On March 7, 2006, a Jersey City municipal court will hear a case contesting the arrest of a Filipino-American woman by a Port Authority police officer who issued her a ticket for distributing flyers outside the Journal Square PATH train station last October 30.
Arsenia Reilly, who is half-Irish, was giving flyers to commuters, along with several others from the grassroots group Network in Solidarity with the People of the Philippines (NISPOP), protesting the murder of a Filipino worker at Nestlé Philippines, when she received the ticket from the police officer.
“Arsenia Reilly was denied her free speech rights, and the officer simply demonstrated the limited nature of free speech in the United States,” said NISPOP in a statement, contesting the arrest on the grounds that the prohibition of leafleting at PATH train station is “unconstitutional.”
The case was originally scheduled for a January 10 trial but was moved to March 7. NISPOP is “dedicated to supporting the Filipino people’s struggle for self-determination and social and economic justice,” according to its Web site (www.nispop.org).
Outside the courtroom, William Volonte, Reilly’s lawyer, said: “Jersey City has been a crucible for free speech rights. The Filipino community has been welcomed to Jersey City and they have a right to distribute leaflets. The prosecution takes constitutional rights very seriously. I believe there will be a ruling in favor of Ms. Reilly’s free speech rights.”
NISPOP has distributed over 3,000 flyers on the murder of Diosdado “Ka Fort” Fortuna, president of the Nestlé Worker’s Union.
The Nestlé workers have been waging a three-year strike for retirement benefits and a just salary.
“NISPOP is supporting the workers in their demand for a full investigation into the murder and the full indemnification of his family in addition to holding the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine President Gloria Arroyo accountable for the seemingly endless killing of progressive people in the Philippines,” says Amanda Vender of NISPOP.
“The major U.S. media said nothing about Ka Fort’s murder, let alone about the complicity of Nestlé, the Philippine government or the U.S. government. The police have joined with the media in blockading this information from U.S. consumers and taxpayers,” said NISPOP member Dan Wilson.
“With more than 5,000 U.S. troops currently in the Philippines, it is critical that the public be aware of how our tax dollars are being used,” Wilson said. “How would the public learn about U.S. policy in the world if not for NISPOP and similar organizations doing leafleting and public educational events?”
NISPOP is holding a public forum on the “current state of human rights in the Philippines” on February 12, at 3 p.m., at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, located at 95 Broadway in Jersey City.
Contact NISPOP via e-mail at nispop@nispop.org or call (212) 561-1567 for details.
