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| Fifth Column |
| Thobani accused of - heh heh - a hate crime |
| 2001-10-10 |
A University of B.C. women's studies professor who criticized U.S. foreign policy has been accused of a hate crime -- publicly inciting hatred against Americans. An unidentified B.C. resident alleged Oct. 4 that assistant professor Sunera Thobani violated the Criminal Code of Canada during an Oct. 1 speech to a women's conference in Ottawa, RCMP Corporal Michael Labossiere of the B.C. hate crime unit said Tuesday. Thobani, a former president of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women, said in an interview Tuesday she had not heard anything about the complaint and she is curious to know who made it. "This is just pure harassment," she said. "They are trying to silence dissent in this country." Thobani said her speech was intended to explain how U.S. foreign policy has affected life in many countries of the world. "If you point to the factual record of U.S. foreign policy, you are now accused of spreading hate," she said. "It really is unbelievable." The RCMP's Labossiere wouldn't disclose any more specifics about the complaint or the complainant. He said he forwarded the complaint to the hate crimes unit of the Ottawa-Carleton police force, which has jurisdiction in the area where the offence is alleged to have occurred. Ottawa police Detective Frank Corkery, a member of Ottawa's hate crime unit, wouldn't confirm whether police there are investigating Thobani. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |