OTTAWA –
The Crown is trying to revoke the bail for Tamara Lich, leader of the “Freedom Convoy,” after appearing alongside a fellow organizer in an alleged breach of her terms.
Lich was charged in February with mischief, obstructing police, advising others to commit misdemeanors and intimidation for her role in the massive protest against COVID-19 restrictions that blocked downtown Ottawa for more than three weeks.
She was released the following month with a long list of conditions, including an order not to communicate with key convoy organizers, including Tom Marazzo, and a ban on all social media except through a lawyer or in presence of a lawyer.
Crown prosecutor Moiz Karimjee told an Ottawa court Tuesday that Lich violated one of his conditions when she was seen with Marazzo at a recent gala where she accepted an award for organizing the protest.
She argued that she should be arrested.
Lich’s lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon, said he would challenge the revocation of Lich’s bail and demand his conditional release.
Det. of the Ottawa Police. Chris Benson, who is the protagonist of the Lich case, told the court he reviewed the video of Lich and Marazzo appearing together at the awards gala.
Greenspon asked Benson if he knew of any other evidence that Lich and Marazzo were communicating before or after the brief video interaction, which took place in “less than three seconds.”
He asked the detective if he was aware of the presence of lawyers from the Center for Justice for Constitutional Freedoms, some of whom act as his lawyers in civil matters.
Benson said he believed a photograph showing Lich, Marazzo and others putting together at the award ceremony shows that he breached their conditions due to their physical proximity to him.
Lich watched the audience remotely from an Ontario detention center, watching video conferencing and listening from a cell phone to his blond hair with a high dock.
Both Marazzo and Lich were key spokesmen for the winter protest against the restrictions of COVID-19 and the federal government. Marazzo is also the leader of a group called Veterans 4 Freedom, which organized several demonstrations in Ottawa over Canada Day weekend.
Police asked for a Canada-wide arrest warrant for Lich for alleged breach of his bail conditions and he was arrested last week in Medicine Hat, Alta., Where he lives.
Benson said she oversaw Lich’s transportation from Alberta to Ottawa after she was arrested.
Lich is charged with her role in the “Freedom Convoy” along with a co-defendant, Chris Barber, who remains on bail.
On Tuesday morning, Barber’s attorney was banned from posting court documents showing Barber’s cell phone communications, except those containing Lich.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on July 5, 2022.
This story was produced with the financial assistance of Meta and the Canadian Press News Fellowship.