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VOL. 102 NO. 22
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Topham found guilty on one count AUTUMN MacDONALD Observer Reporter
A jury found Arthur Topham guilty of one count of willful promotion of hatred and not guilty of a second count of promoting hatred against an identifiable group. The verdict came down Thursday after 13 days of crown and defence cases and more than two days of jury deliberations. “I’m not shocked by the guilty verdict,” Topham said. “I’m not shocked by anything, because I have absolute faith in God that anything that is happening is happening for a reason.” “I’m more surprised by the not guilty on the second count, because then why not guilty on the first?” He speaks to the fact both charges stem from his website, www.radicalpress.com, yet the charges are from different time frames. Topham said he feels the silver lining in the decision is the fact he can continue his challenge of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in which he was charged under, 3.19.2 (willful promotion of hatred). “If I wasn’t found guilty of that one charge I couldn’t challenge the legislation,” he said. “And that’s key.” Topham also spoke to a piece on his website, Israel Must Perish, which was covered extensively in the trial. The piece, he said, was taken from a previous book called Germany Must Perish. Topham said he essentially substituted certain words, such as Germans for Jews, Nazi for Zionist and Germany for Israel. “The text is verbatim other than that,” he said. “If anything, I’d be guilty of plagiarism.” Thursday sees Topham back in court with crown counsel seeking additional bail conditions and sentencing dates. Topham was arrested and his house searched on May 16, 2012 after it was determined “there were reasonable grounds the offence of promotion of hatred was committed.”
High flight This red-tailed hawk was hunting for its lunch.
Look for our Moonlight Madness Section in todays issue
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