The Crown has stayed 49 charges against seven Freedom Convoy participants, said the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) in a Friday press release. .The release said the Crown stayed the charges in the last two weeks due to a lack of evidence. .The protestors were charged with mischief, mischief to property, disobeying a lawful order, and obstruction of a peace officer. They maintained their innocence and said freedom of peaceful assembly is essential in a healthy democracy. .The JCCF retained Ottawa lawyers Monick Grenier and Diane Magas to represent its clients. No criminal charges were laid for weeks against protestors in Ottawa. .The Canadian government declared a public order emergency by invoking the Emergencies Act in February, but was revoked soon after. The declaration led to police officers cracking down on peaceful protestors. .One of the clients who had charges stayed was Canadian Armed Forces veteran Rob McGown. McGown was guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier when police officers arrived to disperse the protestors nearby, and he was arrested. .Another client who saw his charges dropped was Virden, MB, flow line technician Michael Flannery. Flannery said he was out protesting because he saw the divisiveness of COVID-19 vaccine mandates and was concerned about where Canada was heading. .The release said a key piece of missing evidence was the arresting officer’s notes, which the Crown failed to obtain for all charges related to the seven protestors. .Without the notes, the JCCF said the Crown could not prove it had grounds for arrest or a reasonable chance of conviction. It could not obtain the identity of the arresting officer or provide details of what happened with one protestor. .This announcement comes after the Democracy Fund (TDF) said Monday it succeeded in having multiple charges suspended for a Freedom Convoy protestor who faced up to 45 days in jail if convicted. .READ MORE: Charges stayed for Freedom Convoy supporter facing jail time.“TDF recognized that he had a strong case,” said TDF lawyer Adam Blake-Gallipeau. .“As with all our clients, we compelled the Crown to meet its onus."
