OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) – Canadian Freedom Convoy leader Tamara Lich will be set free from jail immediately after Ontario Superior Court Justice Andrew Goodman today granted her bail and criticized her earlier detainment under a ruling by a Justice of the Peace as invalid.
“Ms. Lich will be released from this court house today,” ruled Goodman, adding, “Ms. Lich is presumed to be innocent.”
Goodman told the court constable after he had made his ruling to “take those shackles off” Lich.
All of her previous bail conditions remain. She must not “verbally, in writing, financially, or by any other means, support anything related to the Freedom Convoy.” She is also mandated to reside in her home province of Alberta and cannot use social media.
Today, Goodman ruled that Lich’s risk to the community is “low” and that she is very unlikely to re-offend in terms of breaching her bail conditions.
“I find it highly unlikely that this 49-year-old accused with no criminal record … would face a potential lengthy term of imprisonment,” Goodman ruled.
Goodman stated that Lich, in his opinion, is a reasonable member of the community and that her release is not contrary to the justice system.
He noted that Lich has not been charged with inciting a riot or sedation and that her offenses are minor.
He also added that while he agrees that the Freedom Convoy was a nuisance to some Ottawa residents, it is not up to the courts to try and control the political views of citizens.
According to a Rebel News live tweet of the court bail hearing, Goodman ordered a new bail hearing after declaring the previous one under Justice of the Peace Paul Harris contained errors.
“I find the Justice of the Peace erred and misapprehended the evidence,” Goodman said, then stating that the detention order must be “set aside.”
Crown prosecutor Moiz Karimjee, who has known ties to the Liberal Party of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, asked the court to keep Lich jailed until her trial date. This is despite the fact her alleged crimes are non-violent in nature.
Karimjee argued that Lich was a key “decision-maker” with plans to “gridlock” Ottawa during the Freedom Convoy.
Goodman declined to agree with the Crown’s accusations that Lich should be jailed for mischief charges.
“Despite the Crown’s assertion, no case in Canada has ever seen a 10-year sentence for mischief and obstruction,” Goodman noted.
“The Justice of the Peace asserts the vulnerable victims of the convoy to Ottawa protest will continue to suffer if people, such as Lich and Marazzo, are allowed to socialize in whatever way they see fit. There is no evidence that a three-second interaction would cause such fear.”
Lich is being represented by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF).
In early July, Harris denied Lich bail, saying, “Your detention is necessary to maintain confidence in the administration of justice.”
Lich was arrested on June 27 in her hometown of Medicine Hat, Alberta for a second time. Her second arrest came about after she allegedly violated her bail conditions.
The Crown argued in a daylong hearing in early July that Lich violated her bail conditions by having a photo taken with another person associated with the Freedom Convoy, Tom Marazzo, at the annual George Jonas Freedom Award from the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) last month in Toronto.
Lich was in Toronto in June to accept the annual George Jonas Freedom Award from the JCCF.
Today, Goodman said he did not think Lich’s transient contact with Mr. Marazzo” could have “harmed the administration of justice.”
Lawrence Greenspon, Lich’s lawyer, said that his client’s interaction with Marazzo was “nothing more than a handshake.”
Lich was first arrested on February 17, only two days after Trudeau enacted the Emergencies Act (EA), which he claimed was needed to deal with the Freedom Convoy protesters, who were demanding an end to all COVID mandates.
Trudeau revoked the EA on February 23.
Lich, along with Freedom Convoy organizer Chris Barber, were charged with multiple offenses such as mischief and obstructing police for taking part in and organizing the Freedom Convoy.
Independent media and political commentators have noted how the jailing of Lich and the push by the Crown to have her face a long-term prison sentence is a “national embarrassment.”
“The obsessive state pursuit of Tamara Lich is proving to be a national embarrassment. The government really should have bigger fish to fry right now but they can’t set aside their spite for those who dared to protest against them,” tweeted Cory Morgan of the Western Standard.