Eddson Chakuma Trial Postponed

The trial of the six Zimbabwean activists charged for watching videos of the Arab Springs has been postponed once more. The new date for the trial is September the 7th 2011.

These activists were originally arrested in February along with more than 30 other individuals who were later released due to international and public outcry. They were kept in a flee ridden prison and tortured--denied medication and medical care. Upon release from prison Eddson was fired from his position as the United Food and Allied Workers Union of Zimbabwe.

The charges against Eddson and his comrades were changed to Conspiracy to Cause Public Violence on July 18th and on the 22nd of August the trial was postponed until today, and today a judge was appointed and the trial postponed again until September 7th 2011.

Our fundraiser for Eddson continues and you can visit http://nupri.chipin.com to donate.

Please also be sure to sign this petition http://www.petitiononline.com/amne5ty1/

Thank you to everyone for your continued support.

NUPRI

Johanna's Letter to the Editor

Below I have pasted the letter which I submitted to the North Bay Nugget today. Please be aware that all thoughts and ideas are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or perspectives of NUPRI, its directors, employees or interviewees. 

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On Tuesday August 9th at 8:30 am the North Bay Peace Alliance gathered in front of city hall to commemorate the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki--again. This small but resilient group of community peace activists have been doing this for more than 15 years.

I went to the event, inspired and excited to meet with other like-minded individuals--expecting a far larger turnout than the 6 others I found gathered there.

While it might well have been the weather which dissuaded ample attendance at this event on that dreary tuesday morning I am not convinced that this is the case. Looking through the last few issues of the North Bay Nugget I am led to the conclusion that it is in fact a general community-wide apathy which generally leads to the poor attendance at events such as the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration--an apathy that is egged on by local media. 

I understand and respect that this is a community newspaper and therefore community news takes precedence. However, looking back to Monday August 25th, right after the dreadful bombings in Oslo and the shooting which happened shortly thereafter, I am disturbed to see that we are shown a giant picture of a man eating a chicken wing on the front page of the paper. I enjoy a good ol' fashioned eating contest just as much as the next guy, but I think in the case of a huge tragedy with such international implications, it is important that we have some perspective.

I would be very pleased to see more emphasis in the Nugget of important international events, even if it is merely a larger focus on the acts of local individuals and groups such as the North Bay Peace Alliance on days such as the 66th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing. There are many individuals in this community that would love to become more involved in the international community to which we belong--beyond learning amusing facts like the 22 new fake Apple stores found in China (with all due respect to the author and to this publication.)