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OTTAWA, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) — The trial of Freedom Convoy leaders Tamara Lich and Chris Barber resumed Monday with the defense arguing that the protest organizers’ actions were within the law and they should not be considered co-conspirators as the Crown claims.
Day 27 of the trial saw the Crown finish its case against Lich and Barber, who appeared in court via teleconference.
The Crown has been trying to prove that Lich and Barber had somehow influenced the protesters’ actions through their words as part of a co-conspiracy.
Nicole Bach of the Ottawa Police Services’ (OPS) Police Liaison Team (PLT) testified in court about a chat group created between officers. She had previously testified her police-provided phone was “wiped” of all information when asked by Judge Heather Perkins-McVey if she had copies of vital information of conversations between her and protesters.
On Monday in court, Bach said, as noted by the Democracy Fund, which is crowdfunding Lich’s legal costs, that she was told January 27, 2022, that the mission objective of Ottawa police was “prioritizing public safety, preserving order and maintaining peace, develop contingency plans, while respecting democratic freedom of thought, belief and peaceful assembly.”
Bach said that she could not recall who told her the mission objective.
Barber’s lawyer, Diane Magas, asked Bach during cross-examination about text exchanges between Bach and Barber on January 30, 2022. The messages show that Barber and Bach had been negotiating for trucks to be relocated as well as to have the trucks stop honking.
After some additional back and forth concerning text messages, the Crown told the court that it was prepared to conclude its case.
The court will resume November 27, with Lich and Barber’s defense calling its witnesses.
On Day 26 of the Freedom Convoy leaders trial held earlier in the month, Perkins-McVey ruled that certain sections of redacted internal police documents, which the defense has been asking to see, will be allowed to be viewed and then admitted as evidence to the court.
Crown prosecutors did not want the information to be unredacted and tried to argue its case to the court.
The documents in question include a police email chain along with essential information from OPS officers who had their cell phone data wiped after a so-called software update. The information on the cell phones was regarding important communications between the officers and protest organizers.
Lich and Barber are facing multiple charges from the 2022 protests, including mischief, counseling mischief, counseling intimidation and obstructing police for taking part in and organizing the anti-mandate Freedom Convoy. As reported by LifeSiteNews at the time, despite the non-violent nature of the protest and the charges, Lich was jailed for weeks before she was granted bail.
In early 2022, the Freedom Convoy saw thousands of Canadians from coast to coast come to Ottawa to demand an end to COVID mandates in all forms. Despite the peaceful nature of the protest, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government enacted the Emergencies Act on February 14, the same day as “moving day.”
During the clear-out of protesters after the EA was put in place, one protester, an elderly lady, was trampled by a police horse and one conservative female reporter was beaten by police and shot with a tear gas canister.
Trudeau revoked the EA on February 23.
Lich and Barber’s trial has thus far taken more time than originally planned due to the slow pace of the Crown calling its witnesses. LifeSiteNews has been covering the trial extensively.
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