Judge: 3-month sentence for Montrealer would trivialize the promotion of hate

The man found guilty of writing an anti-semitic article in 2017 for a far-right online publication, the Daily Stormer, told the Montreal courthouse during his sentencing Wednesday afternoon that it was not his intention to hurt anyone.

Gabriel Sohier-Chaput told the court he wanted to apologize for his words, saying he was no longer active in politics and was instead concentrating on work.

BACKGROUND: Montreal man found guilty of willfully promoting hatred against Jews

Defence lawyer Antonio Cabral told a Montreal court that his client is a changed man and is no longer involved with online neo-Nazis.

The Montrealer wrote more than 800 articles on then neo-Nazi website. The one in question mentions neo-Nazis “triggering” Jews, which Sohier-Chaput claimed was satire and meant to be taken ironically.

Sohier-Chaput admitted to writing part of the article, including a section that said 2017 would be “the year of action” and that called for “non-stop Nazism everywhere until the streets are flooded with the tears of our enemies.”

Both the Crown and the defence agreed a three-month detention would be appropriate. But Judge Manlio Del Negro seemed taken aback, saying such a sentence does not reflect the gravity of the crime and that it trivializes it.

Del Negro cited several cases similar to this one where the internet was used to perpetrate hatred, and where sentences were stricter.

Gabriel Sohier-Chaput follows his lawyer as he arrives for sentencing in Montreal, Wednesday, July 12, 2023. Sohier-Chaput was found guilty in January of promoting hatred against Jews in connection with an article he wrote for the neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

Del Negro also described an apology given by Sohier Chaput during the sentencing hearing as “opportunistic.”

He said he would take time to reflect on Wednesday’s hearing.

Sohier-Chaput is due back in court September 22nd to be officially sentenced.

“There has to be a really strong signal that these are not our values, these are not Quebec values, they are not Canadian values, and this kind of activity is not welcome here,” said  Eta Yudin, the vice-president for Quebec at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA).

“A three month sentence would tell anybody, creating, contemplating an act of hate against any minority, any minority, not only the Jewish community, the Black community, Indigenous community, women – you choose it LGBTQ, it’s basically telling them go ahead and do it. Try me, try me. And I don’t think that’s sending the message,” said Henry Topas, B’nai Brith Canada.

“We’re halfway there, the guilty verdict was significant and I think in this case we’re hoping for a strong sentence that will send a message that these kinds of actions, this kind of dissemination of hatred is unacceptable and has very real consequences,” added Yudin.

“I’m just listening to what the judge said, the judge kept repeating over and over various , various other convictions which had sentences of a year a attached to them. Again, I’m not the judge,” added Topas.

‘Actively promoted the detestation’ of Jews, judge said

In January, Judge Del Negro said Sohier-Chaput “actively promoted the detestation of people of the Jewish faith” in the 2017 article.

“Not only did he foment hate, he encouraged his readers to act,” the judge told the courtroom in January.

“The Jewish Community of Canada is less than one per cent of its population and 55 percent of hate crimes targeting religious groups,” said Yudin. “These are statistics I’d rather not I’d rather not have, so when we see a situation like this where there is a dissemination of hatred and an intent to foment hatred against in this case, against my community, but against any community, we want to see serious action taken.”

The judge rejected Sohier Chaput’s claim that some of the article’s more inflammatory slurs, including a reference to a Holocaust survivor as an “oven dodger,” were written by someone else. The judge said Sohier-Chaput, who wrote under the name “Zeiger,” had never attempted to distance himself from the article until the trial.

Immediately after he finished reading his decision, the judge ordered that Sohier Chaput be taken into custody, describing him as someone “extremely dangerous” to the public.

Defence lawyer Helene Poussard told the judge that people found guilty – even in more serious matters – are usually released while they await sentencing. Sohier-Chaput, she said, has obeyed his conditions since 2017.

Del Negro said the accused’s crime is “counter to the values of our society” and that he could flee, hide behind a pseudonym and continue to spread hate.

At a second hearing later in the day, Del Negro said Sohier-Chaput could return home to await sentencing once a family member signed a document guaranteeing the accused would respect conditions. Prosecutor Patrick Lafreniere had no objections to his release.

“What we’re looking to see here is a clear message that there are very real and concrete consequences to engaging in the dissemination and fomentation of hatred, and that it’s not something that will be tolerated, embraced or trivialized in our society,” Yudin said.

“We want to see the justice system play its part and we want to see a sentence that reflects and sends a strong message that engaging in dissemination of hateful, hateful messaging, targeting any group has consequences,” said Yudin.

—With files from Alyssia Rubertucci and The Canadian Press