Charge withdrawn for Ontario doctor who squirted ketchup on MP’s office
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$0 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*No charge for 4 weeks then price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.75/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/11/2024 (393 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
LONDON, Ont. – A mischief charge against a doctor who squirted ketchup on the London, Ont., office of a member of Parliament last year has been dropped.
The lawyers representing Tarek Loubani, a local physician and activist, said the Crown withdrew the charge after determining it was “not in the public interest” to proceed with the prosecution.
Arash Ghiassi and Riaz Sayani said in a statement that Loubani’s actions were not a crime but rather part of his constitutional right to protest against an elected official — in this case, Liberal MP Peter Fragiskatos.
Staff at the London courthouse confirmed a mischief charge against Loubani was withdrawn Tuesday.
Loubani was arrested in November 2023, but the incident took place weeks earlier after a protest in downtown London.
Police said at the time that Loubani and three others went to an office on Hyman Street, where he squirted ketchup on the door and front of a building.
They said he then took out other bottles of ketchup, handed them to the others and “encouraged them to also deface the building.”
The other three went into a court diversion program, which provides an alternative to prosecution in cases involving minor offences, police said.
The decision to lay charges was made by police, and it was up to the Crown to determine whether to proceed with the case, Fragiskatos said in a statement Tuesday, adding it would be inappropriate for him to comment further on the process.
“That being said, over the past several years our office and staff have experienced various acts of vandalism, threats and hostility. This will always be completely unacceptable,” he said.
His office said there was another “incident” at the London office Tuesday.
In their statement, Loubani’s lawyers said police’s “heavy-handed approach to political protest in this case” is only one example of a broader response to pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
“This kind of expression has been criminalized in nearly 100 cases in Toronto alone, and many more across Canada. While many of these charges are eventually withdrawn, this systemic overcharging nevertheless chills legitimate political expression on pressing issues,” they said.
— By Paola Loriggio in Toronto.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.