2022-07-15 05:23:36
The four freedom protesters who have been held in custody at the Lethbridge “Correctional” Centre since February 14 will be tried by Judge and Jury on June 12-30, 2023. The protestors have been denied bail, which means they will spend at least 16 months in jail before they even have a chance to defend themselves. The charges are “conspiracy to murder police officers, possession of a weapon and mischief to property over $5,000”. They have also been denied the right to a preliminary hearing before trial, as the Crown is proceeding to direct indictment.
Freedom protesters who were released with bail conditions will register their pleas (guilty or not) on September 2, 2022, 9:30 am, in Lethbridge Provincial Court. The charges are “mischief by impeding the lawful use of property and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose”.
On Friday August 26, 9:30 am in provincial court, Madame Justice Kristin Ailsby will release her decision in Lethbridge provincial court regarding the media’s demand for access to ITOs (search warrant disclosures) used to charge the Coutts 13. Five Canadian media outlets - CBC, Global News, CTV, the Globe and Mail, and Postmedia - along with the New York Times, argued on June 28 for immediate access to red-box versions of search warrant disclosures (ITOs in legal parlance), and later publication of redacted versions. (The red-box version shows redactions but the viewer can read the words under the redaction).
Justice or Injustice
The denial of bail for four accused, and punitive bail conditions for the other nine accused, flies in the face of the cornerstone of Canadian criminal law and Article 11 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is “the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense”. The Charter guarantees the right to not be denied reasonable bail without just cause, such as the need to maintain public safety. None of the accused were charged with committing violence, because no violence took place. Bail was denied, or bail conditions were imposed, based on the presumption of guilt, before the evidence, which stems from on-going surveillance and under-cover operations, has been proven in court. Stout (2019) notes that “the rise in the criminal justice system’s overuse of bail conditions, especially combined with having to comply with those conditions for longer periods, has become a form of overly punitive practice resulting in further criminalization of legally innocent individuals” (https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/society/article/download/34000/26080/83418).
Mainstream media also denied the accused the right of “innocent until proved guilty” when they published smears based only on hearsay and the musings of so-called “anti-hate experts”(https://globalnews.ca/news/8621125/canadian-anti-hate-network-concerned-diagolon-coutts-border-protest-diagolon/); (https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/what-is-the-diagolon-extremist-group-and-what-does-it-want-1.5785646). Evidence, particularly that based on undercover surveillance and undercover operations, should be vetted in court before being released to the public as truth. Democracy rests on a free press. Two former CBC journalists describe why they had to resign from the CBC to maintain their journalistic integrity. https://tarahenley.substack.com/p/speaking-freely; https://www.trishwoodpodcast.com/podcast/episode-116-marianne-klowak.
The long delay between charges and trial is also punitive. Crown and defense lawyers did not receive evidence from the police (35 GB, 3,400 files) until June 9 at the earliest. Why the delay of four months to release “evidence”, and why the delay of 16 months between charges and trial?
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