The Quebec Court of Appeal has ordered that the former president of the executive committee of the City of Montreal stand trial for corruption.
The three-judge panel concluded that a lower court judge erred when she stayed charges against Frank Zampino in 2019 after determining that police wiretaps violated his constitutional rights.
The appeals court said in its ruling that the wiretaps – which captured conversations with lawyers – violated Mr. Zampino’s rights, but that the violations were not serious enough to warrant a stay of proceedings.
Rather, it states that evidence collected through wiretaps cannot be used during the trial.
The accusations against Gérald Tremblay’s former right-hand man, who served as mayor from 2001 to 2012, allege that municipal contracts were awarded in exchange for political donations.
The Court of Appeal declared that several other people targeted during the same police operation, whose charges were also suspended, will also have to stand trial.
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