Achi news desk-
LETHBRIDGE, Alta. –
The Crown prosecutor prosecuting three men charged with mischief in the border standoff in Coutts, Alta., told jurors Tuesday that they did not have to decide that the accused are leading in the protest in order to find them guilty.
Steven Johnston said if jurors are satisfied the three clearly supported the siege, they should be convicted of mischief over $5,000.
“The right to protest does not allow you to lay siege to a property for two weeks. It was not their way to close,” Johnston told the panel at the Court of King’s Bench.
“One act, one statement of encouragement can be enough to convict him.
“The Crown does not have to prove that these men were the leaders.”
Johnston made the comment during closing arguments in the trial of Alex Van Herk, Marco Van Huigenbos, and Gerhard Janzen in Lethbridge, Alta.
The Crown said evidence showed the accused were key players and became the faces of the blockade that tied up traffic at the Canada-US border crossing at Coutts for two weeks in early 2022 in protest of the rules and restrictions of COVID-19.
Johnston said the accused clearly supported the siege. He told jurors that the three spoke on behalf of protesters, and that the evidence “should leave you in no doubt that these men are guilty.”
“They use the words, ‘We – Coutts convoy,'” Johnston said.
“They are not just messengers. They use the words, ‘Ni, ein a ni.'”
Defense lawyers called no evidence during the trial, and the accused did not testify.
However, when cross-examining witnesses, the defense argued that the trio were innocent because the demonstration included a number of strong-willed protesters who did not always agree publicly and sometimes split up during the protest.
Defense lawyer Ryan Durran told jurors that his client, Van Huigenbos, was not a ringleader but was turned into a courier by the RCMP.
“Marco comes as a switchboard operator connecting calls,” Durran said.
“Marco was there to convey a message. He stumbled into a role where he was a spokesperson. Marco gave the RCMP the news of the day.”
Durran said Van Huigenbos was part of a group that failed to end the siege.
“So much for leadership. He didn’t start it. He didn’t control it, and it didn’t stop. But he carried the message.”
Durran said the three accused cannot be blamed for the actions of a “horde of protesters.”
The Crown called a handful of witnesses during the trial, including Mounties who were at the scene and former mayor of Coutts, Jim Willett.
The officers testified that, as the protest progressed, the leadership coalesced around the three accused, and that the RCMP increasingly turned to them to discuss.
Sergeant. Greg Tulloch told the court last week that he was working to establish a dialogue with the protesters and had identified Van Huigenbos as the main contact.
Tulloch said he considered Van Huigenbos to be at the center of the protest’s inner circle, followed by Janzen and, to a lesser extent, Van Herk.
The defense pointed to a video from the protesters’ gathering place, Smuggler’s Saloon, where Van Herk can be heard asking for a vote to try to get everyone to leave but is met with resistance.
“I don’t care, let them come,” said one man on the video.
“The only way I’m leaving is in a (police) cruiser,” said another.
Willett was asked during cross-examination if any one group was in charge of the protest.
“It was a bunch of people I didn’t know, driving a bunch of vehicles, who were upset. That’s the impression I got,” said Willett.
This report was first published by The Canadian Press on April 16, 2024.
