If you can help Arthur, please help him fight this important cause!
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From: gogetfunding.com/canadian-publisher-faces-jail-for-political-writings
FREEDOM OF SPEECH IN CANADA STILL UNDER ATTACK! CANADIAN PUBLISHER FACING JAIL FOR POLITICAL WRITINGS NOW PURSUING CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGE AND REQUIRES FUNDING FOR AN EXPERT WITNESS
FREEDOM OF SPEECH IN CANADA STILL UNDER ATTACK!
CANADIAN PUBLISHER FACING JAIL FOR POLITICAL WRITINGS NOW PURSUING A CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGE AND REQUIRES FUNDING FOR AN EXPERT WITNESS
Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms under Sec. 2b of the Charter states:
Fundamental Freedoms
2. Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:
(b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;
Dear Free Speech Supporters,
My name is Arthur Topham and I am the owner, publisher and editor of the online alternative News site RadicalPress.com which has been operating in Canada since 1998. Since 2007 I have been involved in legal battles with the Canadian government – first the Canadian Human Rights Commission (2007) and now the federal legal system (2012) over alleged offences that purportedly violate Canada’s “Hate Propaganda” laws (Sections 318 – 320) of the Canadian Criminal Code (CCC).
On May 16th, 2012 I was charged with a Sec. 319(2) ccc “Hate Propaganda” violation. I was arrested and jailed and my home was entered illegally by the RCMP’s “Hate Crime Team” who proceeded to steal all of my computers and electronic files. Since that date I have been involved in a protracted and onerous legal battle, first with the British Columbia provincial court and now with the British Columbia Supreme Court.
My trial, known as R v Roy Arthur Topham, finally got underway Monday, October 26, 2015 in Quesnel, B.C., twelve hundred and fifty-eight days (1258) after my arrest on May 16, 2012. The Indictment stated that I, Arthur Topham, did “willfully promote hatred against an identifiable group, people of the Jewish religion or ethnic origin, contrary to Section 319(2) of the Criminal Code.”
I was charged on two separate occasions using the same section of the Criminal Code (Sec. 319(2)) and after a 14-day trial ending on November 12th, 2015 – presided over by Supreme Court Justice, Mr. Bruce Butler and consisting of a 12-member jury of my peers (8 women and 4 men) – I was found Guilty on the first charge (Count 1) and Not Guilty on the second charge (Count 2).
Given that both counts were based upon the same section of the Criminal Code, i.e., Sec. 319(2) the dual and conflicting verdicts pose a serious legal problem which will be challenged in the days ahead.
What this now means is that I am moving on to the next stage of the legal battle by challenging the Constitutional legitimacy of the actual section of the Canadian Criminal Code (Sec. 319(2) now containing the infamous “Hate Propaganda” legislation which threatens freedom of expression for all Canadians.
The future of Sec. 319(2) of Canada’s Criminal Code will depend in part on the outcome of the planned Constitutional challenge. On March 29, 2016 I was scheduled to appear in Quesnel Supreme court to “fix a date” for the upcoming legal challenge. I appeared but defence and prosecution counsel couldn’t resolve some secondary issues and a new date was set for April 4, 2016 at 9:45 am. During the session Crown Prosecutor Rodney G. Garson, a special Crown Prosecutor out of the Prosecution Support Unit within the Crown Law Division of the Ministry of Justice stated to presiding S.C. Justice Williams that he felt setting a date for the Charter challenge to be heard by June of 2016 might be somewhat optimistic on my counsel’s part as because Crown has to go through the data on the Expert Witnesses that Defense will be calling. So chances are that the hearing may not occur until late June or even beyond that point in time. In the interim period leading up to that challenge I remain free to publish and carry on with soliciting for funding in order to persevere in my efforts to have this unconstitutional section of Canada’s Criminal Code repealed.
The next crucial step demands additional funding to defray the cost of paying an expert witness to appear (via video) at the planned Constitutional challenge. I must raise an additional $2,000.00 U.S. funds in order for this to happen. This translates into approximately $2,600.00 Canadian. There is also the possibility of a second witness being called but at this time I’m not able to confirm this as fact.
Should the challenge to Sec. 319(2) fail then the next step will be an appeal of the guilty verdict in Count 1.
I continue to have the support of the Ontario Civil Liberties Association. Please see here Ontario Civil Liberties Association and here http://ocla.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/2014-09-24-Letter-OCLA-to-AG-of-BC.pdf and here OCLA writes to Attorney General Anton on September 24, 2014
For the most recent account of the proceedings regarding the trial and future plans to undertake a Constitutional challenge please go here:
Regina v Radical Press Legal Update # 25 December 4th, 2015
I NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE STILL IN ORDER TO WIN THIS CASE. The purchasing of the court transcripts of the trial and now carrying on with the Constitutional challenge to the legislation require me to ask for further financial support in order to win this battle to protect Canada’s Constitutional Rights and Freedoms as contained in theCharter.
Please try to donate online using this GoGetFunding site but if you are unable to do so then try helping out by sending either cash, a cheque or a Money Order to the following postal address. Please make sure that all cheques or Money Orders are made out to – Arthur Topham – and sent to:
Arthur Topham
4633 Barkerville Highway
Quesnel, B.C.
V2J 6T8
Thank You so much!
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