National Post (National Edition)
Defence target of anti-semitic slurs
OTTAWA • Defence lawyers for an Ottawa police officer on trial for manslaughter said Tuesday they were the target of intimidation efforts and anti-semitic slurs in the courthouse.
Lawyer Solomon Friedman said he and Michael Edelson “refuse to be intimidated” by two men who Friedman said were waiting on the courthouse main floor as Const. Daniel Montsion and his defence team returned from Tuesday’s lunch recess.
“Hey murderer!” one of the men yelled at Montsion while directing insults toward the defence lawyers, Friedman told the judge.
A police sergeant accompanying Montsion alerted a court constable, who asked the “agitated” men to leave or face arrest.
“You’re a piece of s--- and so are those dirty f---ing Jew lawyers,” one man shouted as he left the building, according to Friedman, his voice rising. “F--- you! You killed a mentally ill man.”
Friedman said officers are attempting to identify both men, and added that at least one of the men was observed in the public gallery for several days of the trial.
Ontario Court Justice Robert Kelly called it “a very disturbing incident” as he ordered increased security in the courthouse.
“Incidents like this can quickly escalate and explode into incidents that raise concerns and risks for public safety,” Kelly said, while denouncing the comments as an affront “to people’s personal security and their dignity.”
Kelly said incidents like the one that played out in the courthouse Tuesday are “capable of having an impact on a person’s right to a fair trial.”
It was the second such reprimand from the judge in these proceedings, which have been attended by a number of supporters of the victim, Abdirahman Abdi, on one side of the courtroom, divided from Montsion’s supporters on the other.
Kelly issued an earlier warning following an emotionally charged day in court last week where video was shown of the aftermath of Abdi’s bloody arrest. A member of the public crossed over into the area reserved for lawyers, court staff and the judge during a break and berated Montsion, saying he should be “ashamed.”
Montsion is on trial for manslaughter, aggravated assault and assault with a weapon in the 2016 arrest of Abdi.
Abdi was pronounced dead one day after the arrest. Montsion has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.