1 May 06 - Greg Bird of CUPE 3903 has asked YUFA to publicize the following update and call for witnesses concerning the trial of students arrested January 20, 2005.

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As it stands, most of the charges that were laid upon those arrested in Vari Hall last January have been "diverted". However, the police are persistent on following through with the "attempt to disarm a police officer" charge. This is the only outstanding charge left from the event. It is not surprising that they would follow through with this accusation because it has been used by the police to justify their actions on the 20th. It is also an extremely serious charge as it carries a two-year jail sentence. So it is important to have a lot of court support for this trial. 

The trial date has been pushed back a week. It will now start on Monday, May 8, 2006 at 10 am. It should run for a week to a week and a half. 1000 Finch Ave West (at the corner of Finch and Dufferin).

The legal defense effort around these trials will benefit from video footage of the event. But first-hand eyewitnesses are still very much needed, and those who were present and saw the demonstration of January 20th should immediately contact either: 

1. legal counsel for the defendant, Tamara Duncan, at (416) 694-8126 ext. 140, or

2. Greg Bird via email at gregb@yorku.ca.

Taking the stand should take less than half an hour of a day, and the court is quite close to York.