Lawyer joins client in breezeway sit-in
Man fighting city tickets for causing an obstruction by panhandling
Alocal defence lawyer is protesting the treatment of his client at the hands of city bylaw enforcement officers by sitting alongside him in a downtown Penticton breezeway.
“Apparently this is all it takes right now to get bylaw notices, is to sit,” Paul Varga said Tuesday while seated on a piece of cardboard next to Paul Braun.
Braun is facing eight counts of contravening municipal bylaws by causing an obstruction by panhandling in a spot near the breezeway in the 200 block of Main Street.
Varga is inviting the public to show their support for Braun by coming to sit with them for an hour at noon next Tuesday.
The lawyer said the last time bylaw officers ticketed his client, Braun was simply eating a bowl of soup.
“There was no sign, no hat, nothing disclosed to us to say he was actually panhandling at the time. He was just eating a bowl of soup,” Varga said.
“So now it seems they are trying to chase him out of here just for being here. Unless the city has suspended the Charter (of Rights and Freedoms) and decided people can’t congregate where they want to on a public street, then they would have to explain why they are ticketing him”
Varga is also inviting Mayor Andrew Jakubeit to the next protest to “learn what life is like on the streets” for his constituents.
Braun is due back in court on Thursday to set a date for a two-day trial.