Observations on the sentence took place Friday for the leader of the anti-mask movement Mario Roy, found guilty of twice blocking the bridge-tunnel in 2021. To avoid a prison sentence, he called the controversial doctor to the stand Pierre Mailloux, who testified to the psychological consequences that incarceration would have on him.
Mario Roy was put on trial earlier this year for blocking the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine bridge-tunnel for a few minutes, with other people including members of the anti-sanitary measures group Farfadaas.
After blocking the tunnel the first time in January 2021, Mario Roy did it again on March 13, 2021 with members of Farfadaas. Together, they participated in a major demonstration in Montreal to denounce the health measures imposed to counter the spread of COVID-19.
At trial, he testified that he witnessed police brutality that day. He claims to have then spontaneously decided to block the tunnel that connects Montreal to the South Shore to make a “stunt” and denounce the police.
Judge Jean-Jacques Gagné, of the Court of Quebec, convicted Mario Roy earlier this year of mischief and conspiracy, as did two other participants, Steeve Charland and Karol Tardif.
The Crown prosecutor, Mr.e Martin Bourgeois, demanded six months in prison for Mario Roy.
The 52-year-old man proposes a “suspended sentence”, that is to say that if the judge accepts, he will not impose a sentence immediately but if the offender does not respect his probation conditions, he could send him to prison.
He testified Friday that a stay behind bars will break him: “If I go to prison, I don’t know how I’m going to get out. »
Doctor Mailloux, a psychiatrist dismissed seven times for short periods over the years, testified that during his period of preventive incarceration of 121 days in another case, Mario Roy suffered numerous after-effects, including “a change of personality.” Given his psychological distress, he even tried to end his life, said the Dr Mailloux.
“When he got out of prison, he was no longer the same” and he withdrew socially.
Me Bourgeois insists on a firm prison sentence: Mario Roy was the instigator of blocking the bridge. The objectives of denunciation of the offense and deterrence must take precedence, he argued to Judge Gagné.
“When we are an instigator, we must assume the consequences of our actions. »
In addition, the man has several criminal records, he argued: these sentences did not seem to have been a deterrent, without forgetting that he did not always respect his probation conditions.
Judge Gagné must render his decision on November 29.
Steeve Charland and Karol Tardif got away with 120 hours of community service each, as well as one year’s probation.