Regina v The Radical Press: LEGAL UPDATE #15 August 16, 2013

“There’s no such thing as ‘Hate Speech.’ You either have FREE speech or you don’t – it’s that simple.” ~Anonymous

Dear Free Speech Advocates and Radical Press Supporters,

Tuesday, August 13th, 2013 saw my return to Quesnel’s provincial courthouse for yet another appearance related to the matter of the Sec. 319(2) CCC charge and my arrest and incarceration May 16th, 2012 for the spurious crime of “willfully promoting hatred against ‘people of the Jewish religion or ethnic group.’

The previous time was back on  July 9th, 2013 when the issue of CC Johnston’s attempt to go for a direct indictment failed. It was also then that further efforts were made to set dates for my Rowbotham application hearing, the Rowbotham being my only option at this stage of the proceedings that will literally afford me a lawyer in order to act in my defence. As well, a the date of August 13th was supposed to be when I would appear before Judge Morgan and speak to my application for particularization of the evidence which the Crown was planning to base its case on.

At this point in the process where every appearance tends to hold unanticipated surprises it has become my practise not to get too bent out of shape trying to fathom what may or may not occur. That way of thinking appears to be best and so again I wasn’t disappointed to find that things didn’t go as planned.

I was scheduled to also meet with the Trial Coordinator, Sherry Jasper, after dealing with the particularization issue in court but while waiting in the courtroom for Judge Morgan to appear CC Johnston approached me and said that she was sure that she had heard the Judge say during our previous appearance that I could postpone the Particularization application until such time as I knew whether or not my Rowbotham application was going to be approved and I could have counsel representation for the Particularization hearing.

I didn’t recollect the judge telling me that but at the same time I also realized that given the option it would be best to wait until I knew if the Rowbotham application was going to be approved and a lawyer appointed for my defence. Knowing I was ill equipped to do so beyond just reading out the information to the court that my former lawyer Doug Christie had prepared in my defence I decided to heed what CC had just revealed to me and so I told her that I would opt for not proceeding with the application at this time. Johnston then suggested I let the Trial Coordinator know what had transpired and that was that for the courtroom side of things.

I went to Jasper’s office and explained what had just taken place in the courtroom and she told me that she would strike the Application from today’s list and that once I knew the outcome of the Rowbotham application I could then bring it back before the Court to fix a hearing date.

That taken care of we moved on to the Rowbotham application issue and she called Keith Evans the lawyer for the Attorney General’s office in order to fix a hearing date for that application.

It should be mentioned here that prior to my appearance on August 13th I had spoken with Keith Evans via the telephone regarding all the additional documents which the AG’s office still required in order to process the application. Mr. Evans told me at that time that he would not likely be able to hold a hearing on the matter until after September of this year as he was already booked up for that month and that I still would have time to submit further materials to back up my application. I had already begun the process of putting together some of the documents requested and filling out forms allowing the AG’s office to access my bank accounts and contact Canada Revenue Services, etc. and had shipped these off to his office prior to my appearance on Tuesday so when Jasper contacted Evans he told her that the process was unfolding according to plan and that he expected the remaining documents from me would be forthcoming well in advance of the hearing date then to be set. Jasper then suggested November 18th, 2013 for the hearing date along with a time allotment of two hours. Evans responded by saying that he would rather see five hours set for the hearing as that was usually how long they took. Jasper expressed surprise at that but then agreed to set a longer period of time. The 18th was also a date when Judge Morgan would be able to preside over the hearing which is a good thing given that he has been overseeing the case to this point.

I should add here with respect to this Rowbotham application that the expectations of the Attorney General’s office are the equivalent of having to perform a forensic audit of my financial situation since last November 5th of 2012 when the indictment was finally handed down. It’s intense and very time consuming having to justify every penny since that time period.

That concluded the day’s events and my wife and I left the building.

One other related issue that came up during the interval between August 13th and my previous appearance on July 9th was a Notice of Libel that I received from Richard Warman, one of the complainants in this case. Warman had taken issue with some prefatory remarks made by me in an article I had posted on the Radical Press website back on January 1st, 2013. He then hired the Ottawa law firm of Caza Saikaley to represent him and demanded that I remove the said article and commentary from the site and post an apology and retraction. After some reflection and knowing that I was ill equipped to take on another legal battle I had no option but to adhere to Warman’s wishes and do as requested. In addition to publishing the retraction and apology I also had to send Warman a money order for $500.00 to cover his legal expenses. That meant yet another frantic appeal for funds to those supporting my legal struggles. Thank God kind souls came to the rescue and I was able to pay the costs for which I am deeply grateful.

So for now I must complete the task of sending all the required information to the AG’s office over the next month or so and await my next court date of November 18th, 2013.

For Justice and Freedom of Speech for Everyone, Everywhere,

Arthur Topham Publisher & Editor The Radical Press Canada’s Radical News Network “Digging to the root of the issues since 1998″

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P.S. I would once again please ask readers to consider helping me out financially with a donation if they can. Go to the top of the Home Page at www.radicalpress.com and click on the “PLEASE DONATE TO THE RADICAL PRESS FREE SPEECH DEFENSE FUND” link where you will find all the information necessary to send financial help. Thank you.