Quebec has a disaster of a 'justice' system
After covering Quebec's extremely strict COVID lockdown, and being repeatedly ticketed while doing so, Yanky Pollak explains what dealing with the province's legal system has been like.
Some might call it a “legal system” instead of a justice system, but on April 4, I spent another day in court fighting two-year-old COVID fines and COVID-related fines.
The first half of the day, I was in provincial court over my curfew tickets where not much was done; three curfew tickets were delayed until November 14 for a full day of trial. The “crime” in question is my work on the street, where I was doing journalism covering Quebec's strict curfew. Five others will have similar trials, where they're seeking to have these charges thrown out over unjustified delays, what's known as a Jordan motion.
Yanky Pollak's lawyer is calling for the Jordan ruling in five of his cases.
— Alexandra Lavoie (@ThevoiceAlexa) April 4, 2023
Some of the tickets for Mister Pollak are older than 18 months.
Remember that @Yanky_Pollak keeps flying back and forth from Florida in order to appear in court.
Let's see what will happen.
After lunch, we went to the municipal court, where I learned the verdict on four tickets I was issued during the curfew. The judge there chose to believe the police officer over my testimony in three of the four cases. The one win I got here was because I was able to prove I had a rental car that did not have a modified exhaust, as the officer was asserting I was loudly revving my engine.
Here is why I got 3 tickets last night!
— Yanky (@Yanky_Pollak) April 25, 2021
It was for asking questions from a @SPVM officer with a big ego.
Mask ticket $1,550.
Walking on the street $49.
Failing to obey $49.
For @RebelNewsOnline in Montreal Quebec. https://t.co/mVEgyLHSEk for more. pic.twitter.com/ryPYQ9YmVr
We are looking into appealing this decision but we haven't decided yet on that.
The Verdict of @Yanky_Pollak :
— Alexandra Lavoie (@ThevoiceAlexa) April 4, 2023
Jaywalking: Guilty
Jaywalking: Guilty
Failing to obey: Guilty
Revolving the engine: Acquit
After that, I had a final trial for improper cellphone use, a ticket I got after being stopped by a police officer and filming him.
In this case, my argument was that the cop told me to stop, and that was a lawful order so I had to stop. Since I was told to stop, it was a legal place to stop for me. So I was allowed to use my phone in this instance.
While the prosecutor tried arguing that isn't the case, the judge said “Not guilty” and explained why I was right to film the officer, noting that he understands police don't like to be filmed but that isn't a crime.
VICTORY: The judge finds me NOT guilty in using a cell phone while driving for filming a police officer yelling at me after he told me to stop in the middle of the street! https://t.co/zWbuoiC6Qd
— Yanky (@Yanky_Pollak) April 4, 2023
This two-year-old saga of covering the curfew isn't over. I am proud of the work I did, and would do it all over again if something like this ever happened again — the only difference is I would have more lighting and cameras, maybe.
To the police officers watching this video: you should be ashamed of yourselves for how you acted during the curfew.
I won't be deterred. I am proud of the work I did, and this travelling back and forth, in and out of court, has only made me a stronger fighter for freedom! See you back in court in November!
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