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Toronto G20 protest ‘ringleader’ Alex Hundert sentenced to 13.5 months in prison
J.P. Moczulski
Alex Hundert, who police considered a ringleader of destructive G20 protests, has been sentenced to 13 and a half months in prison.
Justice Lloyd Budzinski said the appropriate sentence for his offences is 17 to 18 months. Mr. Hundert has already served 114 days in pre-trial custody.
Mr. Hundert, 31, pleaded guilty in November 2011 to counselling others to commit mischief in the run-up to the 2010 world leaders’ summit. Mr. Hundert was identified by two undercover Ontario Provincial Police officers who infiltrated anarchist groups. He was arrested in a pre-dawn raid on June 26 before rioters using Black Bloc tactics ran amok during the June 25-27 summit causing property damage to storefronts and police cars.
According to an agreed statement of facts that had already been presented in court, Mr. Hundert was accused of creating a “target list” of places for protesters to take direct action against, including banks and political offices. He also trained other protesters to interfere with the arrest process to “de-arrest” people, according to the statement.
Mr. Hundert is one of six people, including Leah Henderson, Amanda Hiscocks, Peter Hopperton, Erik Lankin and Adam Lewis, who pleaded guilty to the same charge in November 2011 as part of a plea bargain. Ms. Hiscocks and Mr. Hundert were also convicted of counselling others to obstruct police. Mr. Hundert is the last one to be sentenced.
Charges against 11 other people were dropped as part of the plea bargain. Ms. Hiscocks, who police said was the other “ringleader” in the case was sentenced in January to 16 months in prison.
Mr. Hundert’s case received a lot of public attention after strict bail conditions were imposed on him and free speech advocates rallied on his behalf. His $100,000 bail in July 2010 prohibited him from participating in public demonstrations. Police arrested him again in September after he spoke at a panel discussion at Ryerson University. He was released again in October with a stricter gag order to not communicate with media. A number of lawyers spoke publicly to criticize the second arrest saying that a panel discussion is not a protest and that his charter rights were being violated.
Police arrested 1,118 citizens during the G20 summit. The charges were either withdrawn or dismissed in more than half the cases, and 330 people were charged with various offences.
Source: http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/06/26/toronto-g20-protest-ringleader-alex-hundert-sentenced-to-13-5-months-in-prison/