After waiting five months, Arthur Topham has now been officially charged with wilful promotion of hatred.
RCMP searched and seized property of the Quesnel resident in
late May of this year, after
it was determined
there were “reasonable grounds the offence of promotion of hatred was committed.”
Crown officially moved forward on the charge earlier this month.
Since then Topham has had to comply with certain conditions, including restricted Internet access and is prohibited from maintaining his websites (including the Radical Press domain.)
Crown continues to request the courts permission on further restrictions.
Topham, who adamantly denies the charge, says he’s hopeful having his day in court will raise awareness surrounding free speech and the definition of “hate crimes.”
“This is not to say that I have full confidence in Canada’s judicial system but it will hopefully give me an opportunity to present the facts and the truth before a judge and jury of my peers; something that would never have happened
if the case had been decided by a tribunal,” he said.
“In that regard, therefore, I welcome the opportunity to challenge these Draconian “hate” laws that have been set up to protect vested interests here in Canada.”
Topham says ever since he was charged with a hate crime in 2007 he’s been forced to battle with the Canadian Rights Commission and the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.
Back in 2008 the Quesnel Cariboo Observer published a story in which Topham had received a complaint from the Canadian Human Rights Commission stating he was promoting hatred towards Jews and citizens of Israel.
Topham maintains a site, Radical Press with the tagline “Digging to the root of the issues since 1908.”
Currently Topham is permitted to continue posting to his site, Crown is seeking to prohibit posting.
“Of course my immediate concern is that the crown wants to assume that I have already been found
guilty and therefore shouldn’t be allowed to write or post
on my website in
order to defend myself against these spurious charges,” Topham said.
“Given how the msm is smearing me already I feel it would be highly unfair to take away my charter rights prior to this case being heard in a court of law.”
Topham’s next court appearance is slated for Nov. 27.