In a tweet on Monday, Kazem Gharibabadi wrote, "Peaceful protesters in the so-called Land of the Free are shushed, and guess what? Nobody ever dares to talk about egregious human rights violations taking place on a daily basis in Canada. Well, the critics may have been shushed, too."
His tweet came as Police in riot gear cleared the main protest hub in downtown Ottawa Saturday, using batons and pepper spray, smashing truck windows and arresting dozens of die-hard protesters as they moved to finally end a weeks-long siege of the Canadian capital.
After a night marked by clashes, protesters – some in body armour – held firm, linking arms and hurling gas canisters and smoke grenades at advancing police, while chanting "freedom."
But by midday police, backed by tactical vehicles and overwatched by snipers, said they had cleared Wellington Street in front of parliament – the epicentre of the trucker-led demonstrations which began almost a month ago in protest at COVID vaccine rules.
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