Byron Sonne: Behind Bars Since the G20 Summit

Excerpted from freebyron.org

Byron Sonne is a security consultant and citizen journalist.  On June 22, 2010, he was arrested in his home in Forest Hill, Toronto in relation to the G20 Summit. He is still being detained in jail after being denied bail on October 1, 2010.

Byron Sonne was arrested June 22, 2010 in his home in the Forest Hill neighborhood of Toronto. Byron’s wife Kristen was arrested on: June 24, 2010 All charges against Kristen were dismissed at the start of the preliminary inquiry. The list of charges against Byron were: possession of explosives for an unlawful purpose; possession of dangerous weapons; intimidation of a justice system participant by threat; intimidation of a justice system participant by watch and beset; mischief; and attempted mischief.

Byron’s bail decision was read on July 20. He was denied bail.  On Feb. 22, 2011, all but the explosives charge where dismissed. An addition charge requested by the crown of “counseling the commission of an indictable offence” was granted. This is fantastic news for Byron. Under Canadian law, the threshold for allowing a charge to go to trial is quite low, something referred to as “The Sheppard Test.” Despite this low threshold, only the two remaining charges met the test.

Bail was not requested at this stage and as such, no decision on bail was made. A bail application will be made in the near future. Please note; The publication ban is still in effect. The reasons for the decisions are protected, as is all evidence and arguments made in the preliminary inquiry.

There will be a short hearing on March 30, time to be determined, to choose a date for the next steps. This will be open to the public, but it will be a procedural step and likely will only be ~5 minutes. Once any more information is known it will be posted here.

As you can imagine, being stuck in prison waiting for trial for over half a year is incredibly boring, especially over the holiday season! One of the best things you can do is to write him a letter or send postcards. He enjoys being penpals with anybody, even if you never knew Byron before.

Byron Sonne
c/o Maplehurst Complex
661 Martin St, PO Box 10
Milton ON
L9T 2Y3 Canada