mr.x
Jan 30, 2009, 7:51 AM
About time.
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/www.vancouversun.com/news/vancouver/court+orders+falun+gong+dismantle+protest/1233102/1233092.bin
Court orders Falun Gong to dismantle protest
By Mary Frances Hill, VANCOUVER SUN
January 29, 2009 11:01 PM
VANCOUVER - The Falun Gong must remove the protest hut and billboards it has maintained outside Granville Street’s Chinese consulate for seven years, the B.C. Supreme Court has ruled.
“Even if they are held to constitute a form of expression, the method of expression is incompatible with the fundamental purpose of the city street...,” Justice Sunni Stromberg-Stein said in her 37-page ruling.
“I agree with the city that it is not necessary that structures obstruct either pedestrian or vehicular traffic, as any obstruction is illegal.”
The group’s lawyer said he’ll recommend an appeal.
“I think, with respect, the court was wrong, and I’m hopeful the higher court will see it that way,” said Joe Arvay.
Stromberg-Stein concluded the group breached a bylaw prohibiting structures that encroach on a city street. She granted the city an injunction that would require the group to take down the display within seven days.
Protesters erected a hut, banners and billboards in July 2001 protesting what the Falun Gong says is China’s consistent persecution and torture of members of the religious group.
Former mayor Sam Sullivan first ordered the structure dismantled in 2006, saying it was built without permission and encroaches on the city sidewalk.
The city raised concerns about liability and insurance, and claimed the respondents never sought permission.
Arvay said the case is “absolutely about the importance of the vigil as perhaps the most fundamental kind of expression we have as a society, which is political expression,” but Stromberg-Stein said it had more to do with street usage and public order than freedom of expression.
mfhill@vancouversun.com
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/www.vancouversun.com/news/vancouver/court+orders+falun+gong+dismantle+protest/1233102/1233092.bin
Court orders Falun Gong to dismantle protest
By Mary Frances Hill, VANCOUVER SUN
January 29, 2009 11:01 PM
VANCOUVER - The Falun Gong must remove the protest hut and billboards it has maintained outside Granville Street’s Chinese consulate for seven years, the B.C. Supreme Court has ruled.
“Even if they are held to constitute a form of expression, the method of expression is incompatible with the fundamental purpose of the city street...,” Justice Sunni Stromberg-Stein said in her 37-page ruling.
“I agree with the city that it is not necessary that structures obstruct either pedestrian or vehicular traffic, as any obstruction is illegal.”
The group’s lawyer said he’ll recommend an appeal.
“I think, with respect, the court was wrong, and I’m hopeful the higher court will see it that way,” said Joe Arvay.
Stromberg-Stein concluded the group breached a bylaw prohibiting structures that encroach on a city street. She granted the city an injunction that would require the group to take down the display within seven days.
Protesters erected a hut, banners and billboards in July 2001 protesting what the Falun Gong says is China’s consistent persecution and torture of members of the religious group.
Former mayor Sam Sullivan first ordered the structure dismantled in 2006, saying it was built without permission and encroaches on the city sidewalk.
The city raised concerns about liability and insurance, and claimed the respondents never sought permission.
Arvay said the case is “absolutely about the importance of the vigil as perhaps the most fundamental kind of expression we have as a society, which is political expression,” but Stromberg-Stein said it had more to do with street usage and public order than freedom of expression.
mfhill@vancouversun.com
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
