On the morning of April 15, I headed to a Scotiabank branch in downtown Montreal to cover a pro-Palestine protest. Activists chose the location due to the Canadian bank’s investments in Israeli defense company Elbit Systems. I watched as protesters blocked bank ATMs and ATMs and the police were called.
Police officers showed up in riot gear. When it was announced that the activists would be arrested, I did not expect to be included among them.
Despite identifying myself numerous times as a journalist and showing the agents my press card, I was detained along with the 44 activists I covered. It was inside the bank that I was processed and finally released after hours of detention.
I now potentially face criminal charges for doing my job. The mischief charges I face carry a maximum prison sentence of two years and a fine of up to 5,000 Canadian dollars ($3,600). I could also be prevented from leaving the country.
The Canadian police can only suggest charges, so the prosecution has to decide whether to charge me or not. This process alone can take anywhere from a few months to a year.
I am the second journalist to be arrested in Canada while on assignment since the beginning of 2024.
In January, journalist Brandi Morin was arrested and charged with obstruction in the province of Alberta while covering a police raid on a homeless encampment where many of the campers were Indigenous. It took two months of pressure for the police to drop the charges against her.
Over the past few years, a pattern of arrests has emerged, with police specifically targeting journalists working as freelancers or for smaller media outlets. Many of these journalists have covered indigenous-led protests or blockades. They often claim that the media workers they seek “don’t look like journalists”.
Canadian police continue to use detention to silence and intimidate us, despite our right to freedom of expression under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. To specify, in section two of the Charter, the rights of Canadians to freedom of thought, belief and expression are protected. The charter identifies the media as a vital medium for the transmission of thoughts and ideas, protecting the right of journalists and the media to express themselves.
Furthermore, a 2019 decision by a Canadian court reaffirmed the protection of journalists against inclusion in precautionary measures in situations where they are fulfilling their professional duties.
The court ruling was made in the case of journalist Justin Brake, who was arrested in 2016 while documenting protests led by Indigenous land defenders at the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project site in Newfoundland and Labrador. Brake faced criminal charges of mischief and disobeying a court order for following protesters to the scene, as well as civil contempt charges.
Despite Brake’s victory in the court case, journalists were still included in the injunctions. In 2021, another high-profile arrest of two Canadian journalists occurred in Western Canada. Amber Bracken and Michael Toledano were documenting Indigenous land defenders protecting Wet’suwet’en territory near Houston, British Columbia, from construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline when they were arrested.
They were held by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for three days until they were released. In an interview, Toledano said he and Bracken were placed in cells with the lights on 24 hours a day, with minimal food and no access to toothbrushes and soap. “We received punitive treatment in prison,” Toledano explained. They faced civil contempt charges, which were dropped a month later.
Although I was aware of these cases, had reviewed numerous violations of press freedom in Canada over the past few years, and had researched the different ways journalists can be harassed or intimidated, nothing prepared me for the experience. Since I was arrested, I haven’t felt the same sense of security as before. The stress, the feeling that I have one eye on me all the time and waiting to see if charges will be filed, has taken a mental toll on me. This is not only exhausting, but it also distracts me from the very important and essential work I do as a journalist.
However, I also received a lot of support. It was truly heartwarming that Canadian and international journalists rallied behind my support following my arrest. The solidarity of journalists in these cases is crucial. If just one journalist is arrested, it means that none of us are safe and that freedom of the press is not guaranteed.
I know I did nothing wrong and the accusations against me are unfair. Being arrested will not stop me from covering blockades, indigenous-led protests or other demonstrations. However, I am concerned about how my arrest may discourage other journalists from reporting on these issues or working for independent media outlets.
I have been covering pro-Palestinian activism in Montreal for eight years, and more intensely in the last eight months due to the war in Gaza. For years I was one of the few journalists present at these protests and, often, the only one who covered these actions.
The public must see what is happening in these actions, whether they are pro-Palestinian demonstrations opposing Canada’s role in Palestine or indigenous land defenders opposing construction on their territory.
Regardless of your opinion on the matter, the Canadian public has a right to know why their fellow citizens are protesting and whether they face police abuse. The presence of a journalist can sometimes be the only guarantee that the police and institutions will be held accountable in the event of excesses.
However, there is a clear lack of political will among officials to protect journalists and ensure they can carry out their work undisturbed. Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante did not report my arrest or urge the police to drop my charges. Instead, when asked to comment on my arrest, her office stated that freedom of the press is important and will allow the police to carry out their investigation.
Only one councilor wrote to city hall asking for my arrest to be reported. Local politicians have also been largely silent about the arrests of other journalists, with few exceptions.
The mayor’s office’s comment reflects the attitude of most politicians in Canada, who otherwise readily declare their respect for freedom of expression.
On May 3, World Press Freedom Day, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released a statement saying that “journalists are the foundation of our democracy.” However, he never took a stand to defend Morin, Brake, Bracken, Toledano, and many others who were arrested during the mission. He, like many other politicians, lacks words and actions.
Until concrete steps are taken to prevent law enforcement from intimidating or silencing journalists through detention, press freedom will continue to be in danger in Canada. Journalists must be protected and their rights must not be disregarded when certain topics are covered. If journalists continue to be intimidated into doing their jobs, the public risks being kept in the dark about important events and developments.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
