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 February 21, 2001 |
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Voluntary Labeling Activist Has Trial
Prosecutor Jose Cosa ended the first day of the trial by playing the Provigo supermarket videotape, which captured Petit mugging for cameras as he strolled with his shopping cart, stickering items. The inclusion on this videotape seemed to please Petit, who is unapologetic about his actions. On the day of his arrest, Petit and a fellow activist, Marie-Michelle Poisson, entered the Provigo supermarket through the exit door after the manager locked the main door to keep the anti-GMO protesters gathered outside from entering. Although Poisson was not charged, she testified that she stickered about 250 products throughout the store before leaving. Two witnesses on Petit's behalf, Eric Darier, of Greenpeace and Brewster Kneen, a British Columbia researcher and author, testified that Petit's actions were necessary because the federal government refuses to make the Canadian food industry label products that contain GMOs. Prosecutor Costa argued to have that testimony excluded, saying that genetic engineering weren't on trial yesterday, and that moral justification is not a valid defense for a criminal act. But Judge Antonio Discepola listened to both witnesses, reserving the right to ignore their testimony should he deem it irrelevant. Judge Discepola is expected to issue a written verdict on March 27, 2001. Petit said he'll be untroubled by any outcome of the trial, and that if found guilty of mischief, he'll likely get community service. 'That's fine by me," Petit said after the trial ended. "That's already a big part of my life." |
Martin Petit, a 31-year-old environmental activist in Montreal,
has just concluded his trial in Montreal Municipal Court for affixing
anti-GMO labels to products in a Provigo supermarket. The prosecution
is claiming that Petit, with the Voluntary Labeling Committee,
damaged the products because the stickers could not be removed
from the boxes, making them unsaleable. He was charged with stickering
a box of cookies and a box of croutons when he was arrested on
May 22, 2000.