Lawyers blast media ban in Canada terrorism case

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N12303271.htm


BRAMPTON, Ontario, June 12 (Reuters) - A publication ban on the court hearings of 17 men accused of planning al Qaeda-inspired attacks in Ontario is just another example that the men stand no chance of a fair trial, some defense lawyers said on Monday.

Lawyers said prosecutors asked for the ban only after the government had more than a week to publicly portray the Muslim men as terrorists who plotted to detonate massive bombs in Ottawa and Toronto and -- according to the defense -- behead the prime minister.

"They want to close the restaurant after they've had a banquet," lawyer Rocco Galati told reporters said outside the courthouse in Brampton, a Toronto suburb.

"After they've had 10 days with the media, feeding the media with whatever they want to feed the media ... they now have the audacity to request a publication ban of all proceedings from today's date."

Gonna turn out like the Buffalo claptrap or the poor dumb bastard and his father in Lodi.