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Toronto pair charged over G20 protest forced to wait for bail decision
By Linda Nguyen
TORONTO — Two people alleged to be key organizers in an anarchist group held responsible for some of the violent action during last month’s G20 Summit will have to wait another three weeks to find out whether their bail will be revoked.
Toronto resident Alex Hundert, 30, and his girlfriend, Leah Henderson, 25, appeared at Ontario Superior Court in Toronto Friday for a bail review. They were accompanied by their parents and a dozen other supporters. Each of the accused has been out on $100,000 bail since July 19.
The two agreed to strict bail conditions, including house arrest, appearing in public only with their sureties, and not taking part in organizing or attending any public demonstrations. The couple also agreed to not make any posts on the Internet.
The Crown has filed a request to argue that bail should not have been granted because of a number of “errors” in the application.
Due to insufficient documentation available Friday, the review was delayed until Aug. 19.
More than 1,000 people were arrested during the week of the G8 and G20 summits of world leaders held in Huntsville, Ont., and Toronto from June 25 to June 27. While most protesters were peaceful, a small group of people torched police cruisers, looted businesses and caused extensive property damage in Toronto.
Hundert and Henderson were arrested on July 26, following a 14-month police investigation into the southern Ontario Anarchist Resistance, a group in which the two are believed to be key members.
The couple faces nine offences, including conspiracy to commit mischief, conspiracy to assault a peace officer and counselling to commit rescue of someone from custody.
Outside the courthouse, Hundert said an Ontario Provincial Police officer called his father Wednesday to warn him that his son was close to violating bail for a number of recent TV and newspaper interviews.
“They said my parents should interpret my bail conditions as not speaking with the media,” he said, adding they were told “they should pressure us into not speaking publicly.”
The move has resulted in Hundert and Henderson second-guessing whether to continue sharing their story.
“The police told my father that any statement that is critical of the government or the police could be interpreted as public protest and therefore constitute a breach,” he said. “This is both malicious and preposterous. Talking to the media about public dissent is not contrary to bail conditions . . .”
Hundert’s lawyer, John Norris, called the police interpretation of the already stringent bail conditions “far broader” than what the judge initially had agreed to.
“There’s a real chilling effect when you get that sort of warning from the police,” said Norris.
The OPP say it did make phone calls this week as a “fair warning” to Henderson and Hundert regarding their bail conditions but deny that the possible breach had anything to do the couple speaking with the media.
Source: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Toronto+pair+charged+over+protest+forced+wait+bail+decision/3342627/story.html