anti-mask leader charged with harassing lawyers seeks bail
mario roy is alleged to have led at least two anti-mask protests. he is also charged with harassing and intimidating lawyers.
may 9 2021
2 minute read
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by: paul cherry
a man who has acted as a leader of anti-mask protests and made serious allegations levelled at the provincial government in the past will get a second chance at bail later this month.
mario roy, 49, of wickham, was arrested and detained in march after a series of criminal charges were filed against him.
his problems began in february when a montreal police investigation generated charges accusing him of criminal harassment and intimidation of two lawyers. he was released after agreeing to not make reference to the lawyers on social media while his case was pending.
in march, he was arrested by the montreal police and charged with harassing one of the two lawyers — to the point that she feared for her safety — and with intimidating “a justice system participant in order to impede him or her in the performance of his or her duties.”
the lawyer represents the quebec bar association and was involved in a series of civil cases that date back to 2017, in which roy was accused of pretending to be a lawyer when he is not a member of the barreau du québec. among the allegations roy faced in the civil cases was a claim he was defending children from quebec’s youth protection system, which he alleged was a kidnapping network. he was found guilty of being in contempt of court on march 25.
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he is also alleged to have led two anti-mask protests held in montreal and longueuil in recent months.
near the end of march, roy asked to have a bail hearing as soon as possible. he told a judge he is a member of an orchard in wickham, a town near drummondville, and that if he wasn’t released soon he would lose $25,000 worth of ice cider.
on march 30, a quebec court judge refused to grant roy bail after determining he represents a threat to public safety.
on friday, roy appeared before superior court justice catherine perreault where he requested that the higher court review his request for bail.
as part of his written request, roy pledged to “deactivate all of his social media accounts and, obviously, not open any others.” he also promised to not communicate with the two lawyers he is charged with harassing.
roy complained when perreault informed him he will have to wait until may 25 for the hearing.
“i find may 25 is extremely far away. this is urgent,” roy said while repeating his claim that he needs to be released immediately because this is a crucial moment in the process of making ice cider.
roy interrupted the judge often while claiming that “all of my cases were dealt with” and that the plan was for him to be released on may 18. but, roy said, his plea bargain fell apart because the crown keeps assigning a new prosecutor to his cases.
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his lawyer, clemente monterosso, clarified that, while the possibility of settling his cases was discussed, no agreement was reached.
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