Shis thsue:

(¥Y North Korean leader reported to have watched his uncle’s execution

And more!

(¥Y Predicted rise in number of fitness centre attendees

(¥ Fukushima nuclear clean-up plagued with corruption

 

-. Patrick Vailancourt
“8. News Editor

=| Minews

“¥) @theotherpress.ca

 

he Supreme Court of
Canada, ina rare show
of unanimity, ruled 9-oin
striking down laws that make
prostitution more difficult.

is not a criminal act in Canada,

ing it, such as communicating
in public, negotiating a transac-
tion, and living off of the avails
of prostitution, are illegal.

The Supreme Court
ruled that laws prohibiting
these activities were uncon-
stitutional, and Chief Justice
Beverly McLachlin gave the
government one year to make
changes to the legislation.

“[This case is] about
whether the laws Parliament
has enacted on how pros-
titution may be carried out
pass constitutional muster.
I conclude that they do
not,” McLachlin wrote.

The Supreme Court issued
a suspended declaration of
invalidity, which allows for the
laws in question to remain in
the Criminal Code for one year

Supreme Court of Canada // By Wikipedia Creative Commons

Supreme Court of Canada rules
to keep sex-trade workers safe

» Unanimous ruling strikes down laws meant to deter prostitution

: while the government comes

: up with new legislation that

: would meet constitutional

: concerns of sex-trade workers.

The case began a num-

: ber of years ago in Ontario,

: as three sex-trade workers

: initiated a court challenge

: against legislation that they

: believed put sex-trade workers
: at risk of harm. The Ontario
While selling sex for money :
: laws deterring prostitution
many of the activities surround- :
: Court of Appeal ruled that only
: the laws on operating a brothel
: and living off the avails of

: prostitution were unconstitu-

: tional, but upheld laws against
: negotiated transactions and

: communicating in public.

Superior Court ruled all of the

unconstitutional. The Ontario

The government is now

looking at the issue and will :
: have the opportunity to present :
: new legislation. Justice Minister :
: Peter MacKay said that the

: government is looking at “all

: possible options to ensure

: the criminal law continues

: to address the significant

: harms that flow from prosti-

: tution to communities, those
: engaged in prostitution,

: and vulnerable persons.”

The sex-trade workers who

launched the court challenge
: have indicated that they are

: skeptical about the govern-

: ment’s plans to reform prosti-

: tution laws. They are calling

: onthe government to come up

: with a common-sense approach
: to keep sex-trade workers safe,

: as well as ensure the safety

: of the broader community.

Valerie Scott, one of

: the applicants in the case,

: said that new laws will only
: work if it includes input

: from sex-trade workers.

“The thing here is pol-

iticians, though they may

: know us as clients, they do

: not understand how sex work

: works. They won't be able to

: write a half-decent law. It will

: fail. That’s why you must bring
: sex workers to the table ina

: meaningful way,” said Scott.

The government has yet
to announce how or when
it will go about reviewing

: the ruling and drafting new

: legislation that would incor-
porate the guidance given by

: the Supreme Court. For the

: full text of the Supreme Court
of Canada’s decision, visit

; www.documentcloud.org/

: documents/979787-ags-v-bed-
ford-lebovitch-and-scott.html

 

Have an idea for a story? Let us know!

Contact: Patrick Vailancourt, News Editor

Mnews@theotherpress.ca

www. theotherpress.ca

Sochi Olympics
under threat from
terror attacks

» Recent attacks in Russia cast shadow
over upcoming Olympic Winter Games

  

m Aidan Mouellic
& Staff Writer

he 2014 Sochi Olympics in
Russia are only a month

away, and terrorists have struck : §

the region of the games with
two suicide bombing attacks
in the city of Volgograd. In
the closing days of 2013, two
bombers detonated them-
selves, one inside a busy rail
station and the other inside a
tram, killing 34 people overall
and injuring dozens more.

Of concern for Olympic
organizers, though, is that the

in Volgograd, a city which is
700 km away from the site of
the Sochi Winter Olympic and
Paralympic Games. Both cities
are in the Caucasus region of
Russia which has long been
host to both ethnically and
religiously motivated violence.
Volgograd was previously
known as Stalingrad, the city
made famous for hosting a
decisive battle against the
Nazis in World War II.

In September of 2004,
the region also experienced a
heinous terrorist attack in the
town of Beslan, about 350 km
away from Sochi. In the attack,
over 1,000 people (777 of whom
were children) were taken
hostage in a school by militant
separatists. The three-day
crisis ended with more than
300 individuals dying, most
of whom were children.

Russia has vowed to
maintain safety and security
at the Olympics in Sochi, the
city which lies on the coast of
the Black Sea. Naval warfare
vessels have been patrolling
the waters around Sochiand
security checkpoints have
been strategically placed in
the surrounding areas adja-
cent to the venues; still, the
terrorist threat has been made
abundantly clear with the two

 

The es of a suicide
bombing // By Reuters

major attacks in Volgograd.

After two days of silence

following the Volgograd

: bombings on December 29 and

: 30, Russian President Vladimir

: Putin said that he “will continue
: the fight against terrorists

: harshly and consistently until
deadly bombings have occurred :

their complete destruction.”
Russia boosted its police

and military presence in

: Volgograd by bringing in

: more than 5,000 members

: ofits forces to execute raids

: and searches for individuals
: connected to the bombings.

: They have not turned up any
: evidence for those linked to

: the bombings thus far, and

: no one has come forward.

Some, though, are pointing

: fingers to Russia’s most-wanted
: Chechen militant figure, Dokka
: Umarov, who has a $5-million
bounty on his head. Last

: July, Umarov encouraged his

: supporters to disrupt and stop

: the upcoming Olympics using

: “maximum force,” because “[t]

: hey plan to hold the Olympics

: onthe bones of our ancestors,

; onthe bones of many, many

; dead Muslims buried on our

: land by the Black Sea.” He’s also
; stated that the games should

: be called the “satanic games.”

It’s still unclear how these

: recent terrorist attacks in

: Russia will affect the Sochi

: games but it’s leaving the host
: country and onlookers on

: edge. The upcoming Olympics
: area target for local Russian

: extremists who hope to dis-

: rupt the sporting event and

: spread their message as the
eyes of the world look on.