OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) – Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich appeared in court today wearing shackles around her ankles as she sought a bail review.
Lich is about to take the stand. Her feet are shackled making it difficult for her to move. The Judge asks that those shackles be removed.
— David Akin 🇨🇦 (@davidakin) March 2, 2022
Omar Khadr – a terrorist and murderer of an American soldier – got to walk in to his court hearings free and under no restraint. I was there.
Tamara Lich gets dragged in front of a judge in shackles for the crime of honking. https://t.co/AlD8PtFCYV— Keean Bexte (@TheRealKeean) March 2, 2022
Last week, Lich was denied bail by a judge who ran for the Liberal Party of Canada in 2011 and was praised by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the time.
Judge denies bail to Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich: ‘Your detention is necessary’ – LifeSite https://t.co/AteOUJispw
— Kennedy Hall holds unacceptable views (@kennedyhall) March 2, 2022
The judge stated that her continued detainment was necessary “for the safety and protection of the public.” In contrast, Freedom Convoy organizer Chris Barber was not denied bail and allowed to go home.
Today, Lich appeared in court to appeal her decision on the basis that the judge who denied her bail was bias.
There it is: Lich lawyer argues in bail review that “a reasonable apprehension of bias” exists in Lich’s bail hearing because the judge in that matter was a 2011 federal #LPC candidate.
— David Akin 🇨🇦 (@davidakin) March 2, 2022
In addition to arguing that the judge who denied her bail might have done so with political bias, Lich’s lawyers are of the opinion that the bail hearings should consider Lich’s Indigenous Métis background.
Lich testified in her affidavit that she is a “card-carrying member of the Métis nation of Alberta.”
Lich was arrested February 17 for her involvement with the freedom protests in Ottawa, two days after the Emergencies Act (EA) came into effect. According to the EA legislation, “a person registered as an Indian under the Indian Act” is exempt from a ban on protesting.
Because of this, Lich’s legal counsel has argued that the Gladue principles should be considered in her case.
The Gladue principles stipulate that judges are to approach legal matters with First Nations Canadians with sensitivity to any injustices that the person may have gone through as a result of ethnicity.
Government COVID policies, such as the vaccine mandates imposed by the Canadian federal government, have been additionally difficulty for First Nations Canadians who live in remote communities. Thousands of dollars of fines were handed out to Indigenous mothers in northern Manitoba who defied lockdown orders in order to purchase groceries in other communities because their stores were not properly stocked with necessities.