestine has been a beacon for the diaspora community and others facing both state repression and media exclusion. Right now, the Canada Palestine Association's 'Protecting our Rights, Defending our Voices' is an initiative to combat in court frivolous cases brought in an attempt to "... defend our voices of expression and civil liberties, now and into the future."
Hanna Kawas and defending those that risk opposing the forces of oppression in the second half.
But first, Yves Engler testing the measure of Canadian law and quality of its carceral system.
Song: “Toddlers-in-Chief”
Artist: David Rovics
Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, broad/webcasting since 1999. Check out the Archive at GRadio.Substack.com, and the GR blog at: https://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.com/ and on Telegram at: https://t.me/gorillaradio2024
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