BRAKE: Journalism is not a crime - video/petition

BRAKE: Journalism is not a crime - video/petition

Postby Oscar » Sun May 14, 2017 10:02 am

Journalism Is Not A Crime - Video: Justin Brake, The Independent - May 2017

[ http://www.cjfe.org/journalism_not_a_crime ]

Sign the Petition (online)

Justin Brake, reporter and editor for The Independent, faces criminal charges for his reporting on the Indigenous protest and occupation of the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project site in October 2016.

This is a serious threat to press freedom.

Indigenous activists staged a peaceful occupation of the hydroelectric construction site to draw attention to the negative environmental consequences of the project. Brake followed them as they entered the site to report on their protest, monitor their interactions with law enforcement, and keep the public informed about an issue of vital public interest. He was the only journalist reporting on site.

For this work Brake now faces two criminal charges—(1) "mischief relating to a testamentary instrument or property greater than 5,000” and (2) “unlawfully disobeying an order of the Court”—that carry a maximum ten years in prison.

This is an outrageous assault on the public’s right to know, and could cause a chill in reporting on controversies over resource development projects and Indigenous-led protests. It is essential that journalists be able to safely and freely cover events in the public interest, such as the occupation of Muskrat Falls, without fear of legal reprisals.

JOURNALISM IS NOT A CRIME.

SIGN PETITION:


We, the undersigned, call upon: The Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, AND
Frances Knickle, QC, Director of Public Prosecutions, Newfoundland and Labrador to drop all charges against journalist Justin Brake.


= = = = =

St. John's student wins award for speech on press freedom and charges against Justin Brake - May 12, 2017

[ https://www.facebook.com/deanna.parsons ... 5932628786 [

Elizabeth Clarke, a Grade 8 student at Lakecrest Independent High School in St. John's, won a public speaking award last week for her speech about the charges against Independent editor Justin Brake and the need to protect press freedom in Canada. Here's an excerpt from Clarke's speech:

Journalists are our country’s eyes and ears to the news. Investigative reporting of first-hand accounts of the truth of what really happened. Therefore great care must be exercised before allowing any restrictions which prevent the press from covering issues of public interest, such as Muskrat Falls, the multi-billion dollar megaproject that me and you, and our grandchildren and their children, and our population of approximately 500,000 will have to pay for — along with the methylmercury poisoning of the rivers and lakes of the Indigenous people of Labrador.

During the Muskrat Falls occupation Justin Brake was our eyes and ears, and confirmed that the Labrador land protectors acted peacefully, and he confirmed that the reservoir could not be cleared as was recommended by Harvard researchers.

One side argues that journalists are equally subject to laws preventing trespass on private property …. The other side claims that charges against a journalist doing his job to inform us on a story of major public interest is an outrageous assault on freedom of the press.

On April 26 Canada dropped four spots on the World Press [Freedom] Index, according to Reporters Without Borders, to number 22 out of 180 countries, citing in part the arrest of Justin Brake during his reporting from the Muskrat Falls occupation.

Without good journalism, we are blind, we are deaf, and we do not obtain the full benefit of our rights and freedoms.

I agree with Hans Rollmann, also a journalist with The Independent, who wrote: “Yes, the events occurred on Nalcor land, but Nalcor’s land is also Indigenous land, and land that is part of a democratic country that respects civil liberties, including freedom of the press and the public’s right to know, especially when it comes to serious issues that shape and define our very existence as a democratic province.”

We are the next generation of Canadians and it is up to us to envision and promote what democracy should be in Canada, and we must stand up for freedom of the press — because my vision of Canada, 150 years after joining confederation, and 35 years after the signing of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms—in my Canada reporting the truth is not a crime.

Click here to watch the full speech.
[ https://www.facebook.com/deanna.parsons ... =3&theater ]
Oscar
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