Saturday, April 27, 2024
NewsTrucking

RWN asks: “Why no Zoom feed from Barber/Lich trial?”

Road Warrior News has written the Ottawa Court staff to find out who decided to eliminate the Zoom feed from the courtroom and why.

As a matter of course, most court procedures are viewable through Zoom feed and each of the 14 Ottawa courtrooms are set up with the required hardware, camera equipment and technology staff to make proceedings available virtually through Zoom.

However, the Barber/Lich trial currently underway is not being streamed for viewers offsite to observe.

Trucking company owner Chris Barber and organizer Tamara Lich are facing mischief and other charges resulting from their activities during the 2022 Freedom Convoy to Ottawa. The trial is expected to last 16 days and is being watched closely by groups including those supporting civil liberties, democratic principles and constitutional rights.

Ottawa court staff were only informed there would be no Zoom link to the Barber/Lich trial the day before it began. On September 11th, RWN requested the Zoom link but was informed there would be no livestreaming and that media wishing to cover the trial would have to attend in person, in Ottawa.

When RWN asked for comment on who made the decision to eliminate Zoom and why, the request was forwarded on to the Ministry of the Attorney General’s media office. To date, no reply has been received. RWN will publish the answer to the questions “Who decided to eliminate Zoom from the Barber/Lich trial, and why?” as soon as it is received.