Court of Appeal upholds SQ seizure of journalist’s laptop
The Quebec Court of Appeal has refused to quash a search warrant that allowed police to seize the computer of Journal de Montréal reporter Michaël Nguyen.
In rejecting the Journal de Montréal’s appeal, three appeal court judges ruled Wednesday that the Sûreté du Québec had provided sufficient evidence to believe that an offence might have taken place and that the computer might contain evidence thereof.
The ruling supported the Superior Court decision to also refuse the cancel of the warrant. The warrant, approved by Justice Nicole Martin in September 2016, followed a complaint by the Judicial Council that Nguyen, who has not been charged, had illegally accessed confidential documents from its website.
The council apparently sought the source of information used in a report on by Nguyen about Justice Suzanne Vadboncoeur’s conduct toward special constables at the Palais de justice after a Christmas party in December 2015. Vadboncoeur was later the subject of a complaint to the council.
Journal de Montréal news editor George Kalogerakis maintained that Nguyen had not broken any laws, but rather was simply doing his job, reporting on a subject of public interest. The Fédération professionnelle des journalistes du Québec (FPJQ) has denounced the appeal court decision and urged the SQ not to inspect the contents of the computer, and to return it immediately to Nguyen.