Two men are accused of disclosure the identity of Harold Lebel’s victim, Catherine Fournier, during the former MP’s sexual assault trial Rimouski, a year ago. This is the first time in the country that charges have been brought for violating a publication ban imposed by MrMe Fournier.
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The two men will appear at the Rimouski Courthouse this Monday, November 20th. The Crown accuses them of sharing the complainant’s name or other identifying details on the social network X (formerly Twitter) during the trial in November 2022.
However, a publication ban protected the identity of the current mayor of Longueuil. It was therefore forbidden to publish or distribute information that would enable his identity to be established.
“Catherine Fournier was afraid to file a complaint, but she was not afraid to lie in bed with Harold Lebel,” commented one of the two defendants, 62, on November 9, 2022, on the social network X.
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“Everyone knows she is a former MP and now mayor of the South Shore of Montreal…” wrote the second defendant, a 43-year-old man who was then posting on X with an anonymous profile, Satan Poitras.
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If the identity of the complainant is known today, it is because after the trial Catherine Fournier decided to lift the publication ban. She wanted to do useful work by sharing her story.
This cancellation also coincided with the release of the documentary Témoin CF, produced by the Quebecor investigative agency and available on the Vrai platform.
“It’s a good message to the victims”
This is the first time in Canada that Section 486.6 of the Criminal Code has been invoked in a prosecution for breach of a publication ban order. So this is the first time that people have been accused for this reason.
The two defendants face a maximum fine of $5,000 and a maximum prison sentence of two years less per day.
“It is sure that it sends a good message to the victims,” reacted Catherine Fournier in an interview with 24 Heures. Unfortunately, my story made it clear that orders were not always followed and that this can have significant consequences. I wanted to testify about this, but it is certain that it could have unfairly undermined the trust of certain victims.
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The mayor of Longueuil notes that there is a “collective awareness” of the importance of respecting these orders in order to protect victims and encourage them to file complaints.
The elected official believes that the authorities have also recognized how important it is to enforce the law. She hopes that in future the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP) will ensure that publication ban orders are communicated from the moment of an arrest or charge.
Mea culpa from the DPCP?
Remember that on the day of Harold LeBel’s arrest, December 15, 2020, the publication ban intended to protect the identity of Catherine Fournier had already been breached. Columnist Stéphane Bédard revealed Ms. Fournier’s name on television.
• Also read: Catherine Fournier denounces the comments of two radio presenters who trivialized her attack
Despite the intervention of the DPCP at the end of the day, the damage was done. The entire political and media class now knew his identity.
“I felt betrayed by everyone,” Ms. Fournier said in the documentary Témoin CF
How does a publication order work?
- If you are a victim of a crime, you have the right to request that a publication ban protect your identity. It is issued by a judge and is valid throughout the trial, but also after the accused person has admitted guilt or at the end of the trial if he or she pleads not guilty.
- The order prohibits any person, including those who request it, from disseminating and publishing the victim’s name and any information that allows his or her identification (physical description, employment, address, hobbies practiced, etc.).
- This applies to the media, witnesses, the accused person, their lawyer and the general population.
- The order prohibits the publication and dissemination of information that could identify the victim, regardless of the means of communication in which this information is mentioned (social networks, news sites or applications, newspapers, magazines, television or radio shows, books, posters, black). Boards). , etc.).
- In order for a publication ban to be ordered in a file, you must ask the judge directly or express this wish to the public prosecutor, who will submit the request to the judge on your behalf.
- In the case of a trial for sexual violence or if the victim is under 18 years old, the judge must impose a publication ban. It is imposed automatically if the crime was committed by a teenager between the ages of 12 and 17 or if the victim is the subject of a document (photo, video, written document, etc.) that constitutes child pornography.
- If a person fails to comply with the order, he or she is violating the law and may be fined up to $5,000 and/or imprisoned for up to 2 years less per day.