LONDON, Ont. 鈥� A mischief charge against a doctor who squirted ketchup on the London, Ont., office of a member of Parliament last year has been dropped.
The lawyers representing Tarek Loubani, a local physician and activist, said the Crown withdrew the charge after determining it was "not in the public interest" to proceed with the prosecution.
Arash Ghiassi and Riaz Sayani said in a statement that Loubani's actions were not a crime but rather part of his constitutional right to protest against an elected official 鈥� in this case, Liberal MP Peter Fragiskatos.
Staff at the London courthouse confirmed a mischief charge against Loubani was withdrawn Tuesday.
Loubani was arrested in November 2023, but the incident took place weeks earlier after a protest in downtown London.
Police said at the time that Loubani and three others went to an office on Hyman Street, where he squirted ketchup on the door and front of a building.
They said he then took out other bottles of ketchup, handed them to the others and "encouraged them to also deface the building."
The other three went into a court diversion program, which provides an alternative to prosecution in cases involving minor offences, police said.
The decision to lay charges was made by police, and it was up to the Crown to determine whether to proceed with the case, Fragiskatos said in a statement Tuesday, adding it would be inappropriate for him to comment further on the process.
"That being said, over the past several years our office and staff have experienced various acts of vandalism, threats and hostility. This will always be completely unacceptable," he said.
His office said there was another "incident" at the London office Tuesday.
In their statement, Loubani's lawyers said police's "heavy-handed approach to political protest in this case" is only one example of a broader response to pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
"This kind of expression has been criminalized in nearly 100 cases in Toronto alone, and many more across Canada. While many of these charges are eventually withdrawn, this systemic overcharging nevertheless chills legitimate political expression on pressing issues," they said.
鈥� By Paola Loriggio in Toronto.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
The Canadian Press
