Crown Appeals Overturning Of Ahenakew Conviction

Crown Appeals Overturning Of Ahenakew Conviction

Monday, June 19, 2006 at 15:19

The case surrounding a disgraced former Aboriginal leader is headed to the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.

The Crown will appeal a decision that overturned a hate crime conviction against David Ahenakew, the former head of the Assembly of First Nations.

Ahenakew was initially found guilty of wilfully promoting hatred for the controversial comments he made about Jews to a newspaper reporter in December 2002.

But earlier this month, a Court of Queen’s Bench justice ruled that a Provincial Court judge erred when he determined that Ahenakew was deliberately promoting hatred when he made the remarks.

(with files from The Canadian Press)