SANCTUARY VIOLATED:
The other night, Saturday, Feb 17th, Vancouver City Police entered the St. Michael's Anglican Church in Vancouver and arrested the Iranian refugee Amir Kazemian who had been living in that church in sanctuary for 2 years and 8 months. The Vancouver police laid no criminal charges and attended on an unrelated matter. They immediately turned Mr. Kazemian over to the Canada Border Services Agency, and he is is presently under their detention awaiting deportation to Iran where he was previously tortured and likely will be again- if not executed. There has been only one previous episode where Canadian police arrested a person within sanctuary, that of Mohammed Cherfi who was taken out of a church and deported to the USA in 2004. A year later Mr. Cherfi was granted asylum in that country.
To read more about this case go to the Solidarity Across Borders site(see also our links section). To ask how you can help Mr. Kazemian contact either his lawyer Naomi Minwalla at 604-689-8100 or write the Vancouver No One is Illegal group at noii-van@resist.ca
Molly