Tuesday, July 05, 2022

Canada's Political Prisoners

The same country that offered $10.5 million to a convicted and unrepentant terrorist, that let two of its citizens rot in Chinese prisons until the Americans can affect their release and lets violent offenders out on bail makes its venom for two people well-known.

The process is the punishment.

The punishment is for embarrassing the government and the vain, idle, worthless head of it:

Crown prosecutors say Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich had an interaction with convoy spokesperson Tom Marazzo at a June 16 event in Toronto in violation of her bail conditions. The Crown cited the allegation while Lich appeared before a court in Ottawa on July 5 over charges that she failed to comply with her bail conditions.

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Lich’s lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon, said he will contest the revocation of Lich’s bail and seek her release with conditions.

Ottawa police Det. Chris Benson, who is the lead on Lich’s case, told the court he reviewed video of Lich and Marazzo appearing together at the awards gala.

Greenspon asked Benson if he knew of any other evidence that Lich and Marazzo communicated before or after the brief interaction in the video, which took place in “less than three seconds.”

He asked the detective if he was aware that some lawyers from the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms were present, some of whom are acting as her lawyers in civil matters.

Benson said he believed a photograph showing Lich, Marazzo and others posing together at the award ceremony shows that she breached her conditions due to her physical closeness to him.

Lich monitored the hearing remotely from an Ontario detention centre, watching on video conference and listening in from a cellphone, her blond hair in a high bun.

Both Marazzo and Lich were key spokespeople of the winter convoy protest. Marazzo is also a leader of a group called Veterans 4 Freedom, which staged several rallies in Ottawa over the Canada Day weekend.

Police sought a Canada-wide arrest warrant for Lich for the alleged breach of her bail conditions and she was arrested last week in Medicine Hat, Alta., where she lives.

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The Canadian soldier who recently led a protest march to Ottawa is now facing a court martial for having spoken out against the federal government’s COVID-19 vaccine requirements while wearing his uniform.

Warrant Officer James Topp was recently notified that he will be allowed to have his case heard in a military court instead of by his chain of command, according to the army reservist’s civilian lawyer.

Phillip Millar says the decision represents a second about-face after the military initially offered his client a court martial when he was charged in February, only to rescind the offer and send his case to Topp’s unit commanders.

“It's hard to know what they're doing, because I don't think they really know what they're doing,” said Millar. “But now they're saying it's a court martial.”

The decision raises the stakes for Topp, according to military law experts, as courts martial are allowed to impose heavier sentences against Armed Forces members than if they are tried by their chain of command in what is known as a summary trial.

Yet it also means he will be allowed to have legal representation at trial, which wouldn't have necessarily been the case if he was tried by his commanding officer, while his trial will receive much more public attention.

 


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