Party leader argues his rights being infringed
Claiming a lack of jurisdiction by the Crown and a breach of his religious freedoms, the federal leader of the far-right Canadian Nationalist Party argued before a judge his detention is unlawful.
Referring to himself, as he has in the past, in the third and often plural person, Travis Patron argued Tuesday before Queen's Bench Justice Neil Robertson “the current detention is arbitrary and unlawful and therefore the accused must be released from custody without delay.
“We have reason to believe that Her Majesty the Queen does not have personal jurisdiction over the accused required to proceed on these matters,” he continued, arguing the Crown was wrong in claiming a reverse onus at a bail hearing earlier this year which Patron lost.
In many circumstances, the onus at bail hearings falls on the Crown to prove why an accused should be held in custody. In cases of reverse onus, it's up to the accused to prove why he or she should be released.
During a number of recent appearances at Regina provincial court, 30-year-old Patron has alleged his rights are being infringed and that his charges and detention in custody are without merit.
On Tuesday, having taken his fight to the Regina Court of Queen's Bench, he made his arguments as to why he believes he is being unlawfully detained — filed through what's termed a writ of habeas corpus.
Additionally, the self-represented Patron argued he was wrongly prevented from advocating for himself during the most recent federal election as well as in court, the latter because he didn't hold a licence from the Law Society of Saskatchewan.
He argued a Biblical passage bestows on him the religious freedom “to allow us to proceed with or without a licence.”
“We do believe that the religious liberty of the accused to advocate for themselves within the court of law and within the electoral system has been neglected,” Patron argued. “We believe that provides grounds of forfeiture of personal jurisdiction.”
Religious freedom also played into what he called an “affirmative defence” to the charges against him, stating an alleged break-in to the Redvers Legion was “at the direction of God who is the competent authority of the realm.” Robertson reserved his decision. As outlined by the Crown on Tuesday, Patron faces a swath of charges: two assaults causing bodily harm against women in Regina; a hate crime allegation relating to online posts; mischief and break and enter springing from incidents involving the Redvers Legion; mischief and obstruction in relation to an incident at the Legislature; and various breaches.
Patron was previously ordered to undergo a mental health assessment, but the report was returned last month having found no treatment was necessary.