Jaggi Singh is a Canadian anti-globalization, social justice, and anarchist activist. Singh has worked with Montreal based groups such as Solidarity Across Borders and No one is illegal collective.
1997 APEC summit
Singh was active in the protests outside the 1997 APEC conference held in Vancouver. According to Canadian Member of Parliament, Svend Robinson, the day before the summit started: "Jaggi Singh, one of the organizers of the APEC alert ... [was] arrested, wrestled to the ground on the UBC campus by three plainclothes police officers, handcuffed, thrown in the back of an unmarked car with tinted glass, driven off and locked up during the APEC summit."
Singh was charged with assault after allegedly yelling into the ear of a campus security guard with a megaphone and spent the duration of the conference in jail. In February 1999, the assault charge was dropped by Crown prosecutors before going to trial.
Singh was one of 51 people to file a complaint against the conduct of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) at the APEC summit that sparked a formal investigation by the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP. In March 2000, he was one of three people to formally withdraw from the inquiry, alleging that Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's rejection of an invitation to testify before the Commission was proof that the process was flawed.
In one of the findings condemning RCMP behavior issued in the final report by the Commission, it was noted that: "Mr. Jaggi Singh was arrested on a warrant based on a spurious charge; the manner of his arrest was inappropriate in the circumstances; the timing of the arrest was calculated to prevent him from attending protests on November 25; the bail conditions sought were overly restrictive."
G-20 & the Quebec City Summit of the Americas
Singh continued to attend Canadian rallies and protests, and continued to face arrests. In October 2000, he was arrested at a G-20 protest in Montreal, and charged with "participation in a riot", illegal assembly, and mischief. Police claimed that Singh’s speech against the International Monetary Fund incited the crowd, and that he announced the availability of medical help while riot police were charging at the crowd. In April 2003, he was acquitted of the riot charges. Witnesses reported that, "he was grabbed from behind by police masquerading as protesters" and "dragged away in a beige van". Singh was held for a total of 17 days, and charged with breaking conditions from previous arrests and with weapons charges - for a catapult that launched teddy bears that was actually constructed and operated by an unrelated group from Edmonton, which released a satirical statement denying Singh's involvement with the catapult. He was released on $3,000 bail with conditions that prohibited him from leading or organizing any demonstrations or using a megaphone.
In a telephone interview conducted while he was in the Orsainville jail near Quebec, Singh explained his view that legal action against him and other political activists was designed to intimidate them into silence, and split them off from mainstream public opinion:
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| 250px|left|thumb|Protesters carrying a [[catapult at the Quebec City Summit of the Americas]]
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During the lengthy pre-trial process, the weapons charge was dropped, and Singh’s request in November 2003 for a stay of proceedings based on "unreasonable delay and abuse of process," was accepted two months before the case would have gone to trial in January 2004. In his ruling, Judge Beaulieu of the Quebec Superior Court agreed with Singh’s position that: "... the bail conditions imposed on May 2001 have restrained his right to freedom, opinion, expression and the right of freedom of association as protected by article 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms."
Pro-Palestinian activism
Singh was also known for his pro-Palestinian activism and for organizing protests in and around Montreal. The talk was canceled when confrontations between protestors, police and security agents became violent, resulting in widespread coverage in the media, including an article in The Globe and Mail written by Singh himself.
In January 2003, Singh was deported by Israeli authorities after having gone to the West Bank on an invitation from the International Solidarity Movement. He had initially been denied entrance to the country upon his arrival in December 2002, but fought the decision in court. Though he won the right to stay for three weeks, he was barred from visiting the West Bank. Singh refused to abide by the order and made public his reasons for doing so, writing: "It's not for an occupying power to decide who can or can't enter Palestine... I've decided then to ignore the Israeli security services and listen to the Palestinian activists. It was an easy choice to make." On January 8, 2003, Singh was nabbed by undercover police officers in Jerusalem. He was held at the Russian Compound and then the Maasiyahu Prison, before being deported back to Canada.
On January 20, 2003, Singh was to speak at a demonstration in support of students facing disciplinary charges for the September 9 protest against Benjamin Netanyahu. He was arrested on university campus by police and charged with illegal assembly, obstruction, mischief, assault, conspiracy and breaking prior conditions, for the September 9 protest.
Singh mounted his own defense and filed an abuse of process motion after the prosecution failed to disclose more than 30 unedited videos taken by surveillance cameras the day of the protest. He put it to the court that the videos showed inconsistencies with the evidence given by security guards and supported his version of events.
In his ruling, Montreal Municipal Court Judge Pierre Fontaine wrote that the Concordia University Administration had exhibited "gross negligence" that amounted to a "flagrant violation" of Singh's right to a fair trial. The dismissal of the charges at that time meant that Singh enjoyed his first totally clean judicial record in years. rendered on August 23, 2006, Superior Court of Quebec Judge James Brunton wrote: "the trial judge erred when he held that officials of Concordia University were grossly negligent in not volunteering the production of the videocassettes before receiving a subpoena duces tecum during the motion hearing. My reading of the transcripts leads me to the exact opposite conclusion. Officials of Concordia were exemplary in their co-operation with the prosecution and the Court. They were exemplary in their dealings with the Respondent during the hearing of the motion."
On April 19, 2006, Singh was attending a pro-Palestinian poetry-reading/music fundraising event,
organized by Sumoud at the El Salon cafe, when he was arrested by Montreal police. Reports conflict as to what happened exactly. Police say they were responding to an allegation of assault reported by a "taxi driver" outside the cafe. They say they attempted to question Singh about the alleged assault and pursued him inside the cafe to do so, but that many of the 70 people in attendance attempted to obstruct them. Singh says the man who police say was a taxi driver was wearing a suit and driving an unmarked SUV. He says that the man pushed him after Singh asked him what he was doing parked on the side of the road wearing an earpiece. Police ended up charging Singh and one other person with obstruction, and three others were given municipal fines. At the same time, the New York Post published a photo of someone they alleged to be Singh shooting off a handgun.
Singh claimed that he did not throw himself into the spotlight due to an awareness of how the media likes to develop cults of personality: "I didn't choose to be covered in the way I have been. I've said no to interviews far more often than I've said yes." In November 2005, the UN body's report singled out Montreal police for the disproportionate use of mass arrests, stating: "The State party should ensure that the right of persons to peacefully participate in social protests is respected, and ensure that only those committing criminal offences during demonstrations are arrested ... The Committee also invites the State party to conduct an inquiry into the practices of the Montreal police forces during demonstrations, and wishes to receive more detail about the practical implementation of article 63 of the Criminal Code relating to unlawful assembly."
Singh also took part in a protest of Immigration Minister Monte Solberg's speech at the annual meeting of Citizens for Public Justice in 2006, demanding a moratorium on all deportations of refugees. He was one of about a dozen protestors whose presence was cited as a disruption of the event, and which resulted in Solberg cancelling his speech and leaving the hall.
Protesting Canadian involvement in the War in Afghanistan
On November 24, 2006, Singh was arrested yet again and charged with violating earlier bail conditions for taking part in a 15-person protest against Canadian involvement in the war on Afghanistan at a press conference convened by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the Montreal General Hospital.
The arresting officer’s report stated that the RCMP asked Singh to leave based on his reputation as a political dissident and that he was arrested for refusing to leave after being asked to by hospital security.
International Women's Day 2007
On March 8, 2007, Singh attended a demonstration for International Women’s Day in Montreal where he was again arrested by police. He was held in jail for five days. At the bail hearing, police contended that Singh violated a bail condition prohibiting him from attending illegal or non-peaceful demonstrations. Several witnesses, including a Cégep professor and a medical resident at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, testified that the women’s day march had been peaceful. He was released on $1000 bail. The judge commented that the "hefty bond" might work to deter Singh’s activism.
G-20 Toronto 2010
In June 2010, Singh participated in the protests during the G-20 Summit in Toronto. According to immigrant rights group No one is illegal, Singh turned himself into Toronto police following the issuance of an arrest warrant.
He was granted bail on July 12, after $10,000 was paid by two sureties, one of which was the Québec provincial deputy Amir Khadir, from the Québec Solidaire Party. In addition to this bail, $75,000 more, guaranteed this time by Amir Khadir and two other people whose identities were not revealed, will be charged if Singh breaks his release conditions, which are the following: house arrest at the home of one of the guarantors; handing in his passport to the authorities; he must not use a cellular phone; he must not have any contact with the 16 other activists charged with conspiracy in connection with the G20 protests.