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Ontario Judge Upholds Publication Ban on Bail Hearings for Terror Suspects

Posted on: Thursday, 27 July 2006, 21:00 CDT

By MATTHEW CHUNG

TORONTO (CP) - Media outlets on both sides of the border expressed disappointment Thursday after an Ontario judge upheld a sweeping publication ban on evidence at bail hearings for 17 people accused of plotting terrorist attacks on Canadian soil.

In an 80-page decision, Superior Court Justice Bruce Durno said the ban should be kept in place in order to preserve the right of the suspects to a fair trial. Tony Wong, who represents the CBC, the Toronto Star, The Associated Press and the New York Times, had asked the court to lift the ban, imposed last month by a justice of the peace, to satisfy the public's right to hear the allegations.

He said the public has the right to know why some of the suspects have been freed on bail.

"We're in a situation now where three of the accused, who the RCMP told us were a clear and imminent threat to the public, have been released into the public," Wong said.

"And because of the publication ban we don't know the reason why this happened or what evidence was filed at the bail hearing."

The media organizations plan to examine the decision and consider their options, Wong added.

Paul Schneidereit, president of the Canadian Association of Journalists, said he had not yet read the ruling, but was disappointed that it didn't favour the media.

"We feel that these publication bans are granted too freely and too often," Schneidereit said.

"It's disappointing that in yet another case the public is being completely shut out of knowledge of a trial and a court proceeding that is of immense importance to a nation."

Twelve men and five youths were arrested June 2 and charged with participating in a terrorist group and other terrorist-related offences.

At a court appearance in June, a lawyer for one of the accsued disclosed additional details outside the court, including that the group had at one point contemplated storming the Parliament buildings in Ottawa and taking MPs hostage.

Seven of the suspects face an additional charge of attempting to acquire three times the amount of explosives responsible for the devastating Oklahoma City bombing, and plotting to bomb several targets in Ontario.

Some defence lawyers had argued the publication ban should apply only to the one accused who wanted it in place.

Lawyer Rocco Galati, whose client Ahmad Ghany became the first adult suspect to be granted bail last Thursday, had argued before Durno earlier this month that the ban "swept aside" the rights of his client and the other suspects.

"What happens to my client's Charter rights? They're forfeited because one of the co-accused says so?" It's irrational," Galati told court at the time.

But in his decision, Durno agreed with the decision to place a ban on each hearing.

"Where one or more persons are charged in the same information and one accused seeks a . . . publication ban, it applies to evidence, information, representations and reasons, at the (bail) hearings of all accused," Durno wrote.

Defence lawyer David Kolinsky said Durno's decision was the right one, adding the accused should not be tried through the media.

"These things should not be tried in the press; it's not the correct forum and it's not going to really help either the Crown or the defence," Kolinsky said.

"I think it's in everyone's interest that these things be tried properly in court according to the proper rules of evidence."

Source: Canadian Press

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