The former face of the Quebec student protests has been sentenced to 120 hours of community service after being found in contempt of court.
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, a spokesperson for student group CLASSE, was found guilty in November after a judge ruled he had encouraged protesters to ignore court orders during a televised interview.
During a May 13 interview on Radio-Canada, Nadeau-Dubois commented on the injunctions some Quebec students had been granted that banned demonstrations from interfering with their classes. Justice Denis Jacques later ruled during that interview, the 22-year-old encouraged protesters to violate the injunctions.
Nadeau-Dubois's exact words were: “I think that it is completely legitimate for students to undertake the means necessary to respect the democratic choice to strike. It’s completely regrettable that a minority of students are using the courts to go around decisions that were made collectively.
“If students need to form picket lines to ensure that their strike votes are respected, we think that’s completely legitimate.”
A University of Laval student, who was one of the students who had sought an injunction, filed a complaint against Nadeau-Dubois, which went to trial in September.
After he was found guilty, Nadeau-Dubois asked supporters for donations as he planned to appeal the conviction.
He raised more than $100,000 for his legal challenge.
With files from CTV Montreal
