Lawyers for a doctor who was arrested after squirting ketchup on the London, Ont., office of a member of Parliament last year say the charge against him has been dropped.
The lawyers representing Tarek Loubani, a local physician and activist, say the Crown withdrew the mischief charge after determining it was “not in the public interest” to proceed with the prosecution.
Arash Ghiassi and Riaz Sayani say in a statement that Loubani’s actions were not a crime but rather part of his constitutional right to protest against an elected official — in this case, Liberal MP Peter Fragiskatos.
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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.
In their statement Tuesday, 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 While many of these charges are eventually withdrawn, this systemic overcharging nevertheless chills legitimate political expression on pressing issues,” they said.
Fragiskatos did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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