Photos of Toronto Protest 1st March 2008 uploaded @ Sorabia <Photos>
section, <Demonstracije Toronto> Album -- n. http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/sorabia/photos/browse/161d FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 1, 2008 Toronto, Canada – Over a thousand Canadian Serbs, Greeks, Russians and others rallied in front of Queen’s Park on March 1, 2008 to urge Canada’s Federal Government to not recognize Kosovo’s declaration of independence. Among the many speakers present was the award-winning, Canadian journalist, Scott Taylor, the Hon. MP Jim Karygiannis, political activist, David Orchard, a top representative from the Hindu Conference of Canada, as well as many prominent members of Canada’s Serbian community. Rally organizers also played/read supportive statements made by Canadian Ret. Maj.General Lewis Mackenzie, former Canadian diplomat, James Bisset, the Jewish Defence League, the Serbian Bishop of Kosovo, and several testimonials of Kosovo-Serb victims of separatist-Albanian violence. Speeches discussed the illegal nature of Kosovo’s (aprovince within Serbia) declaration, since it violates the UN Charter, Helsinki Final Act, Resolution 1244 which guarantees the territorial integrity of Serbia, as well as the current Kosovo-Albanian government’s poor record of protecting its ethnic minorities of which more than 250 000 Serbs and othernon-Albanians have been ethnically cleansed from the region since 1999. Speeches also described the 1500 year-long history of Serbs in Kosovo of which they were the majority ethnic group up until the 1960’s, as well as its significance as Serbia’s centre of history, culture and religion. Other speeches described the dangerous worldwide precedent that this non-UN sanctioned declaration of independence could cause. This rally follows weeks of protests throughout many major Canadian cities, with protests planned in the weeks ahead. Contact: Dragan Ciric, President of the Serbian League of Canada (416-854-3564) PICTURES OF RALLY ATTACHED Serbian News Network - SNN [email protected] http://www.antic.org/
