Blocking of the L.-H.-La Fontaine tunnel: three Farfadaas found guilty
Mario Roy, described as the instigator of the blocking of the tunnel, was found guilty of mischief and conspiracy. (File photo)
Three members of the Farfadaas group were convicted of mischief and conspiracy following the blocking of the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel in March 2021 .
The former leader of the identity group La Meute and current leader of the Farfadaas, Steeve L'Artiss Charland, his wife Karol La Louv Tardif and Mario Roy have been convicted on all counts.
Judged as the instigator of the blockage, Mario Roy, an anti-mask leader who no longer describes himself as such, had already blocked the tunnel on December 20, 2020.
Mr. Roy will appeal his case, he said as he left the courtroom.
He now faces a prison sentence of up to two years less a day, suggested Crown counsel Martin Bourgeois. The judge seemed to rule out the possibility of a prison sentence for Steeve Charland and Karol Tardif.
Me Bourgeois pointed out that the verdict took into account the dangerousness [of blocking ] a bridge-tunnel from which no one can exit.
The lawyer referred to the testimony of motorists caught in the tunnel and the impact it had on people to feel in an enclosed place, in the dark, taken without knowing what was going on . When you do the analysis, I think this is an important element.
On the evening of March 13, 2021, anti-mask activists stopped their vehicles in the middle of the tunnel Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine, blocking the three northbound lanes.
One of the vehicles had played the song Coupe le cable, by Steeve L&# x27;Artiss Charland, which has somehow become the anthem of the Farfadaas during the pandemic.
In the face of this bang, an impatient motorist got out of his vehicle armed with a hammer and smashed the lights of vehicles that were blocking traffic. The scene was filmed and posted on social media.
The co-defendant criticized media coverage of the blockage, arguing that it was not a protest against health measures, but an opposition to police brutality: We demonstrated, for me it is a right legal, and I don't regret at all having demonstrated to denounce police brutality.
It was not to make the population sweat, he assures us, but to “exposing the realities of what was happening.
A necessary evil, Mr. Roy argued, but one that has not received the same reception as other blocks.
“There have been demonstrations in the past […] nurses who blocked the Jacques-Cartier bridge and the Quebec bridge simultaneously, and there were no charges. Why would the rest of us have had [accusations]? ”
—Mario Roy, co-accused
Asked whether he intends to organize a new blockade, Mr. Roy said that if necessary [.. .] it's sure to happen again, differently, but much bigger.
At the opening of the trial, at the beginning of January, one of the defendants, the x27;ex-Farfadaa André Desfossés, had pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of mischief. Following this response, the Crown withdrew the conspiracy charge against him.
Another co-accused, Tommy Rioux, was acquitted during the trial. The last member of the Farfadaas present during the blockade is Michel Jr Deshaies, who died in the summer of 2022.
The next appearance will be on April 19.
With information from Elyse Allard
