(Longueuil) A former Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) police officer accused of helping China commit foreign interference is asking the Court of Quebec to quash the indictment against him, because he had was filed in the wrong province.
William Majcher’s lawyer argued Monday at the Longueuil courthouse that the charges should have been filed in British Columbia or Ontario, where the offenses were allegedly committed. Me Louis Belleau, the Montreal lawyer who represents Mr. Majcher, argued Monday by videoconference that “nothing links this case to Longueuil.”
If the request for annulment is granted by the court, this would put an end to the Quebec proceedings.
Mr. Majcher, aged 61, is charged with conspiracy and committing preparatory acts on behalf of a foreign entity, under the Information Protection Act.
Authorities allege that Mr. Majcher, a resident of Hong Kong, used his network of Canadian contacts to obtain information or services that would have benefited the People’s Republic of China.
According to the indictment, he committed the alleged crimes in Vancouver, Toronto, Hong Kong and other unspecified locations in Canada, China and “elsewhere around the world.”
His lawyer assures that he is not requesting a stay of proceedings or any other type of order that would put an end to the prosecution: he only maintains that a prosecution must be initiated in a jurisdiction having a specific link with the crime, misdemeanor or the offender.
“The Crown will remain free to lay a charge where we believe it should have been laid in the first place,” he said Monday.
Me Belleau told the court that the defense had asked the Crown to stay the case in Quebec and charge Mr. Majcher in British Columbia, but prosecutors allegedly rejected that request, he said.
The Crown, for its part, affirms that the causes involving the Information Protection Act can be heard by a court in any province.
Mr. Majcher was employed by the RCMP from 1985 to 2007. He then worked in the investment banking sector in Hong Kong with EMIDR, which he co-founded. He then offered his expertise in money laundering and financial crime risks.
It was the Quebec branch of the RCMP’s Integrated National Security Teams that began investigating Mr. Majcher in the fall of 2021, and it was federal prosecutors in Quebec who put together the legal case against him.
“Our claim is that the Information Protection Act gives the judges of Quebec territorial jurisdiction over all of Canada, just as it gives the judges of Ontario jurisdiction over all of Canada or gives the judges of British Columbia jurisdiction over all of Canada,” prosecutor Philippe Legault told journalists Monday outside the courtroom in Longueuil.
Mr. Majcher was arrested in Vancouver in July 2023 and then released on bail by a judge in Longueuil. His lawyer has already indicated that Mr. Majcher intends to plead not guilty to both charges.
In an interview with CTV last month, Mr. Majcher said he was a “patriot” and not a “traitor” and was prepared to contest the charges.
Judge Sacha Blais of the Court of Quebec is expected to rule on Mr. Majcher’s motion next month, before the start of the trial scheduled for October.