Lawyers representing Chris Barber and Tamara Lich, two organizers of the Freedom Convoy, began presenting their defense evidence in an Ottawa court on Monday.
Me Eric Granger, who defends Mme Lich, argued in the morning that there is no direct evidence that links her client to the illegal activities that took place in the city center of the federal capital during the demonstration.
Chris Barber and Tamara Lich are accused in particular of mischief and intimidation for their role in the large-scale demonstration against health measures linked to COVID-19 which paralyzed the Parliament Hill area for a few weeks in the winter 2022.
The Crown concluded its case last Monday after several weeks of testimony on the negative impacts of the demonstration. Prosecutors attempted to demonstrate that the two co-defendants had influence over the protesters’ conduct.
Monday, Me Granger noted that none of the Crown witnesses claimed to have had direct communications with Mr.me Lich.
During the presentation of their evidence, prosecutors also played several hours of videos posted on social networks by M.me Lich and Mr. Barber. These videos were published between the time the demonstration was organized and the arrest of its organizers.
In these videos, the two organizers were identified as leaders of the Freedom Convoy movement and relayed messages to demonstrators.
For its part, Mr. Barber’s camp presented a video in which their client asked the demonstrators to remain peaceful, while respecting the police and residents of Ottawa.
Last Tuesday, the defense filed a motion to argue that Mr.me Lich and Mr. Barber should not be considered co-defendants, since their actions are not criminal.
Judge Heather Perkins-McVey has already warned that she may not decide this issue as early as this week.