Released Coutts protester describes terrible conditions of Chris Carbert's and Anthony Olienick's incarceration

Tuesday's pre-trial proceedings for Chris Carbert and Anthony Olienick – the two remaining defendants of the Coutts 4 – in Lethbridge, AB, remain subject to a publication ban set to expire by the time the jury is selected.

Both Carbert and Olienick are being charged with conspiring to murder, specifically targeting RCMP officers. They are also charged with weapons offences and mischief.

The charges against the two relate to their involvement with the Coutts protest and blockade of 2022, a demonstration linked to the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa, ON via shared opposition to government edicts, orders, and mandates marketed as "public health" measures in response to COVID-19.

The Coutts protest slowed traffic across the Canada-U.S. border at the Coutts-Sweetgrass border crossing linking Alberta and Montana.

Chris Lysak and Jerry Morin, the two other men of the Coutts 4, accepted plea deals to lesser charges after initially being charged with involvement in the alleged conspiracy to commit murder.

James Sowery, a Coutts protester supportive of the defendants, told Rebel News about the conditions in the Lethbridge Correctional Centre (LCC), where Carbert and Olienick are currently being held in custody.

Sowery spent 45 days imprisoned in the LCC following his conviction of dangerous driving and and assault charges related to his involvement with the Coutts protest.

He described the food as mostly processed and cold, primarily reheated frozen meals low in quality protein. The poor nutrition, he said, degraded the physical welfare of inmates.

After 45 days of the LCC's low-quality food and lack of access to exercise, Sowery added, his body composition degraded and he lost muscle mass.

Carbert and Olienick have been held in LCC for nearly 800 days. Sowery said the physical changes to both defendants is visible.

Sowery noted that the LCC holds prisoners convicted of murder, assault, armed robbery, and other violent crimes.

Dozens of Carbert's and Olienick's supporters have been visiting the Lethbridge courthouse and attending proceedings. Several of them told Rebel News that part of their affinity for the defendants lies in shared opposition to coercive government mandates built upon a pretext of "public health".