Finally I got some news about what happened to my husband -
and it is shocking news! I sensed it all along!
Below are two items - One is a write-up from Paul Fromm,
Ernst's legal representative when Attorney Doug Christie can't be there.
Yesterday, Paul finally succeeded in talking to Ernst, whereas many others
tried, and failed. His report speaks for itself.
Secondly, I am sending you what looks like a mainstream
media list of important contacts. I don't know how old this list is, but it
is the best I have.
Send them this ZGram. Be prepared for some rejects and some
blasts and insults. No matter! At least some of this story is going to
filter through so others can be informed.
Later in the day, there will be more. For now, please get
busy and ship this to as many, many sources as you can.
ZUNDEL BEING PUNISHED FOR PROTESTING CSIS INVOLVEMENT
IN ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
Dear Free Speech Supporter:
Prepare to be shocked. I was.
Today, after four days of bureaucratic hoop-jumping I got
to visit political prisoner Ernst Zundel as his legal representative. The
news is not good. He's being kept in degrading, mediaeval conditions in an
effort to punish him for speaking out against CSIS.
On Sunday, May 18, just back from a speaking trip to
Winnipeg, I picked up two desperate phone messages from Ingrid Rimland,
Ernst Zundel's wife. He had disappeared. She did not know where he was
being kept. He'd been moved from the Niagara Region Detention Centre. He
had not been allowed the use of a phone for 48 hours. She had just learned
he was now in the Metro West Detention Centre, near Toronto International
Airport.
I raced up to the Metro West Detention Centre. Ushered
inside, I was eventually met by Mr. Verrinder, the Shift Supervisor. No, I
couldn't see Mr. Zundel. I would have to be cleared by security. He was a
"special" prisoner, Mr. Verrinder informed me. I could call
security 416-675-1806, Ext.4220 to be cleared. However, being Sunday, no
one was there. The next day, Victoria Day, was another holiday and no one
answered the phone in "security."
I asked Mr. Verrinder whether Mr. Zundel was allowed
newspapers or a pen. "I'm not prepared to share that information with
you," this public servant told me. I then asked to see Mr. Zundel as
a friend, rather than as a legal representative.
All visitors had to be cleared, I was told. And, of
course, there was no one available to clear me.
This morning, I learned that, being a special prisoner,
Ernst Zundel cannot receive visitors during normal visiting hours. I
hastened to the prison for 11:30 -- normal visiting hours start at 12:30.
After a long wait, I was advised that they had brought Mr.
Zundel to the interrview room. I talked with him by phone with a thick
glass separating us. Ernst looked pale in contrast to his bright oranger
prison jumpsuit. He had a thick white beard stubble. I learned that he had
been denied a razor since he got there on Friday. He asked for a razor
again today and was told, "maybe tomorrow."
Ernst was his usual brave self, but is clearly taken aback
by the mindless callousness of a system intended to break its
"special" prisoners. Most of his few possessions are kept
outside his cell in the hall. When he goes to the toilet (inside) his
cell, for instance, he must call for a guard to hand him his soap and a
towel. The guard may or may not come. "Surely," Mr. Zundel says,
with practical German peasant common sense, "this sort of delay is
unsanitary, when people are worried about SARS and other diseases."
He's not allowed soap or a towel in his cell. Toilet paper is rice-paper
thin squares about 2' x 3'. If you get diarrhoea, you're out of luck. To
clean your hands, you must summon a guard and let all the other prisoners
know your humiliation.
When he wants to brush his teeth, he must ask a guard to
hand him his toothbrush, which sits outside his cell. For the rest of the
time, his toothbrush sits in the hall with the dust. "This cannot be
sanitary," Mr. Zundel remarks.
Any movement outside his cell requires the
"special" treatment. "Security has never been
tighter," he says. "I always have an officer and two guards when
I leave my cell for a shower or to make a phone call," he reports.
He has almost no privileges and has still not been
informed of prisoner's rights. I asked Mr. Verrinder for a statement of
those rights on Sunday. I was told that Ernst would have to request them.
He's received nothing. This morning, he asked to make a phone call.
"I was told, 'Maybe tomorrow,'" he said.
When I arrived at the prison, I looked up Security
Director Mike Richard in order to arrange for Mr. Zundel to have the five
volumes of support documents on which the CSIS reports in his detention
case are based. Richard said they'd be kept outside his cell and that he'd
have to ask for them one by one. I had asked Richard about pens, papers
and other supplies. Richard said Ernst could get them from the canteen.
However, canteen orders go in on Sunday to be delivered later in the week.
Mr. Zundel had been told nothing about his right to order things.
Mr. Zundel has asked for his Inmate Classification. This
is the institution's assessment of him -- dangerous, model, whatever. This
assessment can be appealed. It's his right to have access to this
document, according to the Solicitor-General. Thus far, he's received no
response to his request.
His legal documents are all in a box out in the hall
outside his cell. "In Niagara, I had access to phone calls, almost at
will. Here, I'm very much impeded with little phone access."
Most guards are brusque and unhelpful, he reports.
Compared to the Niagara Regional Detention Centre, the
food is scarce and poor. Sometimes there's no butter. In Niagara, there
was always a cup of coffee and sweets at night. In Metro West, there's
nothing. "It's one third the rations and poorer quality than the food
in Thorold," Mr. Zundel told me.
The administration keeps up a campaign of isolation and
harassment. Communication with the higher prison authorities must be in
writing on prescribed "request forms." Mr. Zundel has asked for
such forms since Saturday but has still not been provided with any.
Last week, Mr. Zundel filed a complaint with the Security
Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC), the body that oversees CSIS, asking
that they investigate the shocking information in John Mitrovica's book
COVERT ENTRY, which shjows that CSIS knew that the pipebomb was coming to
Zundel and did nothing to prevent it or to warn or protect him.
Last week, there was a flurry of activity among the
administration in the Niagara Region Detention Centre. Within a day, Mr.
Zundel was transferred. The transfer and the severe restrictions "are
punishment and retribution," Mr. Zundel says.
However, Ernst Zundel is not discouraged. We discussed
several daring legal plans. Canada has not heard the last of Ernst Zundel.
As the great English poet John Milton wrote: "Iron bars do no a
prison make."
Friends of free thought, Ernst Zundel really needs your
help.
1. If you live abroad, write to the Canadian Embassy in
your country and demand Zundel's release and humane treatment.
2. If you live in southern Ontario and wish to visit, call
ahead to Security: 416-675-1806 Ext. 4220. You must be on Zundel's
approved list. He didn't know he was supposed to submit a list of visitors
he'd like to see. You can also get directions, when you call.
3. No matter where you live, why not send a card or letter
to encourage Ernst Zundel. Write Prisoner Ernst Zundel, c/o Metro West
Detention Centre, 111 Disco Road, Rexdale, ON., M9W 1M3.
4. We also need your financial support for Mr. Zundel's
defence.
We have a number of delicate colour-pencil sketches by
Ernst Zundel done in prison. Each is dated and signed. Each is a nature
study. Mr. Zundel has long been a paint and sketch artist. He had returned
to his love of art before the U.S. I.N.S picked him up and deported him. .
If you send us a cheque for $100 or more, we'll send you one of these
collector's items, a thank you sketch by political prisoner Ernst Zundel.
Mail your donation today to CAFE Box 332, Rexdale, ON.,
M9W 5L3, Canada or e-mail us your VISA number and expiry date. On your
cheque or an accompanying piece of paper, note: "For Zundel Defence
Fund."
Paul Fromm Director CANADIAN ASSOCIATION FOR FREE
EXPRESSION
p.s. Today, May 22, is Ingrid Rimland's birthday. Miss
Rimland has been incredibly brave and determined during the detention of
her husband. Happy Birthday, Ingrid. Supporters may wish to e-mail her
their best wishes: irimland@zundelsite.org
