One of the five co-defendants in the trial of the group of opponents of health measures the Farfadaas, prosecuted for mischief and conspiracy for having blocked the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine bridge-tunnel in March 2021, pleaded guilty Monday morning to reduced charges. The other four co-accused, who represent themselves without a lawyer, are trying to obtain a verdict of not guilty.
The trial opened against a backdrop of tensions within the militant group. Several influential members left its ranks in the fall, denouncing the control exercised by the “core”, a restricted council of 12 people who make decisions concerning the finances and activities of the Farfadaas.
None of the defendants (Steeve Charland, Karol Tardif, Mario Roy, Tommy Rioux and André Desfossés) wore their Farfadaas leather jacket bearing a “Fuck Legault” logo in court – a symbol proudly displayed by members throughout the health crisis and even by the co-defendants during their first appearances.
André Desfossés, who has publicly distanced himself from the Farfadaas and who is in open conflict on social networks with its leader Steeve Charland, pleaded guilty to the charge of mischief at the start of the trial. “I just want to move on,” the 59-year-old said. The conspiracy charge was dropped with conditions. Mr. Desfossés will know his sentence on April 26.
In the halls of the courthouse, the co-defendant Mario Roy criticized Mr. Desfossés for having “strayed” in the face of justice. “Not only is he a traitor to me, but he’s also a pas-de-boules,” he said.
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Mario Roy
“When we are waiting for a trial because we have claims to make, we have to follow through with our claims,” he said.
Mr. Roy and the three other co-defendants, Steeve Charland, Karol Tardif, and Tommy Rioux, chose to represent themselves without a lawyer. Judge Jean-Jacques Gagné explained to them at length the rules of trial law. “The proof is not very complex,” he told them.
The Crown began showing videos taken in the tunnel during the events. It shows five or six vehicles slowing down in a coordinated manner on the three lanes of the bridge-tunnel to completely block traffic for just under five minutes. We hear Mario Roy announcing a demonstration “in tribute to the victims of today’s police brutality”. One of the vehicles plays the song Cut the cable by Steeve Charland, which became the anti-government anthem of the Farfadaas during the pandemic, while others shout “Fuck you Legault” under a concert of horns.
Vanessa Morency-Lafortune, a user of the bridge-tunnel who was returning from a visit to her parents, came to testify to the incident, during which she found herself stuck just behind the vehicles which blocked the tracks. ” I was scared. We didn’t know what was going on. We were stuck in the tunnel, with no exit door. We didn’t know if the guys in front of us were armed. Of course I was scared, ”she testified.
“I just wanted to get out of there. »
The blockage of the road link came to an abrupt end when a man armed with a hammer, presumably frustrated at being stuck at the rear of the convoy, stormed in on foot and proceeded to bang on the headlights of the vehicles who blocked the way.
The co-defendants sought to demonstrate that it was the action of this man with the hammer that aroused the most fear in the witness. “The man with the hammer accentuated my fear”, testified Mme Morency-Lafortune.
The trial continues Monday afternoon. The Farfadaas had initially indicated that they would need around twenty days of trial, in particular to have around thirty witnesses testify. The Crown believes that two days of trial will be sufficient.