(The following article is from the September 1-15, 2007 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St. Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

August 21, 2007 - The Aboriginal People's Commission of the Communist Party of Canada, and the Central Executive Committee of the CPC, condemn the violations by the Canadian state of the democratic rights and civil liberties of Shawn Brant, who on August 10 was denied bail on charges resulting from events during the June 29, 2007, Aboriginal Day of Action. We join with others in demanding that Shawn Brant be released immediately and allowed to rejoin his family pending his day in court, and that he be allowed to freely express his views and participate in political activities, in particular the just struggles for reclamation of indigenous lands. We also express our full solidarity with the community at Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory asked for wide support of Shawn Brant's bid for win bail. Finally, we voice our outrage that after centuries of theft of aboriginal territories and violation of nation-to-nation treaties by the Canadian ruling class, the full power of the state is brought to bear, not upon those who profited from these injustices, but against those who courageously stand up to demand their rights and to effectively mobilize Aboriginal peoples and their supporters. It is not Shawn Brant who belongs in jail; it is those who stand in the way of justice, freedom and equality!