Support Free Speech - Support Shareef Aleem
February 3, 2007 on 2:49 am | In Act NowMonday February 5, 2007
10:00 am
Adams County Courthouse
Div. G. - Room 404
1100 Judicial Center Drive
Brighton, CO 80601
Shareef Aleem, a Denver community activist, was arrested in February 2005 when the CU Board of Regents met to discuss the Ward Churchill “controversy.” While advertised as a public meeting, the Regents refused to let the hundreds of CU students and faculty who attended make any public comment.
When Shareef persisted in asking why the Regents weren’t letting the students speak, he was surrounded by CU police and arrested. Although there was much protest at the meeting, only one other person was arrested — a CU student who was charged with a misdemeanor. Those charges were ultimately dropped. Shareef, however, was charged with a felony assault on the police officer arresting him. As a result Shareef, who has several young children, faces up to 16 years in prison for defending the students’ right to speak to the Regents.
The prosecution is determined to make an example of Shareef, sending the message that community activists who support CU students and Ward Churchill will be crushed. Shareef’s first trial resulted in a hung jury. The case is now being re-tried in Adams County, and the jury is out. They began deliberating Thursday morning, and will finish on Monday.
Let the state know that we are not intimidated by such heavy-handed tactics. Come to the Adams County Courthouse at 10:00 am on Monday to show your support for Shareef, his family, and our collective right to freedom of speech and political dissent.
