A charge against a Toronto man accused of flying what police called a “terrorist flag” at a pro-Palestinian demonstration earlier this year has been withdrawn.
A 41-year-old man was charged with publicly inciting hatred after marching down Queen Street W. and Bay Street on Jan. 7, allegedly waving the flag of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The organization is listed as a terrorist group by Public Safety Canada, which says it seeks “the destruction of the State of Israel and the establishment of a communist government in Palestine.”
Martínez says the force’s case hinged on the flag belonging to a group listed by the federal government as a terrorist group, which in and of itself isn’t enough evidence for a conviction.
“It shows that the police acted not on a legal basis but on a political basis,” he told CBC Toronto.
And there you have it. Abuse of the hate speech laws is no longer an academic concern. Many of us warned that this would be the outcome. Now it has come to pass.
How was this abuse of the hate speech law?
The cops arrested him without following the law.
Nuance is important, alot of people prefer black and white.
And I’d think it would only be an abuse if the government was willing to convict. Cause pigs gonna pig.
Using a law to justify arrests knowing full well they won’t hold up as a way to intimate and suppress a protest is absolutely abuse, regardless if it results in a conviction. Almost moreso.
There is a difference between having an arrest or charges dropped and the police not following the law. By this logic OJ was illegally arrested because he was found innocent of the criminal charges.