A-Infos (en) Montreal: SalAMI arrests: Popovic pleads guilty, is released

[Bernard Cooper <bcooper@cam.org>]

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Three days after arrest, Popovic grudgingly pleads guilty to some of the
charges and is released from jail. A blow to the right to demonstrate?

Alexandre Popovic, the anarchist activist arrested at the SalAMI
demonstration Monday morning, was charged with breach of two bail
conditions, a probation condition, and like the other arrested activists,
was charged with “tapage” (public noisiness), mischief, interfering with a
police officer’s work and unlawful assembly. Because the police claim he
had violated his bail conditions, they wanted him detained until his trial,
which could have meant being jailed for weeks or months. Also, the burden
of proof is quite different: It is for Popovic and his lawyer to clearly
show that he was not violating his bail conditions. 

The bail conditions stipulate that (1) he can participate in a demo on
public property only if it is peaceful and remains legal, and (2) if he
finds himself in a demo which becomes non-peaceful or illegal, he must
leave without delay. These conditions do not place a total prohibition on
demonstrating, and they are the result of an appeal in Quebec Superior
Court, on December 12 1997. At the time, several activists from the Queen
Elizabeth buffet action were appealing bail conditions that imposed a total
ban on all demonstrating. Lawyer Julius Grey argued that a total ban on
demonstrating was unconstitutional, Judge Benjamin Greenberg agreed. 

A day after his arrest, Tuesday May 26, the prosecution requested that
Popovic be jailed until his trial. As a witness, they had one of the
arresting officers, Sgt.-Detective Lemieux. This cop portrayed Popovic as
an organizer of the demo, who met with activists and was “directing”
groups. In reality, Popovic was there as a witness, with a video camera,
and he was doing copwatch work for the group Citizens Opposed to Police
Brutality. He has never been seen at any meetings of Operation SalAMI. When
the arrests began, Popovic was at the periphery of the support demo, like
many ordinary passers-by. Even officer Lemieux conceded that he was
arrested in the middle of Rene-Levesque boulevard. 

Defense lawyer Pascal Lescarbeau cross examined the cop, asking him if they
were on the look out for Popovic. The cop denied this. Asked if the cop was
surprised to see Popovic there, he said he was. The cop was unable to say
if the demo was violent, though he could only say it was peaceful at 6:30
am, when it began. Lescarbeau asked if the cop could hear what Popovic was
saying to people. He could not. The cop also agreed there were others
observing the demo. The lawyer reminded the cop that Popovic’s conditions
allow him to be at demos. The cop claimed he was arrested with due process.
Several witnesses say that the undercover police refused to identify
themselves. The police code of conduct obliges them to do so, if asked. 

Popovic then declared that he arrived at the demo with a camera, in order
to film the police’s intervention, and that doing so tends to reduce police
violence. He considered himself a fairly passive participant. A while
before he was arrested, Sgt-Detective Alain Richard had pointed him out.
After being placed under arrest, he was brought by Sgt-Detective Richard,
and Popovic asked him if he was happy that he was under arrest. The top-cop
told him “that’s right, because I hate you, you fucking mouthy dirt” (close
translation). 

A journalist standing next to Popovic testified that when Popovic was
arrested, he was not in the demo. Popovic was surrounded by several men
claiming to be police, and they did not identify themselves. 

Prosecutor Belanger emphasized thet Popovic was the only demonstrator to
have two other pending cases, and made him out as a high risk for violating
his bail conditions, and that “society had to be protected” The audience
burst into laughter.

It took very little time for Judge Besette to agree that there is abundant
evidence that Popovic was at the demo, that he knew there were risks of
arrests. For the judge, there was abundant evidence to show that bail
conditions had been violated. The judge agreed with the prosecution that
Popovic should remain imprisoned until his trial. 

The following day, on Wednesday afternoon, there was a pro-forma hearing,
where Popovic was to enter his plea. His lawyer had met with the
prosecutor, and a deal had been worked out: If Popovic pleaded guilty to
breach of bail and probation conditions, as well as the charge of unlawful
assembly, the prosecution would drop the charges of “tapage” (public
noisiness), mischief and interfering with a police officer’s work. Popovic
declared that he was the target of police repression, that it was also
political, and that this has been going on for the last three years. 

The jail sentence was the same as the time he had already spent in jail,
and he was to be freed from jail that evening. He was also given a two year
probation period where he must be on good behaviour and keep the peace, and
with the condition that if he finds himself in a demo which becomes
non-peaceful or illegal, he must leave without delay. 

The civil-right lawyer involved in the Greenberg judgment that preserved
demonstrator’s rights in some situations, Julius Grey, was asked about
Popovic’s case. Asked if it was the police that determines when a demo
becomes non-peaceful and illegal, Grey did not think so. Although he was
not familiar with the details of the case, he thought that there could have
been a quick appeal, “I don’t think he should have pleaded guilty” he
added. He did not know what it meant for the legal battle against draconian
bail conditions that prevent organizing and participation in demos. He was
willing to comment on the case after reading the transcripts of the judgment. 


***********************
Marginal opinions aren’t easily dismissed when their effects are pervasive. 
-Latter day Nietsche






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