Over 2,500 Arrested in Montreal Protests
[/media-credit]MONTREAL - The staggering number of student protest-related arrests in Quebec — 2,500 and counting — is about to add costs and delays to an already overburdened justice system.
The historic number has prompted two questions: what is the short-term impact on the system and what is the long-term impact on those rounded up?
Some of the accused will face lengthy waits to actually get to trial, while others will encounter similar delays fighting their fines.
Constitutional challenges are inevitable against some of the laws used to end protests, and some people will face the prospect of a criminal record that could hang over them for years.
The end result will be more pressure on the justice system, even though authorities appear confident they can deal with the numbers.
In Montreal, where most of the marches have taken place, a spokesman for the director of criminal prosecutions says 53 cases are before the courts for criminal infractions since February 2012.
“That doesn’t include cases that could be transferred to us eventually,” says Crown spokesman Jean-Pascal Boucher, whose office prosecutes the most serious cases.
“The director of criminal prosecutions has the human resources and manpower necessary to deal with these cases.”
Three people were hit with criminal charges following rioting in Victoriaville at a recent Quebec Liberal party meeting and three other cases remain pending in that file.
But Boucher says no criminal cases have been reported in the province’s other major jurisdictions of Sherbrooke, Quebec City and Gatineau.
While there are no firm tallies, at least 2,500 people have been arrested and fined since the student demonstrations began three months ago.
That number includes 518 arrests in Montreal on Wednesday night. With further arrests in Sherbrooke and Quebec City, the final number that night swelled to about 700.
Since this February, Montreal alone has had more than 1,500 arrests, according to police figures. The majority have been ticketed and given hefty fines for violating the province’s highway safety code and municipal bylaws.
But it’s obvious many are unclear on the ticketing process. One exasperated defence lawyer told Twitter followers on Thursday not to call her in the middle of the night.
“We don’t call legal aid, or a lawyer in the middle of the night because we were issued a ticket,” tweeted Veronique Robert. “A little calm despite the context, please.”
Some in Montreal have been charged under a new anti-mask bylaw that results in fines for demonstrators who cover their faces during public protests.
Quebec’s controversial Bill 78, emergency legislation designed to severely undermine the ability of student groups to impose school shutdowns at faculties, has been used sparingly as authorities try to figure out how to apply it.
The use of the safety code has already been contested in court and a Montreal civil rights lawyer says the anti-mask bylaw and Bill 78 could also be challenged.
Julius Grey says it’s a good thing students are being ticketed and not charged criminally.
Read the rest at The Huffington Post
Leave a Reply