Malevolent State Revokes Brad Love’s Bail — Letter Writing Political Prisoner Heads Back to Prison
Earlier this week, inveterate letter writing Brad Love flew back to Ontario to turn himself in — on Thursday. His bail has been summarily revoked after the death of his mother, who was his surety.
Mr. Love is appealing his conviction last year and 18-month sentence for “breach of probation.” The lengthy probation gag resulted from his 2003 conviction under Canada’s notorious “hate law”, Sec. 319 of the Criminal Code. At the culmination of a series of escalating conditions, Mr. Justice Hogg (no kidding) forbad him to write to anybody, without their consent. In 2009, Mr. Love sent four packages of writings and clippings to a number of Toronto Jewish groups, having phoned and obtained their consent. This was not good enough, Last year for Ontario Court Justice Kelly Wright who said that their had not been informed consent convicted Mr. Love and sentenced him to a further 18 months in prison.
Furthermore, she ruled: For three years, “Mr. Love is to refrain from any political speech or commentary to any media outlet, political, cultural or religious group or organization, or police organization, except with the express written permission of a political or religious organization” that welcomes him as a member or associate and with the permission of his probation officer.
In other words, a political gagging for another four and a half years.
Last August, through his lawyer Peter Lindsay, Mr. Love filed an appeal before the Ontario Court of Appeal against both this conviction and the Stalinist sentence. He was granted bail involving $22,000 cash he’d posted and a surety against the value of his mother’s house. Six weeks ago, his mother died. Ten days ago, Mr. Love was informed by his lawyer that the vindictive Ontario justice system that has been gunning for him for more than a decade was revoking his bail.
The Crown, he was told,. was having a “hissy fit.” It must be understood that breach of probation is a minor offence, usually punished by 30 days in prison. For sending non-violent communications, political dissident Brad Love got a further 18 months! Similarly, bail for breach of probation often is one’s own recognisance — a promise to appear at the hearing. Mr. Love has faithfully appeared at more than 10 hearings in this case. Yet, even $22,000 of his own cash is not enough to secure his freedom.
Thus, on Thursday, Mr. Love heads back to Lindsay, Ontario as a political prisoner. We use this term deliberately. Amnesty International defines “prisoners of conscience” thus on their website: “people who have been jailed because of their political, religious or other conscientiously-held beliefs, ethnic origin, sex, color, language, national or social origin, economic status, birth, sexual orientation or other status, provided that they have neither used nor advocated violence.” That describes letter writer extraordinaire Brad Love to a tee.
No date has been set yet for his appeal. Thus, he could sit in prison for months, losing money through unemployment. The poxy Ontario justice system is nothing but vindictive.
As a measure of the special abuse heaped on political dissidents in Ontario prisons, Mr. Love told CAFE that, when he was serving his previous 18 months sentence under Canada’s “hate law”, he was not allowed to work in the prison. Mr. Love, who puts in 80 hour weeks at his job in Fort McMurray is the Protestant work ethic on steroids. When he asked why he was not allowed to work in prison, he was told he was a “known affiliate” — that is, of politically incorrect groups. That was worse than being a biker. As in the old Soviet Union, he was a political dissident — the worst of the worst. The message, Mr. Love told CAFE, was: “Be a robot, Brad, and don’t express your opinions.”
Mr. Love is instructing his lawyer urgently to seek bail pending the hearing of his appeal.